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diff --git a/21306.txt b/21306.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eed7566 --- /dev/null +++ b/21306.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16057 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick o' the Fens, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dick o' the Fens + A Tale of the Great East Swamp + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Release Date: May 4, 2007 [EBook #21306] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK O' THE FENS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +Dick o' the Fens; A Tale of the Great Eastern Swamp, by George Manville +Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +A number of the actors in this tale speak in a broad Lincolnshire +Fenland dialect, which may make it a little hard for some readers. Some +of the more unusual words are annotated in square brackets. + +The Squire sees the gradually encroaching bog and marsh in his land, and +realises that with drainage he could reclaim this as good farm land. On +the other hand some of the locals would rather see the fen remain, along +with their various occupations, and the wonderful and fragile wet-land +natural history. When digging begins there are a number of nasty +incidents--torching of houses, malicious woundings of horses and cows, +gunshot wounds to humans, and even murders. + +A constable is called in, and takes a dislike to Dick, the Squire's son, +and to his friend Tom. He tries to pin the blame on them. At times +even Dick's father is inclined to think that way, too. But eventually +the culprit is found. There are the tense moments typical of this +author, and you will perhaps learn a lot about fenland natural history. +A good read, and better still to listen to it. NH + +________________________________________________________________________ + +DICK O' THE FENS; A TALE OF THE GREAT EASTERN SWAMP, BY GEORGE MANVILLE +FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +IN THE FEN. + +Dick Winthorpe--christened Richard by order of his father at the Hall-- +sat on the top of the big post by the wheelwright's door. + +It was not a comfortable seat, and he could only keep his place by +twisting his legs round and holding on; but as there was a spice of +difficulty in the task, Dick chose it, and sat there opposite Tom +Tallington--christened Thomas at the wish of his mother, Farmer +Tallington's wife, of Grimsey, the fen island under the old dyke. + +Tom Tallington was seated upon one side of a rough punt, turned up to +keep the rain from filling it, and as he was not obliged to hold on with +his legs he kept swinging them to and fro. + +It was not a pleasant place for either of the lads, for in front of them +was a ring of fire where, upon the ground, burned and crackled and fumed +a quantity of short wood, which was replenished from time to time by +Mark Hickathrift, the wheelwright, and his lad Jacob. + +At the first glance it seemed as if the wheelwright was amusing himself +by making a round bonfire of scraps, whose blue reek rose in the country +air, and was driven every now and then by the wind over the boys, who +coughed and sneezed and grumbled, but did not attempt to move, for there +was, to them, an interesting feat about to be performed by the +wheelwright--to wit, the fitting of the red-hot roughly-made iron tire +in the wood fire upon the still more roughly-made wheel, which had been +fitted with a few new spokes and a fresh felloe, while Farmer +Tallington's heavy tumbril-cart stood close by, like a cripple supported +on a crutch, waiting for its iron-shod circular limb. + +"Come, I say, Mark, stick it on," cried Dick Winthorpe; "we want to go." + +"'Tarn't hot enough, my lad," said the great burly wheelwright, rolling +his shirt sleeves a little higher up his brown arms. + +"Yes, it is," said Tom Tallington. "You can see it all red. Why don't +you put it on cold, instead of burning the wood?" + +"'Cause he can't make one fit, and has to burn it on," said Dick. + +The wheelwright chuckled and put on some more wood, which crackled and +roared as the wind came with a rush off the great fen, making the +scattered patches of dry reeds bend and whisper and rustle, and rise and +fall, looking in the distance of the grey, black, solemn expanse like +the waves of the sea on a breezy day. + +"Oh! I say, isn't it choky!" cried Tom. + +"Thou shouldstna sit that side then," said the wheelwright. + +"Hoy, Dave!" shouted Dick Winthorpe. "Hi, there: Chip, Chip, Chip!" he +cried, trying to pat his leg with one hand, the consequence being that +he overbalanced himself and dropped off the post, but only to stay down +and caress a little black-and-white dog, which trotted up wagging its +stump of a tail, and then beginning to growl and snarl, twitching its +ears, as another dog appeared on the scene--a long, lank, rough-haired, +steely-grey fellow, with a pointed nose, which, with his lean flanks, +gave him the aspect of an animal of a vain disposition, who had tried to +look like a greyhound, and failed. + +This dog trotted out of the wheelwright's workshop, with his coat full +of shavings and sawdust, and lay down a short distance from the fire, +while the little black-and-white fellow rushed at him, leaped up, and +laid hold of his ear. + +"Ha, ha! look at old Grip!" cried Tom Tallington, kicking his heels +together as the big dog gave his ears a shake, and lay down with his +head between his paws, blinking at the fire, while his little assailant +uttered a snarl, which seemed to mean "Oh you coward!" and trotted away +to meet a tall rugged-looking man, who came slouching up, with long +strides, his head bent, his shoulders up, a long heavy gun over his +shoulder, and a bundle of wild-fowl in his left hand, the birds banging +against his leather legging as he walked, and covering it with feathers. + +He was a curious, furtive-looking man, with quick, small eyes, a smooth +brown face, and crisp, grizzly hair, surmounted by a roughly-made cap of +fox-skin. + +He came straight up to the fire on the windy side, nodded and scowled at +the wheelwright as the latter gave him a friendly smile, and then turned +slowly to the two boys, when his visage relaxed a little, and there was +the dawning of a smile for each. + +"What have you got, Dave?" cried Dick, laying hold of the bunch of +birds, and turning them over, so as to examine their heads and feet; +and, without waiting for an answer, he went on--"Three curlews, two +pie-wipes, and a--and a--I say, Tom, what's this?" + +Tom Tallington looked eagerly at the straight-billed, long-legged, +black-and-white bird, but shook his head, while Chip, the dog, who had +seated himself with his nose close to the bunch, uttered one short sharp +bark. + +"I say, Dave, what's this bird?" said Dick. + +The man did not turn his head, but stood staring at the fire, and said, +in a husky voice, what sounded like "Scatcher!" + +"Oh!" said Dick; and there was a pause, during which the fire roared, +and the smoke flew over the wheelwright's long, low house at the edge of +the fen. "I say," cried Dick, "you don't set oyster-catchers in the +'coy." + +"Yow don't know what you're talking about," growled the man addressed. + +"Why, of course he didn't," cried Tom Tallington, a stoutly-built lad of +sixteen or seventeen, very much like his companion Dick, only a little +fairer and plumper in the face. "They ain't swimmers." + +"No, of course, not," said Dick. "Kill 'em all at one shot, Dave?" + +The man made no answer, but his little dog uttered another short bark as +if in assent. + +"Wish I'd been there," said Dick, and the dog barked once more, after +which the new-comer seemed to go off like a piece of machinery, for he +made a sound like the word "kitch," threw the bunch of birds to the +wheelwright, who caught them, and dropped them in through the open +window of the workshop on to his bench, while Dave jerked his gun off +his shoulder, and let the butt fall between his feet. + +Just then the wheelwright roared out, with one hand to his cheek: + +"Sair--_rah_! Ale. Here you, Jake, go and fetch it." + +The short thickset lad of nineteen, who now came from behind the house +with a fagot of wood, threw it down, and went in, to come back in a few +moments with a large brown jug, at the top of which was some froth, +which the wind blew off as the vessel was handed to the wheelwright. + +"She's about ready now," said the latter. "You may as well lend a hand, +Dave." + +As he spoke, he held out the jug to the donor of the birds, who only +nodded, and said, as if he had gone off again, "Drink;" and propping the +gun up against the crippled cart, he took off his rough jacket and hung +it over the muzzle. + +In kindly obedience to the uttered command, the big wheelwright raised +the brown vessel, and took a long draught, while Dave, after hanging up +his jacket, stood and looked on, deeply interested apparently, watching +the action of the drinker's throat as the ale went down. + +Jacob, the wheelwright's 'prentice, looked at the ale-jug with one eye +and went on placing a piece of wood here and another there to keep up +the blaze, while Dick went and leaned up against the cart by the gun. + +Then the jug was passed, after a deep sigh, to Dave, who also took a +long draught, which made Jacob sigh as he turned to go for some more +wood, when he was checked by a hollow growl from Dave, which came out of +the pot. + +But Jacob knew what it meant, and stopped, waiting patiently till Dave +took the brown jug from his lips, and passed it to the apprentice, +letting off the words now: + +"Finish it." + +Jacob was a most obedient apprentice, so he proceeded to "finish it," +while the wheelwright and Dave went to the workshop, and as he was +raising the vessel high Tom Tallington stooped, picked up a chip of wood +from a heap, gave Dick a sharp look, and pitched it with so good an aim +that it hit the jug, and before the drinker could lower it, Tom had +hopped back against the cart, striking against the gun, and nearly +knocking it down. + +"I see yow, Masr' Dick," said Jacob, grinning; "but yow don't get none. +Ale arn't good for boys." + +"Get out!" cried Dick; "why, you're only a boy yourself. 'Prentice, +'prentice!" + +"Not good for boys," said Jacob again as he finished the last drop +perseveringly, so that there should be none left; and then went indoors +with the jug. + +"Dick--I say," whispered Tom as, after slipping one band into the big +open pocket of the hanging coat, he drew out a well scraped and polished +cow-horn with a cork in the thin end. + +Chip, the dog, who was watching, uttered a remonstrant bark, but the +boys paid no heed, being too intent upon the plan that now occurred to +one, and was flashed instantaneously to the other. + +"Yes, do," whispered Dick. "How much is there in it?" + +"Don't know; can't see." + +"Never mind, pitch it in and let's go, only don't run." + +"It would be too bad," said Tom, laughing. + +"Never mind--we'll buy him some more powder. In with it." + +"No," said Tom, hesitating, though the trick was his suggestion. + +Dick snatched the powder-horn from his companion, gave a hasty glance at +the workshop, from which came the clink of pincers, and pitched the horn +right into the middle of the blaze. + +Chip gave a sharp bark, and dashed after it, but stopped short, growling +as he felt the heat, and then went on barking furiously, while the two +boys walked off toward the rough road as fast as they could, soon to be +beyond the reach of the wheelwright's explosion of anger, for they +regretted not being able to stop and see the blow-up. + +"What's your Chip barking at?" said the wheelwright, as the two men +walked out, armed with great iron pincers, the wheelwright holding a +pair in each hand. "What is it, Chip?" + +The dog kept on barking furiously, and making little charges at the +fire. + +"There's summat there," said Dave in a low harsh voice. "Where's they +boys?" + +"Yonder they go," said the wheelwright. + +"Then there's summat wrong," said Dave, taking off his fox-skin cap and +scratching his head. + +An idea occurred to him, and he ran to his coat. + +"Hah!" he ejaculated in a voice that sounded like a saw cutting wood and +coming upon a nail; "keep back, Chip! Here, Chip, boy; Chip! They've +throwed in my powder-horn." + +"Eh!" cried the wheelwright. + +Pop! went the horn with a feeble report, consequent upon there being +only about a couple of charges of powder left; but it was enough to +scatter the embers in all directions, and for a few moments all stood +staring at the smoking wood in the midst of which lay the great iron +tire, rapidly turning black. + +Dave was the first to recover himself. + +"Come on," he shouted, and, pincers in hand, he seized the heated ring, +the wheelwright followed suit, the apprentice joined, and lifting the +glowing iron it was soon being hammered into its place round the smoking +wheel, the soft metal bending and yielding, and burning its way till, +amidst the blinding smoke, it was well home and cooling and shrinking, +this part of the business being rapidly concluded by means of buckets of +water brought by Jacob, and passed along the edge of the wheel. + +"I say, Tom, it wasn't half a bang," said Dick as the two lads ran +towards home with the wind whistling by their ears. + +"No," was the panted-out reply; "but I say, what will old Dave say?" + +"I don't care what he says. I shall give him a shilling to buy some +more powder, and he can soon make himself another horn." + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE GREAT FEN DRAIN. + +"Yes, it's all right, Master Winthorpe," said Farmer Tallington; "but +what will the folks say?" + +"Say! What have they got to do with it?" cried Squire Winthorpe. "You +boys don't make so much noise. I can't hear myself speak." + +"Do you hear, Tom, howd thy row, or I'll send thee home," said the +farmer; "recollect where you be." + +"Yes, father," said, the lad. + +"It wasn't Tom; it was me," said Dick quietly. + +"Then hold your tongue, sir," cried the squire. "Now look here, Master +Tallington. If a big drain is cut right through the low fen, it will +carry off all the water; and where now there's nothing but peat, we can +get acres and acres of good dry land that will graze beasts or grow +corn." + +"Yes, that's fine enough, squire," said Tom's father; "but what will the +fen-men say?" + +"I don't care what they say," cried the squire hotly. "There are about +fifty of us, and we're going to do it. Will you join?" + +"Hum!" said Tom Tallington's father, taking his long clay-pipe from his +lips and scratching his head with the end. "What about the money?" + +"You'll have to be answerable for a hundred pounds, and it means your +own farm worth twice as much, and perhaps a score of acres of good land +for yourself." + +"But it can't be good land, squire. There be twenty foot right down o' +black peat, and nowt under that but clay." + +"I tell you that when the water's out of it, James Tallington, all that +will be good valuable land. Now, then, will you join the adventurers?" + +"Look here, squire, we've known each other twenty year, and I ask thee +as a man, will it be all right?" + +"And I tell you, man, that I'm putting all I've got into it. If it were +not right, I wouldn't ask you to join." + +"Nay, that you wouldn't, squire," said Farmer Tallington, taking a good +draught from his ale. "I'm saaving a few pounds for that young dog, and +I believe in you. I'll be two hundred, and that means--" + +"Twice as much land," said the squire, holding out his hand. "Spoken +like a man, Master Tallington; and if the draining fails, which it can't +do, I'll pay you two hundred myself." + +"Nay, thou weant," said Farmer Tallington stoutly. "Nay, squire, I'll +tak' my risk of it, and if it turns out bad, Tom will have to tak' his +chance like his father before him. I had no two hundred or five hundred +pounds to start me." + +"Nor I," said the squire. + +"May we talk now, father?" said Dick. + +"Yes, if you like." + +"Then," cried Dick, "I wish you wouldn't do it. Why, it'll spoil all +the fishing and the 'coy, and we shall get no ice for our pattens, and +there'll be no water for the punt, and no wild swans or geese or duck, +and no peat to cut or reeds to slash. Oh, I say, father, don't drain +the fen." + +"Why, you ignorant young cub," cried the squire, "do you suppose you are +always to be running over the ice in pattens, and fishing and shooting?" + +"Well, no, not always," said Dick, "but--" + +"But--get out with your buts, sir. Won't it be better to have solid +land about us instead of marsh, and beef and mutton instead of birds, +and wheat instead of fish?" + +"No, I don't think so, father." + +"Well, then, sir, I do," said the squire. "I suppose you wouldn't like +the ague driven away?" + +"I don't mind, father," said Dick laughing. "I never get it." + +"No, but others do, and pains in their joints, and rheumatics. I say, +Tallington, when they get as old as we are, eh?" + +"Yes, they'll find out the difference, squire; but do you know, that's +how all the fen-men'll talk." + +"Let 'em," said the squire; "we've got leave from the king's magistrates +to do it; and as for the fen-men, because they want to live like frogs +all their lives, is that any reason why honest men shouldn't live like +honest men should. There, fill up your pipe again; and as for the +fen-men, I'll talk to them." + +There was a bonny fire in the great open fireplace, for winter was fast +coming on, and the wind that had been rushing across the fen-land and +making the reeds rustle, now howled round the great ivy-clad chimney of +the Hall, and made the flame and smoke eddy in the wide opening, and +threaten every now and then to rush out into the low-ceiled homely room, +whose well-polished oak furniture reflected the light. + +The two lads sat listening to the talk of their elders, and after a time +took up the work that had been lying beside them--to wit, some netting; +but before Dick had formed many meshes he stopped to replenish the fire, +taking some awkward-looking pieces of split root which were as red as +mahogany, and placing them upon the top, where they began to blaze with +a brilliant light which told tales of how they were the roots of +turpentine-filled pines, which had been growing in the ancient forest +that existed before the fen; and then taking from a basket half a dozen +dark thick squares of dried peat and placing them round the flaming +embers to keep up the heat. + +"I say, Tom," said Dick in a low voice, "I don't think I should care to +live here if the fen was drained." + +"No," replied Tom in the same tone, "it would be a miserable place." + +"Now, Tom, lad, home!" said the farmer, getting up. "Good-night, +squire!" + +"Nay, I won't say good-night yet," cried the squire. "Hats and sticks, +Dick, and we'll walk part of the way home with them." + +As they left the glowing room with its cosy fire, and opened the hall +door to gaze out upon the night, the wind swept over the house and +plunged into the clump of pines, which nourished and waved upon the +Toft, as if it would root them up. The house was built upon a rounded +knoll by the side of the embanked winding river, which ran sluggishly +along the edge of the fen; and as the party looked out over the garden +and across the fen upon that November night, they seemed to be ashore in +the midst of a sea of desolation, which spread beneath the night sky +away and away into the gloom. + +From the sea, four miles distant, came a low angry roar, which seemed to +rouse the wind to shout and shriek back defiance, as it plunged into the +pines again, and shook and worried them till it passed on with an angry +hiss. + +"High-tide, and a big sea yonder," said the squire. "River must be full +up. Hope she won't come over and wash us away." + +"Wesh me away, you mean," said Farmer Tallington. "You're all right up +on the Toft. 'Member the big flood, squire?" + +"Ay, fifteen years ago, Tallington, when I came down to you in +Hickathrift's duck-punt, and we fetched you and Tom's mother out of the +top window." + +"Ay, but it weer a bad time, and it's a good job we don't hev such +floods o' watter now." + +"Ay 'tis," said the squire. "My word, but the sea must bite to-night. +Dick here wanted to be a sailor. Better be a farmer a night like this, +eh, Tallington?" + +"Deal better at home," was the reply, as the door was closed behind +them, shutting out the warmth and light; and the little party went down +a path leading through the clump of firs which formed a landmark for +miles in the great level fen, and then down the slope on the far side, +and on to the rough road which ran past Farmer Tallington's little +homestead. + +The two elder friends went on first, and the lads, who had been together +at Lincoln Grammar-School, hung behind. + +To some people a walk of two miles through the fen in the stormy +darkness of the wintry night would have seemed fraught with danger, the +more so that it was along no high-road, but merely a rugged track made +by the horses and tumbrils in use at the Toft and at Tallington's Fen +farm, Grimsey, a track often quite impassable after heavy rains. There +was neither hedge nor ditch to act as guide, no hard white or drab road; +nothing but old usage and instinctive habit kept those who traversed the +way from going off it to right or left into the oozy fen with its black +soft peat, amber-coloured bog water, and patches of bog-moss, green in +summer, creamy white and pink in winter; while here and there amongst +the harder portions, where heath and broom and furze, whose roots were +matted with green and grey coral moss, found congenial soil, were long +holes full of deep clear water--some a few yards across, others long +zigzag channels like water-filled cracks in the earth, and others +forming lanes and ponds and lakes that were of sizes varying from a +quarter of a mile to two or three in circumference. + +Woe betide the stranger who attempted the journey in the dark, the track +once missed there was death threatening him on every hand; while his +cries for help would have been unheard as he struggled in the deep black +mire, or swam for life in the clear water to find no hold at the side +but the whispering reeds, from which, with splashings and whistling of +wings, the wild-fowl would rise up, to speed quacking and shrieking +away. + +But no thoughts of danger troubled the lads as they trudged on slowly +and moodily, the deep murmur of their elders' voices being heard from +the darkness far ahead. + +"Wonder what old Dave said about his powder-flask?" said Tom, suddenly +breaking the silence. + +"Don't know and don't care," said Dick gruffly. + +There was a pause. + +"I should like to have been there and heard Old Hicky," said Tom, again +breaking the silence. + +"Yah! He'd only laugh," said Dick. "He likes a bit of fun as well as +we do." + +"I should have liked to see the fire fly about." + +"So should I, if he'd thought it was Jacob, and given him what he calls +a blob," said Dick; "but it wasn't half a bang." + +"Well, I wish now we hadn't done it," said Tom. + +"Why?" + +"Because Dave will be so savage. Next time we go over to his place +he'll send us back, and then there'll be no more fun at the duck 'coy, +and no netting and shooting." + +"Oh, I say, Tom, what a fellow you are! Now is Dave Gittan the man to +look sour at anybody who takes him half a pound of powder? Why, he'll +smile till his mouth's open and his eyes shut, and take us anywhere." + +"Well, half a pound of powder will make a difference," said Tom +thoughtfully. + +"I'll take him a pound," said Dick magnificently. + +"How are you going to get it?" + +"How am I going to get it!" said Dick. "Why, let Sam Farles bring it +from Spalding; and I tell you what, I won't give him the pound. I'll +give him half a pound, and you shall give him the other." + +"Ah!" cried Tom eagerly; "and I tell you what, Dick--you know that old +lead?" + +"What! that they dug up when they made the new cow-house?" + +"Yes, give him a lump of that, and we'll help him melt it down some +night, and cast bullets and slugs." + +"Seems so nasty. Father said it was part of an old lead coffin that one +of the monks was buried in." + +"Well, what does that matter? It was hundreds of years ago. Dave +wouldn't know." + +"And if he did he wouldn't mind," said Dick. "All right! we'll take him +the lead to-morrow." + +"But you haven't got the powder." + +"No, but Hicky goes to Ealand to-morrow, and he can take the money to +the carrier, and we can tell Dave we've sent for it, and he knows he can +believe us, and that'll be all right." + +There was another pause, during which the wind shrieked, and far +overhead there came a confused gabbling noise, accompanied by the +whistling of wings, a strange eerie sound in the darkness that would +have startled a stranger. But the boys only stood still and listened. + +"There they go, a regular flight!" said Dick. "If Dave hears them won't +he wish he'd got plenty of powder and lead!" + +"Think the old monks'll mind?" said Tom. + +"What! that flock of wild-geese going over?" + +"No-o-o! Our taking the lead." + +"Oh! I say, Tom, you are a chap," cried his companion. "I know you +believe in ghosts." + +"No, I don't," said Tom stoutly; "but I shouldn't like to live in your +old place all the same." + +"What! because it's part of the old monastery?" + +"Yes. The old fellows were all killed when the Danes came up the river +in their boats and burned the place." + +"Well, father and I aren't Danes, and we didn't kill them. What stuff!" + +"No, but it's not nice all the same to live in a place where lots of +people were murdered." + +"Tchah! who cares! I don't. It's a capital old place, and you never +dig anywhere without finding something." + +"Yes," said Tom solemnly, "something that isn't always nice." + +"Well, you do sometimes," said Dick, "but not often. But I wouldn't +leave the old place for thousands of pounds. Why, where would you get +another like it with its old walls, and vaults, and cellars, and thick +walls, and the monks' fish-ponds, and all right up on a high toft with +the river on one side, and the fen for miles on the other. Look at the +fish." + +"Yes; it's all capital," said Tom. "I like it ever so; but it is +precious monky." + +"Well, so are you! Who cares about its being monky! The old monks were +jolly old chaps, I know." + +"How do you know? Sh! what's that?" + +"Fox. Listen." + +There was a rush, a splash, a loud cackling noise, and then silence save +for the wind. + +"He's got him," cried Tom. "I wish we had Hicky's Grip here; he'd make +him scuffle and run." + +"Think it was a fox?" said Tom. + +"Sure of it; and it was one of those old mallards he has got. Come on. +Why shouldn't the fox have duck for supper as well as other people?" + +"Ah, why not?" said Tom. "But how do you know the monks were jolly old +chaps?" + +"How do I know! why, weren't they fond of fishing, and didn't they make +my ponds? I say, let's have a try for the big pike to-morrow. I saw +him fly right out of the water day before yesterday, when it rained. +Oh, I say, it is a shame!" + +"What's a shame?" said Tom. + +"Why, to do all this draining. What's the good of it?" + +"To make dry fields." + +"But I don't want any more dry fields. Here have I been thinking for +years how nice it would be, when we'd done school to have all the run of +the fen, and do what we liked, netting, and fishing and shooting, and +helping Dave at the 'coy, and John Warren among the rabbits." + +"And getting a hare sometimes with Hicky's Grip," put in, Tom. + +"Yes; and now all the place is going to be spoiled. I say, are we going +right home with you?" + +"I suppose so," said Tom. "There's the light. Old Boggy'll hear us +directly. I thought so. Here he comes." + +There was a deep angry bark at a distance, and this sounded nearer, and +was followed by the rustling of feet, ending in a joyous whining and +panting as a great sheep-dog raced up to the boys, and began to leap and +fawn upon them, but only to stop suddenly, stand sniffing the air in the +direction of the old priory, and utter an uneasy whine. + +"Hey, boy! what's the matter?" said Tom. + +"He smells that fox," said Dick triumphantly. "I say, I wish we'd had +him with us. There! he's got wind of him. I wish it wasn't so dark, +and we'd go back and have a run." + +"Have a run! have a swim, you mean," said Tom. "Why, that was in one of +the wettest places between here and your house. I say, how plainly you +can hear the sea!" + +"Of course you can, when the wind blows off it," said Dick, as he +listened for a moment to the dull low rushing sound. "Your mother has +put two candles in the window." + +"She always does when father's out. She's afraid he might get lost in +the bog." + +"So did my mother once; but it made father cross, and he said, next time +he went out she was to tie a bit of thread to his arm, and hold the end, +and then he would be sure to get home all right. Why, there's a +jack-o'-lantern on the road." + +"That isn't a jacky-lantern," replied Tom, looking steadfastly first at +the two lights shining out in the distance, and then at a dim kind of +star which seemed to be jerking up and down. + +"Tell you it is," said Dick shortly. + +"Tell you it isn't," cried Tom. "Jacky-lanterns are never lame. They +never hop up and down like that, but seem to glide here and there like a +honey-bee. It's our Joe come to meet us with the horn lantern. It's +his game leg makes it go up and down." + +"Dick!" came from ahead. + +"Yes, father," shouted the lad; and they ran on to where the squire and +Farmer Tallington were awaiting them. + +"We'll say `good-night' now," said the squire. "Here, Dick, Farmer's +Joe is coming on with the lantern. Shall we let him light us home?" + +"Why, we should have to see him home afterwards, father," said Dick +merrily. + +"Right, my lad! Good-night, Tallington! You are in for your two +hundred, mind." + +"Yes, and may it bring good luck to us!" said the fanner. "Good-night +to both of you!" + +"Good-night!" + +Dick supplemented his "good-night" with a pat on the head of the great +sheep-dog, which stood staring along the track, and snuffing the wind; +and then he and his father started homeward. + +"I shall come over directly after breakfast, Dick," shouted Tom. + +"All right!" replied Dick as he looked back, to see that the lantern had +now become stationary, and then it once more began to dance up and down, +while the two lights shone out like tiny stars a few hundred yards away. + +"They've got the best of it, Dick," said the squire. "Why, we were +nearly there. Let's make haste or your mother will be uneasy. Phew! +the wind's getting high!" + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +A STORMY NIGHT. + +It was a tremendous blast which came sweeping over the sea, and quite +checked the progress of the travellers for the moment, but they pressed +on, seeming to go right through the squall, and trudging along sturdily +towards home. + +"I begin to wish someone had put a light in the window for us, Dick," +said the squire at the end of a few minutes' walking. "It's getting +terribly dark." + +Dick said, "Yes," and thought of the thread, but he made no allusion to +it, only laughed to himself and tramped on. + +"By the way, how uneasy that dog seemed!" said the squire as they +trudged on with heads bent, for they were facing the blast now. + +"Yes, father; we passed a fox." + +"Passed a fox! Why, you couldn't see a fox a dark night like this." + +"No, but I could smell him, father, and we heard him catch a duck." + +"Ah! I see. And did the dog scent out the fox?" + +"Yes, I think so, and that made him whine." + +"Come along, my lad. Let's get on as fast as we can. It's growing +blacker, and I'm afraid we shall have some rain." + +No rain fell, but the sky was completely clouded over and the darkness +seemed to grow more and more intense. The wind kept increasing in +violence and then dying out, as if it came in huge waves which swept +over them and had a great interval between, while as the rush and roar +of the gusts passed there came the deep hoarse murmur of the distant +sea. + +"Dick," said the squire suddenly, "you are so young that you can hardly +feel with me, but I want someone to talk to now, and I may as well tell +you that I am going to risk a great deal of money over the draining of +the fen." + +"Are you, father?" + +"Yes, my lad, and I have been feeling a natural shrinking from the risk. +To-night sweeps all that away, for in spite of having lived here so +many years as I have, I never before felt how needful it all was." + +"Do you think so, father?" + +"Indeed I do, my lad, for anything more risky than our walk to-night I +hardly know. What's that?" + +The squire stopped short and grasped his son's arm, as, after a furious +gust of wind, the distant murmur of the sea seemed to have been +overborne by something different--a confused lapping, trickling, and +rushing noise that seemed to come from all parts at once. + +"I don't know, father," said Dick, who was slightly startled by his +father's manner. "Shall we go on?" + +"Yes," said the squire hoarsely. "Let's get home quick." + +They started on again, walking fast, but at the end of a minute Dick +uttered a cry. + +"We're off the road, father. Water!" + +As he spoke he was ankle-deep, and in taking a step to catch his son's +arm, Squire Winthorpe felt the water splash up around him. + +"Can you see the lights at the Priory, Dick?" he said sharply. + +"No, father." + +"We can't be off the path," said the squire. "Is it boggy and soft +under you?" + +"No, father--hard; but I'm in the water." + +"It's hard here too," said the squire, trying the ground with his feet; +"and yet we must be off the road. Stand fast, my boy; don't move." + +"Are you going away, father?" said Dick. + +"No, only a few yards, boy. I want to see where we got off the track, +whether it's to the right or left." + +"It's so dark," said Dick, "I can hardly see my hand. Mind how you go, +father; there are some deep bog-holes about here." + +"Then you stand fast, my boy." + +"Hadn't you better stand fast too, father?" + +"And both perish in the wet and cold, my boy! No. I'll soon find the +road. It must be close by." + +Not a tree or post to guide him, nothing but the thick darkness on all +sides, as Squire Winthorpe cautiously moved one foot before the other, +keeping one upon solid ground while he searched about with the other, +and as he moved _splash_--_splish_--_splash_, the water flew, striking +cold to his legs, and sending a chill of dread to his very heart. + +"It's very strange," he cried; "but don't be frightened, Dick. We shall +be all right directly." + +"I'm not frightened, father," replied the boy. "I'm puzzled." + +"And so am I, my lad, for I did not know we could find such solid bottom +off the road. Ah!" + +"What's the matter, father?" + +"I told you not to move, sir," roared the squire, for he had heard a +slight splash on his right. + +"I couldn't help it, father; my foot seemed to slip, and--why, here's +the road!" + +"There?" cried the squire eagerly. + +"Yes, father, and my foot's slipped down into a big rut." + +"Are you sure, boy?" + +"Sure! Yes, father, it _is_ the road. I say, what does it mean?" + +The answer was a quick splashing sound, as Squire Winthorpe hurried to +his son's side and gripped his arm, to stand there for a few moments +listening and thinking as he realised the meaning of the strange +rushing, plashing noise that came from all round. + +"I know," cried Dick suddenly; "the sea-bank's broke, and we're going to +have a flood." + +"Yes," said the squire hoarsely; "the bank has gone, my boy." + +"Hadn't we better push on, father, before it gets any deeper?" + +"Stop a moment, Dick," said the squire, "and let me try to think. +Home's safe, because the Priory's on the Toft; but there's Tallington +and his wife and boy. We must try and help them." + +"Come on, then, father!" cried Dick excitedly. + +"No, Dick, that will not do; we shall only be shutting ourselves up too +and frightening your mother to death. We must get home and then on to +Hickathrift's. He has a big punt there." + +"Yes, father, but it hasn't been mended. I saw it this afternoon." + +"Then he has wood, and we must make a raft. Come on. Here: your hand." + +For a few minutes there was nothing heard but the rushing of the wind +and the _splash, splash_ of the water, as they pressed on, the squire +cautiously trying to keep one foot by the rut which had guided his son, +and, when it became intangible, seeking for some other means to keep +them from straying from the submerged road in the darkness, and going +off to right or left into the bog. + +It was a terrible walk, for they had a full mile to go; and to the +squire's horror, he found that it was not only against the wind but also +against the sharply running water, which was flowing in from the sea and +growing deeper inch by inch. + +As if to comfort each other father and son kept on making cheery remarks +apropos of their rough journey. Now it was Dick, who declared that the +water felt warmer than the air; now it was the squire, who laughingly +said that he should believe now in blind men being able to find their +way by the touch. + +"For I'm feeling my way along here famously, Dick." + +"Yes, father, only it seems such a long way--ugh!" + +"What is it, boy?" + +"One foot went down deep. Yes, I know where we are." + +"Yes, close home, my boy," cried the squire. + +"No, no; half a mile away by the sharp turn, father; and I nearly went +right down. We must keep more this way." + +The squire drew his breath hard, for he knew his son was right, as the +road proved when they turned almost at right angles and plashed on +through the water. + +Half a mile farther to go and the current rushing on! It had been only +over their ankles, now it was above their knees, and both knew that at +this rate it would be waist-deep, if not deeper, before they could reach +the high ground at home. + +"It is very horrible, Dick, my lad," cried the squire at last as they +kept on, with the water steadily and surely growing deeper. + +"Oh, I don't mind, father! We shall get on so far before it's over our +heads that we shall be able to swim the rest of the way. You can swim, +father?" + +"I used to, my lad; perhaps I have not forgotten how. But I am thinking +of the people about. I wonder whether Hickathrift has found it out." + +"I dare say he's in bed, father," said Dick. + +"That's what I fear, my boy; and then there's John Warren." + +"He'll get up the sand-hills, father." + +"If he knows in time, my boy; but Dave Gittan has no place to flee to." + +"He has his little boat, father; and Chip would warn him if he has gone +to bed. I know what he'd do then." + +"What, my lad?" + +"Pole himself along to John Warren and fetch him off, and come on to the +Toft." + +"Mind, take care, we're going wrong," cried the squire excitedly, as he +slipped and went in right up to his waist, but Dick clung to his hand, +threw himself back, and with a heavy splash the squire managed to regain +the hard road off whose edge he had slipped. + +"We must go slower, father," said Dick coolly. "You pull me back if I +go wrong this way and I'll pull you. I say, isn't it getting dark!" + +The squire made no answer, but feeling that their case was growing +desperate, and if they did not progress more rapidly they would be in +such deep water before they could reach the Priory that it would be +impossible to keep the track, and they would be swept away, he pushed +on, with the result that in a few minutes Dick had a narrow escape, +slipping right in and coming up panting, to be dragged back, and stand +still quite confused by his total immersion. + +"We must get on, Dick, my boy," said his father; "the water's growing +terribly deep, and it presses against us like a torrent. Forward!" + +They recommenced their journey, wading on slowly over what seemed to be +an interminable distance; but no sign of the dark village or of the +island-farm in the fen appeared, and at last the water deepened so that +a chilly feeling of despair began slowly to unnerve the squire and set +him thinking that theirs was a hopeless case. + +"Be ready, Dick," he whispered, as, after a tremendous puff of wind +which stopped them for the moment, he once more pressed on. + +"Ready, father?" panted Dick. "What for?" + +"We may have to swim directly. If it gets much deeper we cannot force +our way." + +"Oh, we shall do it!" cried the boy; "we must be close there now." + +"I fear not," said the squire to himself. "Hold on, boy!" he cried +aloud. "What is it?" + +"Water's--up to my--chest," panted Dick; "and it comes so fast here-- +it's--it's too strong for me." + +"Dick!" cried the squire in agony. + +"I must swim, father," cried Dick. + +"And be swept away!" cried the squire hoarsely. "Heaven help me! what +shall I do?" + +He had gripped his son tightly in his agony, and they stood together for +a few moments, nearly swept off their feet by the swirling current, when +a bright idea flashed across the squire's mind. + +"Quick, Dick! don't speak. Climb on my back." + +"But, father--" + +"Do as I bid you," roared the squire, stooping a little, and bending +down he made of one hand a stirrup for his son's foot, who, the next +moment, was well up on his back. + +"That's better, boy," panted the squire. "You are safe, and your weight +steadies me. I can get on now; it can't be far." + +As he spoke a light suddenly flashed up a couple of hundred yards ahead, +and gleamed strangely over the water like a blood-red stain. + +Then it died out, but flashed up again and increased till there was a +ruddy path of light before them, and behind the glow stood up the trees, +the long, low Priory and the out-buildings, while figures could be seen +moving here and there. + +"I know," cried Dick. "I see, father. They've lit a bonfire to show us +which way to go. Ahoy!" + +"Ahoy!" came back in a stentorian shout, and something was thrown upon +the fire which dulled it for the moment, but only for it to flash up in +a tremendous blaze, with the sparks and flames of fire rushing towards +them. + +"Ahoy!" came the shout again. + +"Ahoy!" answered Dick. + +"That will do, my boy," panted the squire. "The water's getting +horribly deep, but I can manage now, for I can tell which way to go." + +"Little more to the left, father," cried Dick. + +"Right, boy!" + +"No, no, father," shrieked Dick; "left!" + +"I meant you are right, my lad," said the squire, moving on, with the +water growing deeper still, while the stentorian voice kept uttering +cheering shouts to them, which they answered till they were only about +fifty yards away, when it became plain that someone was coming to meet +them, splash, splash, through the water, with a pole in his hand. + +The figure, though only head and half his body were visible above the +plashing water, looked large, and for a few moments in his confusion +Dick was puzzled; but he realised who it was at last, and cried: + +"Why, it's old Hicky!" + +He was right; and just in the veriest time of need the great blacksmith +reached the fainting squire, and grasping his arm breasted the water +with him; and in another minute they were ascending the slope, with the +water shallowing, till they reached a blazing fire, where Mrs Winthorpe +clasped husband and son to her breast! + +"All right, wife!" cried the squire. "Glad you are here, Hickathrift! +All your people too?" + +"Yes, squire, all safe here; but we're uneasy like about Dave o' the +'Coy and John Warren." + +"But they've got the boat," cried Dick. + +"Yes; I hope they're safe," said the squire. "Hickathrift, my lad, that +was a brave thought of yours to light that fire. It saved our lives." + +"Nay, squire," said the big fellow; "it was no thowt o' mine--it was thy +missus put it into my yead." + +The squire gave his wife a look as she stood there in the midst of a +group of shivering farm-servants, and then turned to the wheelwright. + +"The boat," he said--"did you come in the boat?" + +"Ay, squire. She leaks a deal, but I thrust an owd pillow in the hole. +But I nigh upon lost her. My Grip woke me howling, for we were abed. I +jumped out and ran down, thinking it was the foxes after the chickens, +and walked right into the water. I knowed what it meant, and got over +to the saw-pit, and just caught hold of the boat in the dark as it was +floating away. Then I got my leaping-pole and run her under the window, +and made my missus give me a pillow to stop the leak 'fore I could bale +her out. Then Jacob come, and we got the missus down and poled her +along here, but was nearly swept by." + +"You're a good fellow, Hickathrift," cried the squire. "Wife, get out +some hollands; we're perished. Have a glass, my man; and then we must +go in the punt to Grimsey and get the Tallingtons out. We're all right +here, but Grimsey Farm will soon be flooded to the bed-room windows. +Light a lanthorn, some one, and put in a spare candle. You'll go with +me, Hickathrift?" + +"Ay, squire, to the end of the world, if thou bids me; but I tell ye--" + +He stopped short. + +"Well, what, man? Here, drink!" + +"Efter yow, squire," said the big fellow sturdily. "I tell ye that no +mortal man, nor no two men, couldn't take that punt across to Grimsey in +the dark to-night. We should be swept no one knows wheer, and do no +good to them as wants the help." + +"But we can't leave them to drown, man!" cried the squire. + +"No; we can't do that, and we wean't," cried Hickathrift. "They'll get +right on the roof if the bed-rooms gets full; and while we're waiting +for day we'll have the punt hauled up. Jacob'll howd the light, and +I'll see if I can't mend the hole. You've got a hammer and some nails +in the big barn?" + +"Yes," said the squire; "yes, you are right, my man--you are right. +Come, Dick: dry clothes." + +There was nothing else to be done; and as the bonfire was kept blazing +the punt was hauled up, and in the midst of the howling wind and the +rush of the water Dick stood looking on, his heart full as he thought of +Tom Tallington asking his help away there in the darkness; while tap, +tap, tap went the wheelwright's hammer, after his saw had rasped off a +thin piece of board. + +"That'll do it," he cried at last; and the punt was placed ready for +launching when the day showed. + +Meanwhile the squire gave orders for the fire to be kept well alight; +and fagots of wood and straw trusses were piled on, with the odds and +ends of broken farming implements and worn-out wooden shedding that had +been the accumulation of years. + +The result was that the flames rose high over the wild weird scene, +gilding the wind-tossed pines and staining the flood for far, while +there was so much excitement in thus sitting up and keeping the fire +blazing that it would have been real enjoyment to Dick had he not been +in a constant state of fret and anxiety about his friends. + +For, living as he did in that island of good elevated land in the great +wild fen where inhabitants were scarce, everybody was looked upon as an +intimate friend, and half the lad's time was spent at the bottom of the +slope beyond the ruinous walls of the old Priory, watching the water to +see how much higher it had risen, and to gaze out afar and watch for the +coming of boat or punt. + +In truth, though, there was only one vessel likely to come, and that was +the flat-bottomed punt belonging to Dave, who worked the duck-decoy far +out in the fen. The people on the sea-bank had a boat; but they were +five miles away at least, and would not venture on such a night. + +"What should I do?" thought Dick as he walked down to the edge of the +water again and again. "If Tom is drowned, and Dave, and John Warren, +they may drain the fen as soon as they like, for the place will not be +the same." + +The night wore on; and Mrs Winthorpe made the people in turn partake of +a meal, half supper, half breakfast, and, beyond obeying his father's +orders regarding dry clothes, Dick could go no further. He revolted +against food, and, feeling heartsick and enraged against the wheelwright +for eating a tremendous meal, he once more ran down to the water's edge, +to find his father watching a stick or two he had thrust in. + +"Tide has turned, Dick," he said quietly; "the water will not rise any +higher." + +"And will it all run off now, father?" + +The squire shook his head. + +"Some will," he replied; "but the fen will be a regular lake till the +sea-bank has been mended. It must have been rough and the tide very +high to beat that down." + +"Will it come in again, then?" asked Dick. + +"Perhaps: perhaps not. It's a lucky thing that I had no stock down at +the corner field by the fish-stews. If they had not been up here in the +home close, every head must have been drowned." + +"Do you think the fish-ponds are covered, father?" + +"Five or six feet deep, my boy." + +"Then the fish will get out." + +"Very likely Dick; but we've something more important to think about +than fish. Hark! what's that?" and he listened. + +"Ahoy!" roared Hickathrift from just behind them. "Hear that, squire?" + +"Yes, my lad, I heard a cry from off the water." + +Just then came another faint hail from a distance. + +"That's Dave," said Hickathrift, smiling all over his broad face; "any +one could tell his hail: it's something between a wild-goose cry and the +squeak of a cart-wheel that wants some grease." + +The hailing brought out everybody from the house, Mrs Winthorpe's first +inquiry being whether it was the Tallingtons. + +"Pitch on a bit more straw, Dick," cried the squire; and the lad seized +a fork and tossed a quantity on the fire, while the wheelwright stirred +up the embers with a pole, the result being that the flames roared up +tremendously, sending out a golden shower of sparks which were swept +away before the wind, fortunately in the opposite direction to the +house, towards which the squire darted one uneasy glance. + +"Ahoy!" shouted the wheelwright, and there was a fresh response which +sounded weird and strange, coming as it did from out of the black wall +of darkness seen beyond the ring of ruddy light which gleamed upon the +water. + +"They'll get here easily now," said the squire from the very edge of the +flood, as he tossed out a piece of wood, and saw that it was floated +steadily away. "The current is slack." + +He could not avoid shuddering as he thought of the way in which it had +pressed upon him as he waded toward the island with Dick upon his back; +but the memory passed away directly as a fresh hail came from off the +water; and as the group looked out anxiously and listened for the splash +of the pole, they at last saw the fire-light shining upon a figure which +gradually came gliding out of the darkness. At first it seemed strange, +and almost ghastly; but in a few more moments those who watched could +see that it was Dave o' the 'Coy in his fox-skin cap standing up in his +little white punt and thrusting it along by means of a long pole, while +a man sat in the stern. + +"Yon's John Warren along wi' him," cried Hickathrift. "I thowt they'd +be all right. Come on, lads, clost in here," he shouted; and without +making any reply, the strange-looking man in the bows of the boat pulled +her along till the prow struck upon the flooded grass, and he threw a +rope to the wheelwright. + +"Got your gun, Dave?" cried Dick eagerly. + +The man turned his head slowly to the speaker, laid the pole across the +boat, which was aground a dozen feet from the dry land, stooped, picked +up his long gun, and uttered a harsh-- + +"Kitch!" + +As he spoke he threw the gun to the wheelwright, who caught it and +passed it to Dick, while the second man handed Dave another gun, which +was sent ashore in the same way. Then, taking up the pole, Dave placed +it a little way before him, and leaped ashore as actively as a boy, +while the second man now advanced to the front, caught the pole as it +was thrown back, and in turn cleared the water and landed upon the dry +ground. + +"Glad to see you safe, Dave," said the squire, holding out his hand. +"Glad to see you, too, John Warren. You are heartily welcome." + +The two men took the squire's hand in a limp, shrinking manner; and +instead of giving it a hearty grip, lifted it up once, looking at it all +the time as if it were something curious, and then let it fall, and +shuffled aside, giving a furtive kind of nod to every one in turn who +offered a congratulation. + +They were the actions of men who led a solitary life among the birds and +four-footed animals of the great wild fen, and to be made the heroes of +an escape seemed to be irksome. + +Just then there was a diversion which took off people's attention, and +seemed to place them more at ease. A sharp quick yelp came from the +boat, followed by a bark, and, plainly seen in the fire-light, a couple +of dogs placed their paws on the edge of the little vessel, raised their +heads to the full stretch of their necks, and with cocked-up ears seemed +to ask, "What's to be done with us?" + +"Hi! Chip, Chip! Snig, Snig! Come, boys," shouted Dick, patting his +leg; and the dogs barked loudly, but did not stir. + +"Come on, you cowards!" cried Dick. "You won't get any wetter than I +did." + +"Here!" said Dave; and Chip leaped over and swam ashore, gave himself a +shake, and then performed a joy dance about Dick's legs. + +This time there was a dismal howl from the punt, where the second dog +was waiting for permission to land. + +"Come on!" said the second man, a frowning, thoughtful-looking fellow of +about fifty, the lower part of whose face was hidden by a thick beard--a +great rarity a hundred years ago--and the other dog leaped into the +water with a tremendous splash, swam ashore, rushed at Chip, and there +was a general worry, half angry, half playful, for a few moments before +the pair settled down close to the fire, as if enjoying its warmth. + +"This is a terrible misfortune, Dave," said the squire. + +"Ay; the water's out, mester," said the man in a low husky way. + +"How did you escape?" + +"Escape?" said Dave, taking off his fox-skin cap and rubbing his head. + +"Seed the watter coming, and poonted ower to the Warren," said the +second man, thrusting something in his mouth which he took out of a +brass box, and then handing the latter to Dave, who helped himself to a +piece of dark-brown clayey-looking stuff which seemed like a thick paste +made of brown flour and treacle. + +"I wish you men would break yourselves of this habit," said the squire. +"You'll be worse for it some day." + +"Keeps out the cold and ager, mester," said the second man, thrusting +the box back in his pocket. + +"Then you've been waiting at the Warren?" + +"Ay, mester. Me an' him waited till we see the fire, and thowt the +house hed kitched, and then we come." + +"It was very good of you, my lads," said the squire warmly. "There, get +in, and the mistress will give you some bread and cheese and ale." + +"Arn't hungry," growled the second man. "Can'st ta yeat, Dave, man?" + +"Ah!" growled Dave, and he slouched round, looking at the ground, and +turned to go. "Gimme mai goon," he added. + +"The guns are all right, Dave," cried Dick. "I've got 'em. I say, John +Warren, will the rabbits be all drowned?" + +"Drowned, young mester! Nay, not they. Plenty o' room for em up in the +runs where the watter won't come." + +"But the foxes, and hares, and things?" cried Dick. + +"Them as has got wings is flied awayer," growled the second man; "them +as has got paddles is swimmed; and them as can't find the dry patches is +gone down." + +After this oracular utterance John o' the Warren, who took his popular +name from the rabbit homes, to the exclusion of his proper surname of +Searby, tramped heavily after his companion to the Priory kitchen, where +they both worried a certain amount of bread and cheese, and muttered to +one another over some ale, save when Dick spoke to them and told them of +his anxieties, when each man gave him a cheery smile. + +"Don't yow fret, lad," said Dave. "Bahds is all reight. They wean't +hoort. Wait till watter goos down a bit and you an' me'll have rare +sport." + +"Ay, and rabbuds is all reight too, young mester," added John Warren. +"They knows the gainest way to get up stairs. They're all happed up +warm in their roons, ready to come out as soon as the watter goos down." + +"But how did it happen?" + +"Happen, lad!" said the two men in a breath. + +"Yes; what caused the flood?" + +"Oh, I d'n'know," growled Dave slowly. "Happen sea-bank broke to show +folk as fen warn't niver meant to be drained, eh, John Warren?" + +"Ay, that's it, lad. Folk talks o' draaning fen, and such blather. +Can't be done." + +"I say, John, I don't want the fen drained," whispered Dick. + +"Good lad!" growled John Warren; and then Dave shook his head at the +ale-mug, sighed, and drank. + +"But don't let father hear what you say, because he won't like it." + +"Nay, I sha'n't say nowt," said Dave. + +"Nay, nor me neither, only natur's natur, and floods is floods," added +John Warren; and he too shook his head at the ale-mug, and drank. + +"Now, then," cried the squire, coming quickly to the door, "Hickathrift +and I are going in the big punt to see if we can help the Tallingtons; +the stream isn't so strong now. Are you men going to try to help us?" + +"Get Farmer Tallington out?" said Dave. "Ay, we are coming." + +"Let me come too, father," cried Dick. + +"No, my lad, I'm afraid I--" + +"Don't say that, father; let me go." + +"No no, Dick," cried Mrs Winthorpe, entering the kitchen, for she had +been upon the alert. "You have run risks enough to-night." + +"Yes; stay and take care of the women, Dick," said his father. + +Dick gave an angry stamp on the floor. + +"Mother wants me to grow up a coward," he cried. "Oh, mother, it's too +bad!" + +"But, Dick, my boy," faltered the poor woman. + +"Let the boy come, wife," said the squire quietly; "I'll take care of +him." + +"Yes, and I'll take care of father," cried Dick, rushing at his mother +to give her a sounding kiss, and with a sigh she gave way, and followed +the party down to the water's edge. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +A JOURNEY BY PUNT. + +There was still a furious current running on the far side of the Toft, +as, well provided with lanterns, the two punts pushed off. On the side +where the two last comers landed it had seemed sluggish, for an eddy had +helped them in; but as soon as they were all well out beyond the pines +the stream caught them, the wind helped it, and their task was not to +get towards Grimsey, but to retard their vessels, and mind that they +were not capsized by running upon a pollard willow, whose thin bare +boughs rose up out of the water now and then, like the horrent hair of +some marine monster which had come in with the flood from the sea. + +"We've done wrong, Hickathrift," said the squire after they had been +borne along by the current for some distance; "and I don't understand +all this. I thought that when the tide had turned, the water would have +flowed back again through the gap it must have broken, instead of still +sweeping on." + +"Ay," said the great wheelwright, who was standing in the bows with his +long leaping-pole in his hand; "I do puzzle, squire. I've been looking +out for a light to show where Grimsey lies, for here, in the dark, it's +watter, watter, watter, and I can't see the big poplar by Tallington's. +Hi! Dave, where's Grimsey, thinks ta?" he shouted. + +"Nay, I don't know." + +"Can you make it out, John Warren?" + +"Nay, lad, I'm 'bout bet." + +"Then, squire, if they can't say, I can't. What shall we do?" + +"We must wait for daylight," said the squire, after peering into the +darkness ahead for some time. "We shall be swept far past it if we go +on. Can you hold the punt with your pole?" + +"Nay, no more'n you could a bull with a bit o' tar band, mester. We mun +keep a sharp look-out for the next tree, and lay hold of the branches +and stop there. D'ye hear, lads?" + +"Aye, what is it?" came from the other boat. + +"Look out for the next tree, and hing on till daylight." + +Dave uttered a grunt, and they floated on and on for nearly a quarter of +an hour before Dick uttered a loud "Look out!" + +"I see her, my lad," cried Hickathrift; and he tried to give the boat a +good thrust by means of his pole; but though he touched bottom it was +soft peat, and his pole went down, and the next moment they were +crashing through the top of a willow, with the boat tilting up on one +side and threatening to fill; but just as the water began to pour in, +there was a whishing and crackling noise as it passed over the obstacle +and swung clear, with Hickathrift holding on to a branch with all his +might. + +"Look out! Can you tek howd, lad?" came from the other boat, which came +gliding out of the darkness, just clear of the tree. + +As it came on, Dick caught the pole Dave held out to him and checked the +progress of the little punt; but he had miscalculated his strength as +opposed to the force of the current, and after a jerk, which seemed to +be tearing his arms out of their sockets, he was being dragged out of +the boat, and half over, when his father seized him round the hips. + +"Can you hold on, Dick?" cried the squire. + +"A--a little while," panted the lad. + +"Get howd o' the pole, mester," shouted Warren from the other boat. + +"I can't, man, without loosing the boy. We shall have to let you go." + +"Let go, then," growled Dave; "we can find our way somehow." + +"Nay," shouted Hickathrift. "Howd hard a minute till I've made fast +here. I'm coming." + +As he spoke he was busy holding on to the elastic willow branch with one +hand, while with the other he drew the rope out of the boat's head, and, +with a good deal of labour, managed to pass it round the bough and make +it fast. + +"There, she's all right," he cried, stepping aft carefully, the boat +swaying beneath his huge weight. "Now, squire, I mun lean ower thee to +get howd o' the pole. Eh! but it's a long way to reach, and--" + +"Mind, man, mind!" cried the squire, "or we shall fill with water; we're +within an inch now." + +"Nay, we sha'n't go down," cried Hickathrift, straining right over the +squire and Dick, and sinking the stern of the boat so far that his face +kept touching the water, and he had to wrench his head round to speak. +"There, I've got howd o' the pole, and one leg hooked under the thwart. +Let go, Mester Dick; and you haul him aboard, squire, and get to the +other end." + +It needed cautious movement, for the boat was now so low that the water +rushed over; but by exerting his strength the squire dragged Dick away, +and together they relieved the stern of the pressure and crept forward. + +"Now Dave, lad, haul alongside, and make your rope fast to the +ring-bolt," cried Hickathrift; and this was done, the punt swung behind, +and the great Saxon-like fellow sat up laughing. + +"Is it all safe?" cried the squire. + +"Ay, mester, so long as that bough don't part; but I've got my owd ear +full o' watter, and it's a-roonning down my neck. But say, mester, it's +a rum un." + +"What is, my lad?" + +"Why, it wur ony yesday I wur saying to my Jacob as we'd get the poont +mended, and come out here with the handbills and brattle [lop] all the +willows anywhere nigh, so as to hev a lot to throost down about our +plaace to grow. Now, if we'd done that there'd ha' been no branch to +lay hold on here, and we might ha' gone on to Spalding afore we'd +stopped. Eh, but howding on theer made me keb." + +[Keb: pant for breath.] + +"Are you hurt, Dick?" said the squire. + +"N-no, I don't think I'm hurt, father," replied Dick, hesitatingly; +"only I feel--" + +"Well, speak, my lad; don't keep anything back." + +"Oh, no, I won't keep anything back, father!" said Dick, laughing; "but +I felt as if I'd been one of those poor fellows in the Tower that they +used to put on the rack--all stretchy like." + +"Mak' you grow, Mester Dick," said Hickathrift, "mak' you grow into a +great long chap like me--six foot four." + +"I hope not," said the squire, laughing. "Draw the line this side of +the six feet, Dick. There: the stiffness will soon pass off." + +They sat talking for a time, but words soon grew few and far between. +The two fen-men swinging in their boat behind had recourse to the brass +box again, each partaking of a rolled-up quid of opium, and afterwards +crouched there in a half drowsy state, careless of their peril, while +the squire and his companions passed their time listening to the rush of +the water and the creaking of the willow bough as it rubbed against the +side of the boat, and wondered, as from time to time the wheelwright +examined the rope and made it more secure, whether the branch would give +way at its intersection with the trunk. + +The darkness seemed as if it would never pass, whilst the cold now +became painful; and as he heard Dick's teeth begin to chatter, the +wheelwright exclaimed: + +"Look here, young mester, I ain't hot, but there's a lot o' warmth comes +out o' me. You come and sit close up, and you come t'other side, +squire. It'll waarm him." + +This was done, and with good effect, for the lad's teeth ceased their +castanet-like action as he sat waiting for the daylight. + +No word was spoken by the men in the little punt, and those uttered in +the other grew fewer, as its occupants sat listening to the various +sounds that came from a distance. For the flood had sent the +non-swimming birds wheeling round in the darkness, and every now and +then the whistling of wings was quite startling. The ducks of all kinds +were in a high state of excitement, and passed over in nights or settled +down in the water with a tremendous outcry, while ever and again a +peculiar clanging from high overhead gave warning that the wild-geese +were on the move, either fleeing or attracted by some strange instinct +to the watery waste. + +But morning seemed as if it would never come, and it was not until hours +upon hours had passed that there was a cessation of the high wind, and a +faint line of light just over the water, seaward, proclaimed that the +dawn could not be far away. + +"Can you see where we are?" said the squire, as it began to grow +lighter. + +"Ay, it's plain enough now, mester," was the reply; "and yonder's +Grimsey." + +"I can see Tom," said Dick just then; "and there's Farmer Tallington, +and all the rest, right on the top of the roof." + +In a few minutes more all was plain enough, and the reason apparent why +the people at Tallington had not shown a light in the course of the +night or done anything else to indicate their position, for it was +evident that they had been driven from below stairs to the floor above, +and from thence to the roof, where they must have sat out the evening +hours, perhaps doubtful of how long the place would last before it was +swept away. + +So intent had the squire and Dick been in watching for the dawn, that +the gradual cessation of the flowing water had passed unnoticed; but it +was plain now that the surface of the wide expanse out of which the Toft +rose, with the old Priory buildings a couple of miles away, was now +unruffled by the wind, and that the current had ceased to flow. + +But for this the party of rescue in the two punts would not have been +able to reach the inundated farm, for it was only here and there that a +firm place could be found for the poles, which generally sank deeply in +the peat covered by the water to an average depth of about eight feet. + +In the course of half an hour the boats were close up to the reed thatch +of the great farm-house, a rope made fast to the chimney-stack, and Mrs +Tallington, the farmer, Tom, a couple of maids and three men were +transferred to the boats, all stiff and helpless with the cold. + +"I don't mind now," said Tom, shivering as he spoke. "A boat isn't much +of a thing, but it will float, and all last night it seemed as if the +old house was going to be swept away." + +"Are these your horses?" said Dick, pointing to a group of +dejected-looking animals standing knee-deep in company with some cattle, +about a quarter of a mile away. + +"Yes, and our cows," replied Tom, shivering. "Oh, I say, don't talk; +I'm so cold and hungry!" + +All this time Hickathrift was diligently using the pole in the larger +boat, and Dave leading the way in the other, both being well laden now, +and progressing fairly fast toward the Toft, which stood up like an +island of refuge in the midst of the vast lake, dotted here and there +with the tops of trees. At times the poles touched a good firm tuft of +heath or a patch of gravel, and the boat received a good thrust forward; +at other times, when the bottom was soft, Hickathrift struck the water +with it right and left as he stood up in the prow, using it as a kind of +paddle. + +Before they were half-way on their journey the sun came out from a +cloud, just at the edge of the inundation; and with it and the prospect +of warmth and food at the Priory, everybody's spirits began to rise. + +"Might have been worse, neighbour," shouted the squire. "You sold all +your sheep last week." + +"Ay," said the farmer from Dave's punt; "and we might all have been +drowned. It's a sore piece of business; but it shows a man what his +neighbours are, and I won't murmur, only say as you do, it might have +been worse." + +"And thank God for sparing all our lives!" said the squire, taking off +his hat. + +"Amen!" said Farmer Tallington, and for a time there was nothing heard +but a sob from Mrs Tallington and the splashing of the poles. + +But two boys could not keep silence long with the sun shining and the +place around wearing so novel a guise; and Dick soon burst out with: + +"Look, Tom; look at the teal!" + +He pointed to a flock forming quite a patch upon the water some hundreds +of yards away. + +"Ay," said the squire; "it's good for the wild-fowl, but bad for us. +The sooner the place is drained now, neighbour, the better, eh?" + +"Ay, squire, you're right; but how are we to get rid of all this +watter?" + +"Ah, we must see," said the squire; and Dave and John Warren exchanged +glances and shook their heads. "The sooner the draining works are +commenced the better." + +"Toft Fen wean't niver be drained, mester," said Dave in a low voice, as +he rested his pole in the punt and stood there looking as if he believed +himself to be a prophet. + +"Oh, you think so, do you, Dave?" said the squire quietly. "I daresay +hundreds of years ago, before the sea-wall was made, some men said that +no farming could be done in the fen, but the sea has been kept out for +all these years." + +"Ay, but it's come through at last in its natural way, mester," said +John Warren. + +"Yes, John," said the squire: "but we men who think how to live, make +nature work for us, and don't work for nature. So we're going to turn +the sea off the land again, and drain the fresh water off as well, so as +to turn this wild waste into fertile land. Do you hear, Dick?" + +"Yes, father, I hear," said the lad; and he looked at Dave and John +Warren, in whose boat he was, and read incredulity there; and as he +gazed over the inundated fen, and thought of fishing, and shooting, and +boating there, he felt himself thoroughly on the fen-men's side, while, +feeling ashamed of this, he bent over the boat side, scooped up some +water in his hand and drank, but only to exclaim, "Ugh!" + +"Ah! what does it taste like, Dick?" said the squire. + +"Half salt, father." + +"Then it is the sea broke in," said the squire. "Ahoy! all right!" he +shouted, standing up and waving his cap. "Shout, Dick, and let your +mother see you're here. Come, cheer up, Mrs Tallington; there's a warm +welcome for you yonder from the wife; the water will soon go down, and +we're going to try and protect ourselves from such mischief coming +again." + +The squire was right; there was a warm welcome waiting for the homeless +neighbours, to whom, after a good, snug, and hearty breakfast, +everything looked very different from what it had seemed during the long +dark stormy watches of the night. + +[Wall, in fen-lands, the artificial bank or ridge of clay raised to keep +back river, drain, or sea.] + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE ROMAN BANK. + +It was like standing on a very long low narrow island, with the +peculiarity that one side was sea, the other inland lake. The sun shone +brilliantly, and the punt in which the squire, Farmer Tallington, Dave, +Warren, Hickathrift, and the two lads had come was lying on the inner +side of the sandy ridge covered with thin, wiry, harsh grass. + +This ridge formed the island upon which they stood, in company with some +sheep and cattle which had instinctively made their way to the high +ground as the water rose. + +The tide was down now; a great deal of the water had drained away, and +the party were standing by a great breach in the bank through which at +high-tide during the storm the sea had made its way. + +"I can't quite understand how it could have broken through here," said +the squire; "but I suppose it was quite a small crack at first, and the +water soon washed it bigger." + +There was a great channel at their feet, cut clean through the +embankment; and though the party were standing amongst the sand, they +could see that the bank which protected the fen from the sea, and ran up +alongside of the river, running inland, was formed of thick clay, matted +with the long roots of the grass. + +"Who was it made this great bank, father?" said Dick. + +"Your old friends you read about at school, they say, the Romans, first; +but of course it has been added to since. Well, neighbour, we can do no +good by ourselves. We must call together the adventurers, and it can +soon be mended and made stronger than it was at first. Let's go back. +Unless we have a gale, no more water will come through this. It's years +since I've been here. If one had taken a look round one would have seen +the weak spot." + +They re-entered the punt, and Hickathrift poled them back, being +relieved in turn by Dave and Warren, by whose solitary cottage they +paused--a mere hut upon a sandy patch, standing like an island out of +the watery waste, and here he elected to stay with the rabbits which +frisked about and showed their cottony tuft tails as they darted down +into their holes. + +"How about your cottage, Dave?" said the squire, shading his eyes as he +looked across the flooded fen. + +"Wet," said Dave laconically. + +"Yes, there are four feet of water yonder, I should say. You will have +to stop at the Toft for the present." + +"Not I, mester," said the rough fellow. "I don't mind a drop o' +watter." + +"Not to wade through, perhaps, my man; but you can't sleep there." + +"Sleep in my boat," said Dave laconically. "Won't be the first time." + +"Do as you please," said the squire quietly; and he turned to talk to +Farmer Tallington. + +"I say, Dave," whispered Dick, "you're just like an old goose." + +"Eh?" said the man with his eyes flashing. + +"I mean being able to sleep on the water floating," said Dick, laughing, +and the angry look died out. + +It was plain enough that the water had sunk a good deal already, but the +farmers had to face the fact that it would be weeks before the fen was +in its old state, and that if the breach in the sea-wall were not soon +repaired, they might at any time be afflicted with a similar peril. + +But notice was sent to those interested, while the farmers here and +there who held the patches of raised land round the borders of the fen +obeyed the summons, and for about a month there was busy work going on +at the sea-wall with spade and basket, clay being brought from pits +beneath the sand upon the sea-shore, carried up to the breach, and +trampled down, till at last, without further mishap, the gap in the +embankment was filled up strongly, and the place declared to be safe. + +Of those who toiled hard none showed so well in the front as Dave o' the +'Coy, and John Warren, and the squire was not stinted in his praise one +day toward the end of the task. + +"Wuck hard, mester!" said Dave. "Enough to mak' a man wuck. John +Warren here don't want all his rabbits weshed away; and how am I to +manage my 'coy if it's all under watter." + +"Ah, how indeed!" said the squire, and he went away; but Dick stayed +behind with Tom Tallington, and sat upon the top of the embankment, +laughing, till the rough fen-man stood resting on his spade. + +"Now then, what are yow gimbling [grinning] at, young mester?" he said. + +"At yow, Dave," said Dick, imitating his broad speech. + +"Then it arn't manners, lad. Thowt you'd been to school up to town +yonder to larn manners both on you?" + +"So we did, Dave, and a lot more things," cried Dick. "How to know when +anyone's gammoning." + +"Gammoning, lad?" said Dave uneasily. + +"Yes, gammoning. You don't want the flood done away with." + +"Not want the flood done away wi'!" + +"No; and you don't want the fen drained and turned into fields." + +"Do yow?" said Dave fiercely, and he took a step nearer to the lad. + +"No, of course not," cried Dick. "It would spoil all the fun." + +"Hah!" ejaculated Dave, as his yellow face puckered up with a dry smile, +and in a furtive way which fitted with his fox-skin cap he turned and +gave John Warren a peculiar look. + +"When may we come over to the 'coy, Dave?" + +"When you like, lads. Soon as the watter's down low enough for us to +work it." + +"It's sinking fast, Dave," said Tom. "It's all gone from our garden +now, and the rooms are getting dry." + +"Ay, but my pipes are covered still, and it'll be a good month, my lads, +'fore we can do any good. But I might ha' took you both out in the punt +for a bit o' shooting if you hadn't played that game on me, and spoiled +my horn and wasted all my powder." + +"Ah, it was too bad, Dave; but there are a couple of fine large horns at +home I've saved for you, and we've bought you a pound of powder." + +"Nay, I sha'n't believe it till I see 'em," said Dave. "I did mean to +hev asked you lads to come netting, but I can't ask them as plays +tricks." + +"Netting! What, the ruffs?" + +"Ay, I weer thinking about heving a try for 'em. But I shall give it +up." + +"Dave, you promised me a year ago that you'd take us with you some time, +and you never have," cried Dick. + +"Nay, did I though?" + +"Yes; didn't he, Tom?" + +"Nay, yow needn't ask him; he'll be sewer to say yes," said Dave, +grinning. + +"Look here," cried Dick, "I'm not going to argue with you, Dave. Are +you going to take us?" + +"Some day, lad, when the watter's down, if my live birds aren't all +drownded and my stales [stuffed decoys] spoiled." + +"Oh, they won't be!" cried Dick. "When will you go?" + +"When the watter's down, my lad." + +"It's low enough now. There are plenty of places where you can spread +your nets." + +"Ay, but plenty of places don't suit me, my lad. You wait a bit and +we'll see. Get John Warren to tek you ferreting." + +"Yes, that will do," cried Tom. "When are you going, John?" + +The man addressed shook his head. + +"Rabbuds don't want no killing off. Plenty on 'em drownded." + +"Why," cried Dick, "it was only the other day you said that none were +hurt by the flood." + +"Did I, Mester Dick? Ah, yow mustn't tek no notice o' what I say." + +"But we shall take notice of what you say," cried Tom. "I don't believe +he has any ferrets left." + +"Ay, bud I hev. Theer I'll tek you, lads. Why don't thou tek 'em wi' +you, Dave, man? Let un see the netting." + +Dave smiled in a curious way, and then his eyes twinkled as he looked +from one to the other. + +"Well, you wait a week, lads, and then I'll fetch you." + +"To see the netting?" + +"Ay. In another week there'll be a deal more dry land, and the ruffs +and reeves'll be ower in flocks, I dessay. If they aren't, we'll try +for something else." + +"Hooray!" cried Dick; and that evening there was nothing talked of but +the projected trip. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE DEPARTING FLOOD. + +The water sank slowly and steadily, leaving dry patches here and there +all over the fen; but the lake-like parts far exceeded the dry land, and +two or three fields still contained so much water that the squire set +men to work to cut a drain to carry it away. + +"Kill two birds with one stone, Dick," he said. "It will be useful by +and by." + +At the time Dick did not understand what his father meant; but it was +soon evident when all hands were hard at work cutting down through the +peat to make the dyke. For, instead of digging in the ordinary way, the +men carefully cut down through what was not earth, but thick +well-compressed black peat, each piece, about ten inches square and +three or four thick, to be carefully laid up like so much open brickwork +to drain and dry. + +Good store for the next winter's fuel, for it was peat of fine quality +stored up by nature ages before, and not the soft brown mossy stuff +found in many places, stuff that burns rapidly away and gives out hardly +any heat. This peat about the Toft was coal's young relative, and +burned slowly into a beautiful creamy ash, giving out a glow of warmth +that was wanted there when the wind blew from the northern sea. + +The two lads watched the process with interest--not that it was anything +new, for they had seen it done a hundred times; but they had nothing +else to do that morning, having tired themselves of gazing at the flocks +of birds which passed over to the feeding grounds laid bare by the +sinking water. It had been interesting to watch them, but Dave had not +kept his word about the netting; the decoy had not been worked; and +gunning was reserved for those of elder growth. So that morning, though +the great lakes and canals among the reeds were dotted with birds, the +lads were patiently watching the cutting of the little drain. + +Six men were busy, and making steady progress, for the peat cut easily, +the sharp-edged tools going through it like knives, while the leader of +the gang busied himself from time to time by thrusting down a +sharp-pointed iron rod, which always came in contact with sand and +gravel a few feet down. + +"No roots, my lad?" said the squire, coming up. + +"No, mester," said the labourer. "I don't think--well, now, only think +of that!" + +He was thrusting down the iron rod as he spoke, and the point stuck into +something that was not sand or gravel, while upon its being thrust down +again with more force it stuck fast, and required a heavy jerk to drag +it out. + +"That seems to be a good one," said the squire, as the lads watched the +process with interest. + +"Shall we hev it out, mester?" + +"Have it out! Oh, yes!" said the squire; and a couple of hours were +spent widening the drain at that part, so as to give the men room to +work round what was the root of an old tree, just as it had been growing +in the far-distant ages, before the peat began to rise over it to nine +or ten feet in thickness. + +It was a long job, and after the great stump had been laid bare, axes +had to be used to divide some of the outlying roots before it was +finally dragged out by the whole force that could be collected by the +hole, and finally lay upon the side. + +"Just like the others, Dick. There must have been a tremendous fire +here at one time." + +"And burned the whole forest down?" + +"Burned the whole of the trees down to the stumps, my lad, and then the +peat gradually formed over the roots, and they've lain there till we +come and dig them out for firewood." + +"And they haven't rotted, father, although they have been under the peat +and water all this time." + +"No, my boy; the peat is a preservative. Nothing seems to decay under +the peat. Why, you ought to have known that by now." + +"I suppose I ought," said Dick rather dolefully, for he was beginning to +wake up to the fact of what an enormous deal there was in the world that +he did not know. + +As he spoke, he picked up some of the red chips of the pine-root which +had been sent flying by the strokes of the axe, to find that they were +full of resin, smelling strongly of turpentine. + +"Yes, it's full of it," said the squire; "that's one reason why the wood +has kept without rotting. Here you two boys may as well do something +for your bread and butter." + +Dick said something to himself answering to nineteenth-century Bother! +and awaited his father's orders. + +"You can drag that root up to the yard. Get a rope round it and haul. +Humph, no! it will be too heavy for you alone. Leave it." + +"Yes, father," said Dick with a sigh of relief, for it was more pleasant +to stand watching the men cutting the peat and the birds flying over, or +to idle about the place, than to be dragging along a great sodden mass +of pine-root. + +"Stop!" cried the squire. "I don't want the men to leave their work. +Go and fetch the ass, and harness him to it. You three donkeys can drag +it up between you." + +The boys laughed. + +"I'm going up the river bank. Get it done before I get back." + +"Yes, father," cried Dick. "Come along, Tom." + +The task was now undertaken with alacrity, for there was somehow a +suggestion to both of the lads of something in the nature of fun, in +connection with getting the ass to drag that great root. + +The companions ran along by the boggy field toward the farm buildings on +the Toft, to seek out the old grey donkey, who was at that moment +contemplatively munching some hay in a corner of the big yard, in whose +stone walls, were traces of carving and pillar with groin and arch. + +Now some people once started the idea that a donkey is a very stupid +animal; and, like many more such theories, that one has been handed down +to posterity, and believed in as a natural history fact, while donkey or +ass has become a term of reproach for those not blessed with too much +brain. + +Winthorpe's donkey was by no means a stupid beast, and being thoroughly +imbued with the idea that it was a slave's duty to do as little work as +he possibly could for those who held him in bonds, he made a point of +getting out of the way whenever he scented work upon the wind. + +He was a grey old gentleman, whose years were looked upon as tremendous; +and as he stood in the corner of the yard munching hay, he now and then +scratched his head against an elaborately carved stone bracket in the +wall which took the form of a grotesque face. + +Then his jaws stopped, and it was evident that he scented something, for +he raised his head slightly. Then he swung one great ear round, and +then brought up the other with a sharp swing till they were both cocked +forward and he listened attentively. + +A minute before, and he was a very statue of a donkey, but after a few +moments' attentive listening he suddenly became full of action, and +setting up his tail he trotted round the yard over the rotten peat and +ling that had been cut and tossed in, to be well trampled before mixing +with straw and ploughing into the ground. He changed his pace to a +gallop, and then, still growing more excited, he made straight for the +rough gate so as to escape. + +But the gate was fastened, though not so securely but that it entered +into a donkey's brain that he might undo that fastening, as he had often +undone it before, and then deliberately walked off into the fen, where +succulent thistles grew. + +This time, however, in spite of the earnest way in which he applied his +teeth, he could not get that fastening undone; and, after striking at it +viciously with his unshod hoof, he reared up, as if to leap over, but +contented himself with resting his fore-legs on the rough top rail, and +looking over at the free land he could not reach; and he was in this +attitude when the two lads came up. + +"Hullo, Solomon!" cried Dick. "Poor old fellow, then! Did you know +we'd come for you?" + +The donkey uttered a discordant bray which sounded like the blowing +badly of a trumpet of defiance, and backing away, he trotted to the far +end of the yard, and thrust his head into a corner. + +"Where's the harness?" said Tom. + +"In the stone barn," was the reply; and together the lads fetched the +rough harness of old leather and rope, with an extra piece for fastening +about the root. + +"I say, Dick, he won't kick that root to pieces like he did the little +tumbril," said Tom, who for convenience had placed the collar over his +own head. + +"Nor yet knock one side off like he did with the sled," replied Dick +with a very vivid recollection of one of Solomon's feats. "Now, then, +open the gate and let's pop the harness on. Stop a minute till I get a +stick." + +"Get a thick one," said Tom. + +"Pooh! he don't mind a thick stick; he rather likes it. Hicky says it +loosens his skin and makes him feel comfortable. Here, this will do. +Must have a long one because of his heels." + +"Oh, I say, Dick, look at the old rascal; he's laughing at us!" + +It really seemed as if this were the case, for as the lads entered the +yard Solomon lowered his head still more in its corner, and looked at +them between his legs, baring his gums the while and showing his white +teeth. + +"Ah, I'll make him laugh--_gimble_, as old Dave calls it--if he gives us +any of his nonsense! Now, you, sir, come out of that corner. Give me +the collar, Tom." + +As Dick relieved his friend of the collar, and held it ready to put over +the donkey's head, though they were at least a dozen yards away, Solomon +began to kick, throwing out his heels with tremendous force and then +stamping with his fore-feet. + +"Isn't he a pretty creature, Tom? He grows worse. Father won't sell +him, because, he says, he's an old friend. He has always been my +enemy." + +"You always whacked him so," cried Tom. + +"No, I didn't; I never touched him till he began it. Of course I wanted +to ride him and make him pull the sled, and you know how he ran after me +and bit me on the back." + +"Yes, I know that somebody must have ill-used him first." + +"I tell you they didn't. He's always been petted and spoiled. Why, +that day when he kicked me and sent me flying into the straw I'd gone to +give him some carrots." + +"But didn't you tickle him or something?" + +"No, I tell you. A nasty ungrateful brute! I've given him apples and +turnips and bread; one Christmas I gave him a lump of cake; but no +matter what you do, the worse he is. He's a natural savage, father +says; and it isn't safe to go near him without a stick." + +"Well, you've told me all that a dozen times," said Tom maliciously. +"It's only an excuse for ill-using the poor thing." + +"Say that again and I'll hit you," cried Dick. + +"No, you won't. Here, give me the harness again and I'll put it on, +only keep back with that stick. That's what makes him vicious." + +"How clever we are!" cried Dick, handing back the collar. "There: go +and try." + +"Ah, I'll show you!" said Tom, taking the collar with its hames and +traces attached, and going up toward the donkey, while Dick stood back, +laughing. + +"Take care, Tom; mind he don't bite!" + +"He can't bite with his hind-legs, can he?" replied Tom. "I'll mind. +Now, then, old fellow, turn round; I won't hurt you." + +Solomon raised his tail to a horizontal position and held it out +stiffly. + +"Don't be a stupid," cried Tom; "I want your head, not your tail." + +Dick burst into a roar of laughter, but Tom was not going to be beaten. + +"You leave off laughing," he said, "and go farther back with that stick. +That's right. Now, then, old boy, come on; turn round then." + +_Whack_! + +Poor Tom went backwards and came down a couple of yards away in a +sitting position, with the collar in his lap and an astonished look in +his countenance. + +"Oh, I am sorry, Tom!" cried Dick, running up. "You, Solomon, I'll half +kill you. Are you hurt, Tom?" + +"I don't know yet," said the lad, struggling up. + +"Where did he kick you?" cried Dick, full of sympathy now for his +friend. + +"He didn't kick me at all," said Tom dolefully. "I was holding the +collar right out and he kicked that, but it hit me bang in the front and +hurt ever so." + +"Let me take the harness; I'll get it on him." + +"No, I won't," cried Tom viciously. "I will do it now. Here, give me +that stick." + +"Why, I thought you said I ill-used him!" + +"And I'll ill-use him too," said Tom savagely, "if he doesn't come and +have on his collar. Now, then, you, sir, come here," cried Tom sharply. + +By this time the donkey had trotted to another corner of the yard, where +he stood with his heels presented to his pursuers, and as first one and +then the other made a dash at his head he slewed himself round and +kicked out fiercely. + +"This is a nice game," cried Dick at last, when they were both getting +hot with the exercise of hunting the animal from corner to corner, and +then leaping backward or sidewise to avoid his heels, "Now, just you +tell me this, who could help walloping such a brute? Hold still will +you!" + +But Solomon--a name, by the way, which was given him originally from its +resemblance to "Solemn-un," the latter having been applied to him by +Hickathrift--refused to hold still. In fact he grew more energetic and +playful every minute, cantering round the yard and dodging his pursuers +in a way which would have done credit to a well-bred pony, and the +chances of getting the collar on or bit into his mouth grew more and +more remote. + +"I tell you what let's do," cried Dick at last; "I'm not going to run +myself off my legs to please him. I've got it!" + +"I wish you'd got the donkey," grumbled Tom. "I don't see any fun in +hunting him and nearly getting kicked over the wall." + +"Well, don't be in a hurry," said Dick; "I know how to manage him. +Here, catch hold of this harness. I know." + +"You know!" grumbled Tom, whose side was sore from the donkey's kick +upon the collar. "What are you going to do?" + +"You shall see," cried Dick, busying himself with the wagon rope he had +brought, and making a loop at one end, and then putting the other +through it, so as to produce an easily running noose. + +"What are you going to do with that?" asked Tom. + +"Hold your noise," whispered Dick; "he's such an artful old wretch I +don't know that he wouldn't understand us. I'm going to make you drive +him round by me, and then I'm going to throw this over his head and +catch him." + +"I don't believe you can," cried Tom. + +"Well, you'll see. There, that'll do. I'm ready; take the stick and +make a rush at him. That will drive him round near me, and then we'll +try." + +Tom laid down the harness, took the stick and made the rush at Solomon. +The latter kicked out his heels and cantered round by Dick, who threw +his noose, but failed to lasso the donkey, who took refuge in another +corner. + +"Never mind," cried Dick, gathering up the rope, "I shall do it next +time. Now, then--I'm ready. Drive him back again." + +Tom made another rush at the obstinate animal, which cantered off again, +working considerably harder than it would if it had submitted patiently +to being bitted. This time he gave Dick a better chance, and the boy +threw the rope so well that it seemed as if it must go over the +creature's head. But Solomon was too sharp. He shied at the rope and +tossed his head aside; but though he avoided the noose and escaped it so +far, as he plunged he stepped right into it, tightened it round his +fore-legs, and the next instant fell over at one end of the rope, +kicking and plunging as he lay upon his side, while at the other end of +the rope there lay Dick upon his chest. For he had been jerked off his +feet, but held on to the rope in spite of the donkey's struggles. + +"I've got him, Tom; come and lay hold," panted Dick as the donkey made a +desperate plunge, got upon his legs, and then fell down again upon the +loose ling and straw, kicking out as if galloping. + +This gave Dick time to rise, and, seeing his opportunity, he ran to the +gate and passed the slack rope round, drew it tight, and shouted to Tom +to come and hold on. + +Just as Tom caught hold of the rope the donkey rose again and made a +plunge or two, but only to fall once more, slacking the rope to such an +extent that the boys were able to haul in a couple of yards more and +hold on, stretching Solomon's legs out and drawing them so tightly that +he uttered a piteous cry like the beginning of a bray chopped off short. + +"Do you give in, then?" cried Dick. + +The donkey raised his head slightly and let it fall again, gazing wildly +at his captors, one of whom rushed round, avoided a feeble kick, and sat +down upon the helpless animal's head. + +"Now," cried Dick, "we've got him, Tom; and I've a good mind to play the +drum on his old ribs till he begins to sing!" + +"Don't hit him when he's down," said Tom. "It isn't English." + +"I wasn't going to hit him," said Dick. "He's a prisoner and has given +in. Bring me the bit." + +Solomon opened his mouth to utter a bray; but Dick put the stick between +his teeth, and he only uttered a loud sigh. + +"Ah! now you're sorry for being such a brute, are you?" cried Dick. +"Come along, Tom." + +"I'm coming, only the things have got all mixed," was the reply. + +"Give 'em to me," cried Dick. "That's it. Now, then, you sit on his +neck, Tom, and then I'll get up. And look here, you, sir," he added to +the donkey, "you come any more of your games, and I'll knock your head +off!" + +Solomon's flanks heaved, but he lay quite still, and did not resent +Tom's rather rough treatment as he bestrode his neck and sat down. On +the contrary, he half-raised his head at his master's command, suffered +the bit to be thrust between his teeth and the head-stall to be buckled +on, after which Tom leaped up. + +"Take the rope from about his legs now, Tom," cried Dick. + +"Suppose he kicks!" + +"He won't kick now," cried Dick. "He'd better! Here, you hold the rein +and I'll take it off." + +"No, I'll do it," said Tom sturdily; and going cautiously to work he +unknotted the rope and drew it away, the donkey lying quite motionless. + +"Now, then, Sol, get up!" cried Tom. + +The donkey drew his legs together, leaped to his feet, shook himself +till his ears seemed to rattle, and uttered a sound like a groan. + +"He is beaten now," said Dick. "Come and put on the pad and well go. +That's right; buckle it on." + +Tom obeyed, and the rough scrappy harness was fixed in its place, while +Solomon twitched his ears and rolled them round as if trying to pick up +news in any direction. + +"He won't kick now, will he?" said Tom. + +"Not unless he feels a fly on his back, and then he'll try to kick it +off." + +"Why, he couldn't kick a fly off his back if he tried," said Tom. + +"No, but he'd try all the same. Look out!--there he goes!" + +Tom leaped aside, for the donkey kicked out fiercely for a few moments. + +"Why, there are no flies now!" said Tom. + +"Must be. Look out!--he's going to kick again!" + +The donkey's heels flew out, and Tom made a feint of punching his +companion's head. + +"How clever we are!" he cried. "Just as if I didn't see you tickling +him to make him kick!" + +"Tickle him!" said Dick laughing. "Why, I wasn't tickling him when he +kicked up in the corner there. But come along or we shall never get +that log up to the yard, and father won't like it. Now, Sol! Open the +gate, Tom." + +Tom opened the gate, and with Dick holding the rein the donkey walked +along by his side as meekly as if he had never kicked or shown his teeth +with the intention of biting in his life. The rope was doubled up and +thrown over his back; and when they had gone a few yards Dick, without +pausing, made a bit of a jump and struggled on to the animal's back, +getting himself right aft, as a sailor would say, so that it seemed as +if at any moment he might slip off behind. + +But Solomon made no objection; he just twitched and wagged his tail for +a moment or two, and then put it away out of sight. For the donkey +chained, or rather harnessed, became an obedient slave--a very different +creature from the donkey free. + +When they reached the dyke where the men were standing delving out the +peat, it was to find a group of three fresh arrivals in the persons of +Hickathrift the wheelwright, Dave, and John Warren, and all in earnest +converse upon some subject. + +"Yow may say what yow like," cried Dave, "but fen-land's fen-land, and +meant for the wild birds." + +"And rabbuds," put in John Warren. + +"Ay, lad, and rabbuds," assented Dave; "and it weer nivver meant to grow +corn and grass. Yow can't do it, and yow'll nivver make fen-land +fields. It's agen natur." + +"So it is to ride in a cart or on a sled, lad," said Hickathrift +good-humouredly; "but I make 'em, and folk rides in 'em and carries +things to market." + +"Ay, but that's different," said Dave. "Fen-land's fen-land; and you +can't dree-ern that." + +"You can't dree-ern that," said John Warren, nodding his head in assent. + +"Well, they'll drain these fields, at all events," said Hickathrift. +"Yow can't say they weant do that." + +"I say fen-land's fen-land," reiterated Dave, taking off his fox-skin +cap and rubbing his ear viciously; "and it can't be dree-ernt." + +"Ah! you two are scarred about your 'coy and your rabbud-warren," cried +Hickathrift good-humouredly. "I wish they'd dree-ern the whole place +and have roads all over it, so as to want carts and wains." + +"Nay, they nivver will," said Dave sourly. "Tek to makkin' boats and +punts, mun. Them's best." + +"Hullo, Dave!" cried Dick; "how about the ruffs and reeves? You said +you'd take me to the netting." + +"Well, haven't I come for you, lad?" said Dave quietly. + +"Have you? Oh, Tom, and we've got this old stump to draw away! I can't +go now, Dave." + +"There's plenty o' time, lad. I'm not going back yet Hicky's got to put +a bit o' plank in my boat 'fore I go back." + +"Come on, Tom, and let's get it done," cried Dick. "Here, give us the +rope." + +He took the rope, fastened it to one of the roots, and then joined the +traces together, and tied the rope about them. + +After this the donkey was turned so that his head was toward the sharp +slope, leading to the Priory on the Toft, and a start was made. That is +to say, the donkey tightened the traces, stuck his hoofs into the +ground, tugged for a minute without moving the stump, and then gave up. + +"Why, Mester Dick, yow'll have to get root on a sled or she weant move." + +"Oh, we'll do it directly!" cried Dick. "Here, Tom, you give a good +shove behind. Now, then, pull up!" + +Tom thrust with all his might, while Dick dragged at the donkey's +head-stall, and once more, after offering a few objections, Solomon +tightened the traces and rope, and tugged with all his might, but the +root did not move. + +"Yow weant move her like that, I tell you, lad," said Hickathrift. + +"Won't I!" cried Dick angrily; "but I just will. You Tom, you didn't +half push." + +"Shall I give her a throost?" said the wheelwright, smiling. + +That smile annoyed Dick, who read in it contempt, when it was only +prompted by good temper. + +"We can do it, thank you," cried Dick. "Now, Tom, boy, give it a heave. +Pull up, Solomon." + +Tom heaved, but Solomon refused to "pull up;" and after his late +disappointments, and his discovery that the root was heavier than he, it +took a great deal of coaxing to get him to stir. At last, though, just +as Hickathrift was coming up good-temperedly to lend his aid, it seemed +as if the donkey anticipated a tremendous blow from the long staff the +wheelwright carried, for he made a plunge, Dick took tightly hold of the +rein and gave it a drag, and Tom sat down on the great root, to follow +Hickathrift's example and roar with laughter, in which the men who were +delving peat joined, while Dave and John Warren, men who took life in a +very solemn manner, actually smiled. + +For Solomon's sudden plunge, joined to Dick's drag at the head-stall, +showed that it was quite time a new fit out of harness was provided, +inasmuch as the old leather gave way in two or three places, and the +donkey, with nothing on but his collar, was off full gallop, feeling +himself a slave no longer, while Dick, after staggering backwards for a +yard or two, came down heavily in a sitting position, and in a very wet +place. + +"Yes, it's all very well to laugh," said Dick, getting up and looking +ruefully at the broken bridle and bit which he held in his hand; "but +see how cross father will be." + +"And look where old Solomon has gone!" cried Tom. "I say, how are we to +catch him? Ha! ha! ha! Only look!" + +Everyone but Dick joined in the laugh, for Solomon was rejoicing in his +liberty, and galloping away toward the fen, shaking his head, and +kicking out his heels; while every now and then he stretched out his +neck, grinned, and bit at the wind, for there was nothing else to bite. + +"Nice job we shall have!" grumbled Dick. "Oh, I say, Tom, we are in a +mess." + +"Oh, there's nowt the matter, Mester Dick!" said Hickathrift +good-temperedly, as he picked up the broken harness and examined it. +"Why, I could mend all this in less than an hour with some wax-ends and +a brad-awl." + +"Yes, but will you, Hicky?" + +"Of course I will, my lad. Theer, don't look that how. Go and catch +the Solemn-un, and me, and Dave, and John Warren'll get the root up to +the yard for you." + +"Will you, Hicky?" cried the boys joyfully. "Oh, you are a good old +fellow! Come on, Tom, and let's catch Solomon." + +The harness was thrust aside by the wheelwright, ready to take home, and +then at a word the two fen-men came forward, and together they rolled +the awkwardly-shaped root over and over toward the farm; while, once +satisfied that the pine-root was on its way, Dick gave his companion a +slap on the shoulder, and moistened his hand to get a better grip of his +stick. + +"Get a stick, Tom," he said. "I don't want to drum old Solomon's ribs; +but I'm just in the humour to give it him if he plays any of his +tricks." + +That was just what the donkey seemed determined upon. He had been shut +up for a fortnight in the yard, and hardly knew how to contain himself, +as he bounded along in a way he never attempted when he was not free. +There were spots which he knew of where succulent thistles and water +plants grew, and after a long course of dry food he meant to enjoy a +feast. + +The boys shouted as they ran, and tried to get ahead; but the more they +shouted the more Solomon kicked up his heels and ran, performing a +series of capers that suggested youth instead of extreme old age. + +"We shall never get him," cried Tom as he panted along. + +"We must catch him," cried Dick, making a furious rush to head off the +frolicsome animal, which seemed as if he thoroughly enjoyed teasing his +pursuers. + +Dick was successful in turning the donkey, but not homeward, and he +stopped short unwillingly as he saw the course taken. + +"I say, Dick, isn't it soft out there?" + +"Soft! Yes. Mind how you go!" + +This advice would have been thrown away upon Solomon, though, had he +comprehended it, the effect might have been beneficial. For, whatever +knowledge the donkey might have possessed about the flood, he did not +realise the fact that since he last tickled his palate with the spinous +thistle--an herb which probably assumed to his throat the flavour that +pepper does to ours--there had been a considerable depth of water over +the fen, and that it was very soft. The result was, that while the lads +stopped short, and then began to pick their way from tussock to tussock, +and heather patch to patch, Solomon blundered on, made a splash here, a +bit of a wallow there, and then a bound, which took him in half-way up +his back; and as he plunged and struck out with fore-legs and heels, he +churned up the soft bog and made it softer, so that he sank in and in, +till only his spine was visible with, at the end, his long neck and +great grey head, upon which the ears were cocked out forward, while an +expression of the most intense astonishment shone out of his eyes. + +"Oh, Tom, what shall we do?" + +_He-haw_--_he-yaw_--_he-yaw_! + +Solomon burst out into the most dismal bray ever heard--a long-drawn +misery-haunted appeal for help, which was prolonged in the most +astounding way till it seemed to be a shrill cry. + +"I don't know," responded Tom, wiping the tears out of his eyes. + +"Oh, come, I say," said Dick, "it isn't anything to laugh at!" + +"I know it isn't," cried Tom; "but I can't help it. I feel as if I must +laugh, and--Ha! ha! ha!" + +He burst into a tremendous peal, in which his companion joined, for +anything more comic than the aspect of the "Solemn-un" up to his neck in +the bog it would be hard to conceive. + +"Here, this won't do," cried Dick at last, as he too stood wiping his +eyes. "Poor old Sol, we mustn't let you drown. Come on, Tom, and let's +help him out." + +How Dick expected that he was going to help the donkey out he did not +say; but he began to pick his way from tuft to tuft, avoiding the soft +places, till he was within twenty feet of the nearly submerged animal, +and then he had to stop or share his fate. + +"I say, Tom, I can't get any farther," he cried. "What shall we do?" + +"I don't know." + +"What a fellow you are!" was the angry reply. "You never do know. Old +Sol will be drowned if we don't look sharp. The bog is twenty feet deep +here." + +"Can't he swim out?" + +"Can't you swim out!" cried Dick. "What's the good of talking like +that? You couldn't swim if you were up to the neck in sand." + +"But he isn't up to his neck in sand." + +"But he's up to his neck in bog, and it's all the same." + +"Ahoy! what's matter?" came from a couple of hundred yards away; and the +lads turned, to see that it was Hickathrift shouting, he and the others +having just succeeded in taking up the root to its destination. + +"Ahoy! Bring the rope," shouted Dick. + +"He-haw--haw--haw--haw!" shouted the Solemn one dismally, as if to +emphasise his young master's order. + +"Why, how came he in there?" cried Hickathrift, trotting up with the +rope, but picking his way carefully, for the peat shook beneath his +feet. + +"He went in himself," cried Dick. "Oh, do get him out before he sinks! +Make a noose, and let's throw it over his head." + +"We shall pull his head right off if we do," said Hickathrift, but +busily making the noose the while. + +"Oh, no, I don't believe you would!" cried Tom. "He has got an awfully +strong neck." + +"It won't hurt him," said Dave, who came up slowly with the rest. + +"Well, there's no getting it under him," said the wheelwright; "he'd +kick us to pieces if we tried." + +"I'll try," said Dick eagerly. + +"Nay, I weant let you," said Hickathrift. "I'll go my sen." + +"It weant bear thee, neighbour," said John Warren warningly. + +"Eh? wean't it? Well, I can but try, mun. Let's see." + +The good-natured wheelwright went cautiously towards where Dick was +standing waiting for the rope; but at the third step he was up to his +middle and had to scramble out and back as fast as he could. + +"I'm too heavy," he said; "but I'll try again. All right, I'm coming +soon!" he added as the donkey uttered another dismal bray. + +But his efforts were vain. Each time he tried he sank in, and at last, +giving up to what was forced upon him as an impossibility, he coiled up +the rope to throw. + +"Thou mun heave it over his head, my lad. Don't go no nigher to him; it +isn't safe." + +He threw the rope, and Dick caught the end and recoiled it preparatory +to making a start over the moss. + +"Nay, nay, stop!" shouted Hickathrift. + +"I must go and try if I can't put it round him, Hicky," cried Dick. + +"Come back, thou'lt drownd thysen," shouted Dave excitedly. + +"No, I won't," said Dick; and picking his steps with the greatest care, +he succeeded in stepping within ten yards of the donkey, which made a +desperate struggle now to get out and reach him, but without success; +all he did was to change his position, his hind-quarters going down +lower, while his fore-legs struck out into the daylight once or twice in +his hard fight for liberty. + +"Now, my lad, heave the rope over his head, and we'll haul him out," +cried Hickathrift. + +But Dick paid no heed. He saw in imagination the poor animal strangled +by the noose; and with the idea that he could somehow get alongside, he +struck out to the left, but had to give up, for the bog was more fluid +there. + +On the other side it was even worse, and Dick was about to turn and +shout to the men to try if they could not get the punt up alongside, +when a fresh struggle from Solomon plainly showed him that the animal +must be rescued at once or all would be over. + +Dick made one more trial to get nearer, in spite of the cries and +adjurations of those upon the firmer ground; but it was useless, and +struggling to a tuft of dry reed, he balanced himself there and gathered +up the rope, so as to try and throw the loop over the donkey's head. + +As he held it ready there was another miserable bray, and the lad +hesitated. + +"It means killing him," he muttered. "Poor old Solomon! I never liked +him, but we've had so many runs together." + +His hand dropped to his side with the rope, and he tottered, for the +reed tuft seemed to be sinking. + +Solomon brayed again and fought desperately to free himself, but sank +lower. + +"Heave, Dick, heave!" shouted Tom. + +"Throw it over, my lad! throw it over, or thou'lt be too late!" cried +the wheelwright; but Dick did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the +donkey's head, but his thoughts were far back in the past, in sunny days +when he had been riding by the edge of the fen to the town, or down to +the firm sand by the sea, where Solomon always managed to throw him and +then gallop off. Then there were the wintry times, when the donkey's +hoofs used to patter so loudly over the frozen ground, while now-- + +Perhaps it was very childish, for Dick was a strongly built lad of +sixteen, and had his memory served him truly it would have reminded him +of that terrible kick in the leg which lamed him for a month--of the +black-and-yellow bruise upon his arm made by the vicious animal's jaws +one day when he bit fiercely--of that day when he was pitched over +Solomon's head into the black bog ditch, and had to swim out--of a dozen +mishaps and injuries received from the obstinate beast. But Dick +thought of none of these, only of the pleasant days he had had with the +animal he had known ever since he could run; and, whether it were +childish or not, the tears rose and dimmed his eyes as he stood there +gazing at what seemed to be the animal's dying struggles, and thinking +that it would be kinder to let him drown than to strangle him, as he +felt sure they would. + +"Why don't you throw, Dick?" cried Tom again in an excited yell that was +half drowned by Solomon's discordant bray, though it was growing more +feeble as the struggles were certainly more weak. + +All at once Dick started and his eyes grew more clear. It was not at +the warning shout of the wheelwright, nor the yell uttered by the other +men, but at the action of the sufferer in the bog. For, feeling himself +surely and certainly sinking lower, the donkey made one more tremendous +effort, extricating his fore-legs and beating the fluid peat with them +till it grew thinner, and with neck outstretched and mouth open it sank +more and more back, till head and legs only could be seen. + +Dick did it unconsciously. His eyes were fixed upon the struggling +beast, but his ears were deaf to the shouts behind him. All he heard +was the dismal bray enfeebled to a groan so full of despair that the lad +threw the rope, and in throwing lost his balance, fell, and the next +moment was struggling in the mire. + +He tried to rise, but it was impossible, and as he fought and struggled +for a few moments it was to find that the bog was growing thinner and +that the patches about him, which looked firm, were beginning to sink. + +Was he too going to drown? he asked himself, and something of the +sensation he had felt on the night of the flood came over him. + +Then he felt a snatch, and a voice like thunder brought him to himself. + +"Howd tight, lad!" + +The next moment Dick felt himself gliding over the soft bog, and +directly after Dave had hold of one of his hands and drew him to a place +of safety before running back to the rope. + +"All together, lads! Haul!" + +There was a shout and a tremendous splashing, and Dick Winthorpe +struggled to his feet, wiping the black fluid bog from his eyes, to see +Solomon hauled right out, slowly at first, then faster and faster, till +he was literally run over the slippery surface to where there was firm +ground. + +"I got it over his head, then?" said Dick huskily. + +"Ay, lad, and over his legs too," cried Hickathrift, as he bent down and +loosened the noose. "Eh, bud it's tight. That's it!" + +He dragged the rope off, and the donkey lay perfectly motionless for a +few moments, but not with his eyes closed, for he seemed to be glowering +round. + +"Is he dying, Hicky?" said Dick. + +"Nay, lad; yow can't kill an ass so easy. Seems aw reight. There!" + +The last word was uttered as the donkey suddenly struggled up, gave +himself a tremendous shake, till his ears rattled again as the bog water +flew; and then stretching out his neck as if he were about to bray, he +bared his teeth and made a fierce run at the wheelwright. + +But Hickathrift struck at him with the rope, and to avoid that, Solomon +worked round, made a bite at Dick, which took effect on his wet coat, +tearing a piece right out. Then he swerved round like lightning and +threw out his heels at Tom, tossed up his head, and then cantered off, +braying as he went, as if nothing had been the matter, and making +straight for the yard. + +"Well, of all the ungrateful brutes!" cried Tom. + +"Ay, we might just as well hev let him get smothered," said the +wheelwright, joining in the laughter of the others. "Didn't hurt you, +did he, Mester Dick?" + +"No, Hicky. Only tore my coat," replied Dick, turning reluctantly up to +the house, for he was wet and now felt cold. + +"I say, Dick, what about the netting?" cried Tom. + +The lad looked piteously at Dave and his companion of the rabbit +warren--two inseparable friends--and felt that his chance of seeing the +ruffs and reeves captured was very small. + +"Are you going--to-day, Dave?" he faltered. + +"Nay, lad," said Dave dryly, "yow've had enough o' the bog for one day. +Go and dry thysen. I'll coom and fetch thee to-morrow." + +So the lads went up to the house, the men returned to their draining, +and the wheelwright walked slowly away with Dave and John Warren. + +"Let's run, Dick," said Tom, who was carrying the rope; "then you won't +catch cold." + +"Oh, I sha'n't hurt," said Dick, running all the same; and in passing +the yard they closed the gate, for Solomon was safe inside; but as they +reached the house, where Mrs Winthorpe stood staring aghast at her +son's plight, Solomon burst forth with another dismal, loud complaining: +"_He-haw_!" + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE FEN-MAN'S WAGES. + +Dave did not keep his promise the next day, nor the next; but Dick +Winthorpe had his attention taken up by other matters, for a party of +men arrived and stopped with their leaders at the Toft, where they were +refreshed with ale and bread and cheese, previous to continuing their +journey down to the seaside. + +The squire and Farmer Tallington accompanied them down to their +quarters, which were to be at a disused farm-house close to the mouth of +the little river; and incidentally Dick learned that this was the first +party of labourers who were to cut the new lode or drain from near the +river mouth right across the fen; that there was to be a lock with gates +at the river end, to let the drain-water out at low tide, and that the +banks of the drain were to be raised so as to protect the land at the +sides from being flooded. + +Fen people from far and wide collected to see the gang, and to watch the +surveyors, who, with measuring chain and staves and instruments, busied +themselves marking out the direction in which the men were to cut; and +these fen people shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders, while +more than once, when Squire Winthorpe addressed one or the other, Dick +noticed that they were always surly, and that some turned away without +making any answer. + +"Never mind, Dick," said the squire laughing. "Some day when we've +given them smiling pastures and corn-fields, instead of water and bog +and ague, they will be ashamed of themselves." + +"But--" + +"Well, but what, sir?" said the squire as the lad hesitated. + +"I was only going to say, father, isn't it a pity to spoil the fen?" + +The squire did not answer for a few moments, but stood frowning. The +severe look passed off directly though, and he smiled. + +"Dick," he said gravely, "all those years at a good school, to come back +as full of ignorance and prejudice as the fen-men! Shame!" + +He walked away, leaving Dick with his companion Tom Tallington. + +"I say," said the latter, "you caught it." + +"Well, I can't help it," said Dick, who felt irritated and ashamed. "It +does seem a pity to spoil all the beautiful pools and fishing places, +and instead of having beds of reeds full of birds, for there to be +nothing but fields and a great ugly drain. Why, the flowers, and +butterflies, and nesting places will all be swept away. What do we care +for fields of corn!" + +"My father cares for them, and he says it will be the making of this +part of the country." + +"Unmaking, he means," said Dick; and they went on to watch the +proceedings of the strange men who had come--big, strong, +good-tempered-looking fellows, armed with sharp cutting spades, and for +whose use the lads found that a brig had come into the little river, and +was landing barrows, planks, and baskets, with a variety of other +articles to be used in the making of the drain. + +"I'm afraid we shall have some trouble over this business, Tallington," +said the squire as they went back. + +"Well, we sha'n't be the only sufferers," said the farmer +good-humouredly. "I suppose all we who have adventured our few pounds +will be in the people's black books. But we must go on--we can't stop +now." + +The next day Tom came over, and the lads went down towards the +far-stretching fen, now once more losing a great deal of the water of +the flood. + +They passed the Solemn one apparently none the worse for his bath, for +he trotted away from the gate to thrust his head in the favourite corner +by the old corbel in the wall, and look back at them, as if as ready to +kick as ever. + +"Poor old Solomon!" said Dick laughing, "I should have been sorry if he +had been lost." + +"Oh, never mind him," cried Tom; "is old Dave coming over to fetch us? +Why, Dick, look!" + +"I can't see anything," said Dick. + +"Because you're not looking the right way. There! Now he's behind that +bed of reeds a mile away." + +"I see!" cried Dick. "Why, it is Dave, and he's coming." + +The lads ran down to the edge of the fen, and made their way to the end +of a long, open, river-like stretch of water, which was now perfectly +clear, so that everything could be clearly distinguished at the bottom; +and before long, as they walked to and fro, they caught sight of a +little shoal of small fish, and soon after of a young pike, with his +protruding lower jaw, waiting for his opportunity to make a dash at some +unfortunate rudd, whose orange fins and faintly-gilded sides made him a +delectable-looking morsel for his olive-green and gold excellency the +tyrant of the river. + +"He's coming here, isn't he?" said Tom, gazing out anxiously over the +reedy waste. + +"Yes; I can see his old fox-skin cap. He's coming safe enough." + +"Oh, Dick!" cried his companion. + +"Well! What?" + +"The powder. You've never given him the powder, and he'll be as gruff +as can be. Has he had the horn?" + +"Had two," said Dick, watching the approaching punt, which was still +half a mile away, and being poled steadily in and out of the winding +water-lane, now hidden by the dry rustling reeds which stood covered +with strands of filmy conferva or fen scum. + +"But he hasn't had the powder we promised him." + +"No," said Dick loftily; "not yet." + +"Why, you haven't brought it, Dick!" + +"Haven't brought it, indeed! Why, what's this, then?" + +He drew a bottle from his pocket, took out the cork, and poured a little +of its contents into his hand--dry, black grains, like so much sable +sand, and then poured it back and corked it tightly. + +"You are a good fellow, Dick; but I haven't paid my share." + +"I don't want your share," said Dick loftily. "Father gave me +half-a-crown the other day." + +"I wish my father gave me half-crowns sometimes," sighed Tom; "but he +isn't so rich as yours." + +"There, don't bother about money!" cried Dick. "Let's think about the +birds. Hooray! here he comes! Hi, Dave!" + +Sound travels easily over water, and the decoy-man must have heard the +hail, but he paid no heed, only kept on poling his punt along, thrusting +down the long ash sapling, which the fen-men used as punt-pole, staff, +and leaping-pole in turn; and then as the boat glided on, standing erect +in her bows like some statue. + +"Now, what a dried-up old yellow mummy he is!" cried Dick. "He can see +us, but he's pretending he can't, on purpose to tease us. Look at that! +He needn't have gone behind that great reed patch. It's to make us +think he is going down to your place." + +"Let's run down and meet him," said Tom eagerly. + +"No, no; stop where you are. If he sees us go down there he'll double +back directly and come here. He's just like an old fox. I know. Come +along!" + +Dick started up and ran in the same direction as Dave had taken with the +punt before he disappeared behind the reed-bed. Tom followed, and they +raced on along the edge till a clump of alders was reached. + +"Pst! Tom, round here," whispered Dick; and leading the way he doubled +back, following the long low bed of swamp-loving wood, and keeping in +its shelter till they were once more opposite to the spot where Dave +should have landed. + +There, still hid among the trees, Dick stooped down in a thick bed of +dry reeds, pretty close to the water, and in full view of the rough +winding canal leading far and wide. + +"Let's hide for a few minutes," said Dick chuckling. "You'll see he'll +come here after all." + +The lad had a good idea of Dave's ways, for before they had been +watching many minutes there was the splashing of the pole heard in the +water, and the rustling of the reeds, but nothing was visible, and Tom +began to be of opinion that his companion had been wrong, when all at +once the reeds began to sway and crackle right before them, and before +Tom recovered from his surprise the punt shot right out of the middle of +the long low wall of dried growth, and in answer to a vigorous thrust or +two from the pole, glided across to within a dozen yards of where the +lads crouched. + +"Come on, Tom!" said Dick, and they stepped out at once so suddenly that +the decoy-man, in spite of his self-control, started. A curious smile +puckered his face directly and he stood staring at them. + +"Why, you have been a long time, Dave," cried Dick. + +"Long, boy?" + +"Yes, long. You asked us to come over and see the netting." + +"Ay, so I did, boy; but there soon wean't be no netting." + +"Then come on and let's see it while there is some," cried Dick. "When +we used to be home from school you always said we were too young. You +can't say that now." + +"Ay, bud I can," said the man with a dry chuckle. + +"Then don't," said Dick. "You've brought your gun there!" he cried +joyfully. + +"Ay, I've brote my gun," said Dave; "but I hevven't any powder." + +"Yes, you have, Dave," cried Dick, tugging the wine-bottle from his +pocket. "Here's some." + +"Eh? Is that powder or drink?" said the man, taking the bottle and +giving it a shake. "It arn't full, though." + +"No, it isn't full," said Dick in a disappointed tone; "but there's a +whole pound, and it's the best." + +"Ah, well, I daresay it'll do," said Dave slowly. + +"Load the gun, then, and let's have a shot at the snipes as we go," said +Tom. + +"Nay, she wean't go off till she has had a new flint in. I'm going to +knap one when I get back." + +"Jump in, then," cried Dick. "I'm going to pole her across." + +"Nay, I don't think it's any use to-day." + +"Why, Dave, this is just the sort of day you said was a good one for +netting." + +"Did I, lad?" + +"Yes; didn't he, Tom? And what's that wisp of birds going over the +water, yonder?" + +"Quick, in wi' ye, lads!" cried the decoy-man, with his whole manner +changed. "The right sort. Look, lads, another wisp! See how low they +fly. They mean feeding." + +The boys leaped into the punt, and Dick was about to seize the pole, but +Dave stopped him. + +"Nay, lad, let me send her across. Save time." + +"Then may I have a shot at the first heron I see?" + +"Nay, nay; don't let's scar' the birds, lad. It's netting to-day. +We'll shute another time when they wean't come near the net." + +Dick gave way, and Dave took the pole, to send the light punt skimming +over the water, and in and out among the reed-beds through which, +puzzling as they would have been to a stranger, he thrust the vessel +rapidly. They were full of devious channels, and Dave seemed to prefer +these, for even when there was a broad open piece of water in front he +avoided it, to take his way through some zigzag lane with the reeds +brushing the boat on either side, and often opening for himself a way +where there was none. + +The man worked hard, but it seemed to have no effect upon him; and when +the lads were not watching him and his energetic action, there was +always something to take up their attention. Now a heron would rise out +of one of the watery lanes, gaunt, grey, and with his long legs +stretched out behind to look like a tail as his great flap wings beat +the air and carried him slowly away. + +Then with a loud splash and cackling, up would spring a knot of ducks, +their wings whirring as they rapidly beat the air in a flight wonderful +for such a heavy bird. Again a little farther and first one and then +another snipe would dart away in zigzag flight, uttering their strange +_scape, scape_. And all tempting to a lad who sat there within touch of +a long heavy-looking gun, which had been cleaned and polished till every +part was worn. + +But he had been told that it was not charged and that the flint-lock was +in a failing condition; and besides, Dick felt that it would be +dishonourable to touch the gun now that it was almost trusted to his +care. + +In spite of Dave's ability and knowledge of the short cuts to the part +of the fen where he lived, it took him nearly three-quarters of an hour +to punt across, where the lads landed upon what was really an island in +the fen, though one side ran pretty close up to some fairly dry land +full of narrow water-lanes and pools, all favourite breeding ground for +the wild-fowl. + +The boys leaped out while Dave fastened the punt to an old willow trunk, +and, quite at home in the place, went on first to a rough-looking house +nearly hidden among alders and willows, all of which showed traces of +the flood having been right up, submerging everything to a depth of +three to four feet. + +"Hullo, Chip! Chip! Chip!" cried Tom, and the decoy-man's little +sharp-looking dog came bounding to them, to leap up, and fawn and whine, +full of delight at seeing human faces again. + +There was the twittering and piping of birds, and the scuffling, +scratching noise made by animals in a cage, as they reached the +roughly-fenced yard, more than garden, about Dave's cottage, the boys +eager to inspect the birds, the ferrets, the eel-spear leaning against +the reed thatch, and the brown nets hung over poles, stretching from +post to post, as if to dry. + +"Why, it's months sin' you've been to see me," said Dave. + +"Well, whose fault's that?" said Dick sharply. "I say, Dave, these nets +are new." + +"Ay, every one of 'em. Made 'em all this summer." + +"Didn't you get lots of things spoiled when the flood came?" cried Tom. + +"N-no, lad, no. Nearly had my birds drownded, but I got 'em atop of the +thack yonder." + +"But hasn't your cottage been dreadfully wet?" asked Dick, who was +poking his finger in a cage full of ferrets. "I say, what are John +Warren's ferrets doing here?" + +"Doin' nothing, and waiting to be took out, that's all, lad." + +"But wasn't your place horribly wet?" + +"What care I for a drop o' watter?" said Dave contemptuously. + +"Look here, Dick, at the decoys," cried Tom running to a large wicker +cage in which were four of the curious long-legged birds known as ruffs +and reeves. + +"Was six," said Dave. "I lost two." + +"How?" + +"Fightin', lad. I niver see such bonds to fight. Gamecocks is babies +to 'em. I'm going to try a new improved way of ketching of 'em by +challenging the wild ones to fight." + +"Never mind about them," said Dick eagerly; "are you going to start +now?" + +"Ah! you're so precious eager to begin, lad," said Dave; "but when +you've been sitting out there on the boat for about a couple of hours +you'll be glad to get back." + +"Oh, no, we sha'n't!" cried Dick. "Now, then, let's start." + +"Ay, but we've got to get ready first." + +"Well, that's soon done. Shall I carry the birds down to the boat?" + +"Nay; we wean't take them to-day. I've sin more pie-wipes than ruffs, +so let's try for them." + +He went round to the back of the hovel and took from the roof a cage +which the lads had not yet seen, containing seven green plovers, and +this was carried to the boat, where the frightened birds ran to and fro, +thrusting their necks between the wicker bars in a vain attempt to +escape. + +This done, a bundle of net, some long stout cord, and poles were +carefully placed in the stern, after which Dave went into his cottage to +bring out a mysterious-looking basket, which was also placed in the +stern of the boat. + +"That's about all," said the man, after a moment's thought; and +unfastening the punt after the boys were in, he pushed off, but only to +turn back directly and secure the boat again. + +"Why, what now, Dave?" cried Dick. "Aren't you going?" + +"Going, lad! yes; but I thowt if we caught no bohds you might like me to +shute one or two." + +"Well, we've got the gun and plenty of powder." + +"Ay, lad; but I've lost my last flint, and I've got to knap one." + +The boys followed him ashore, leaving the plovers fluttering in the +cage, and Dave went inside his cottage, and returned directly with a +hammer and a piece of flint, which he turned over two or three times so +as to get the stone in the right position, as, taught by long +experience, he struck a sharp blow. + +Now Dave, the duck-decoy-man of the fens, knew nothing about lines of +fracture or bulbs of percussion as taught by mineralogists, but he knew +exactly where to hit that piece of flint so as to cause a nice +sharp-edged flake to fly off, and he knew how and where to hit that +flake so as to chip it into a neat oblong, ready for his gun, those +present being ignorant of the fact that they were watching workmanship +such as was in vogue among the men who lived and hunted in England in +the far-distant ages of which we have no history but what they have left +us in these works. Dave Gittan chipped away at the flint just as the +ancient hunters toiled to make the arrow-heads with which they shot the +animals which supplied them with food and clothing, the flint-knives +with which they skinned and cut up the beasts, and the round sharp-edged +scrapers with which they removed the fat and adhering flesh as they +dressed and tanned the skins to make them fit to wear. + +Dave chipped one gun-flint very accurately, failed to make a second, but +was triumphant with the third attempt, and fitting it exactly in the +lock of his piece with a piece of leather at top and bottom, he loaded +the gun with a great deal of ceremony, measuring the powder with a tiny +cup which fitted over the top of his powder-horn, and his shot with the +same vessel, so many times filled. + +These rammed down in place with some rough paper on the top, and the +ramrod measured to see whether it stood out the right distance from the +barrel, the pan was primed and closed, and the gun carefully laid ready +for use. + +"There," cried Dave in an ill-used tone, "I don't know why I'm tekkin' +all this trouble for such a pair o' young shacks as you; but come +along." + +"It's because he likes us, Dick," said Tom merrily. + +"Nay, that I don't," cried Dave. "I hate the lot of you. Not one of +you'll be satisfied till you've spoiled all my fen-land, and made it a +place where nivver a bird will come." + +"Why, I wouldn't have it touched if I could help it--St! Dave, what +bird's that?" said Dick. + +"Curlew," replied Dave in a low voice, whose tones were imitated by the +lads as the boat was softly punted along. "See them, boys!" + +He nodded in the direction they were going, towards where a number of +birds were flying about over some patches of land which stood just over +the level of the water. Now they looked dark against the sky, now they +displayed feathers of the purest white, for their flight with their +blunted wings was a clumsy flapping very different to the quiver and +skim of a couple of wild ducks which came by directly after and dropped +into the water a quarter of a mile ahead. + +"You come and see me next spring, my lads, and I'll show you where +there's more pie-wipes' eggs than ever you found before in your lives." + +"But you'll take us one day to the 'coy, Dave?" said Dick. + +"Nay, I don't think I can," said Dave. + +"But it's my father's 'coy," said Dick. + +"Ay, I know all about that," said the man harshly; "but it wean't be +much good to him if he dree-erns the fen." + +Dave's voice was growing loud and excited, but he dropped it directly +and thrust away without making the slightest splash with his iron-shod +pole. + +As they came near one bed of reeds several coots began to paddle away, +jerking their bald heads as they went, while a couple of moor-hens, +which as likely as not were both cocks, swam as fast as their long thin +unwebbed toes would allow them, twitching their black-barred white tails +in unison with the jerking of their scarlet-fronted little heads, and +then taking flight upon their rounded wings, dragging their long thin +toes along the top of the water, and shrieking with fear, till they +dropped into the sheltering cover ahead. + +Snipes flew up from time to time, and more curlews and green plovers +were seen, offering plenty of opportunities for the use of the gun, as +the punt progressed till a long low spit of heathery gravel, about forty +feet in length and five wide, was reached, with a patch of reeds across +the water about a couple of hundred yards away. + +"Is this the place?" cried Dick excitedly; and upon being answered in +the affirmative--"Now, then, what shall we do first?" + +"Sit still, and I'll tell you, lads," was the stern reply, as Dave, now +all eagerness, secured the boat and landed his net and poles. + +"Don't tread on her, my lads," he said. "Now help me spread her out." + +He showed them how to proceed, and the net, about a dozen yards in +length, was spread along the narrow spit of land, which was only about a +foot wider than the net, at whose two ends was fixed a pole as spreader, +to which lines were attached. + +The net spread, the side nearest to the water was fastened down with +pegs, so adjusted as to act as hinges upon which the apparatus would +turn, while as soon as this was done Dave called for the +mysterious-looking basket. + +This being produced from the punt and opened was found to contain about +a dozen stuffed peewits, which, though rough in their feathers, were +very fair imitations of the real things. + +These were stuck along the edge of the net outside and at either end. + +"Now for the 'coys," cried Dave, and Tom brought the cage of unfortunate +peewits, who had a painful duty to perform, that of helping to lead +their free brethren into the trap that was being laid for them. + +Each of these decoy-birds was quickly and cleverly tethered to a peg +along the edge of the net upon the narrow strip of clear land, a string +being attached to one leg so long as to give them enough freedom to +flutter a little among the stuffed birds, which seemed to be feeding. + +"There!" cried Dave, when all was ready; and at a short distance nothing +was visible but the group of birds fluttering or quiescent, for the net +was wonderfully like the ground in colour. "There, she's ready now, my +lads, so come along." + +He bade Dick thrust the punt along to the bed of reeds; and as the lad +deftly handled the pole, Dave let out the line, which was so attached to +the ends of the poles that a vigorous pull would drag the net right +over. + +It was quite a couple of hundred yards to the reeds, through which the +punt was pushed till it and its occupants were hidden, when, having +thrust down the pole as an anchor to steady the little vessel, the line +was drawn tight so as to try whether it would act, and then kept just so +tense as to be invisible beneath the water, and secured to the edge of +the punt. + +"That ought to bring them, lads," said Dave, with his eyes twinkling +beneath his fox-skin cap, after beating a few reeds aside so that they +could have a good view of where the unfortunate peewits fluttered at the +pegs. + +"But suppose they don't come?" said Tom. "I know if I was a piewipe I +wouldn't be cheated by a few dummies and some pegged-down birds." + +"But then you are not a piewipe, only a goose," said Dick. + +"Hist!" whispered Dave, and placing his fingers to his mouth he sent out +over the grey water so exact an imitation of the green plover's cry that +Dick looked at him in wonder, for this was something entirely new. + +_Pee-eugh, pee-eugh, pee-eugh_! And the querulous cry was answered from +a distance by a solitary lapwing, which came flapping along in a great +hurry, sailed round and round, and finally dropped upon the little +narrow island and began to run about. + +"You won't pull for him, will you, Dave?" whispered Dick. + +Dave shook his head, and the boys watched as from time to time the man +uttered the low mournful cry. + +"Wonder what that chap thinks of the stuffed ones?" whispered Dick. + +"Why don't the live ones tell him it isn't safe?" said Tom. + +"Don't know; perhaps they're like old Tom Tallington," said Dick: +"whenever they get into a mess they like to get some one else in it +too." + +"You say that again and I'll hit you," whispered Tom, holding up his +fist menacingly. + +"Hist!" came from Dave, who uttered the imitation of the peewit's +whistle again, and a couple more of the flap-winged birds came slowly +over the grey-looking water, which to anyone else, with its patches of +drab dry weeds and bared patches of black bog, would have seemed to be a +terrible scene of desolation, whereas it was a place of enchantment to +the boys. + +"They come precious slowly," said Dick at last. "I thought that there +would have been quite a crowd of birds, like you see them sometimes. +Look at the old bald-heads, Tom." + +He pointed to a party of about half a dozen coots which came slowly out +of the reeds and then sailed on again as if suspicious of all being not +quite right. + +Then there was another little flock of ducks streaming over the fen in +the distance, and their cries came faintly as they dashed into the +water, as if returning home after a long absence. + +"There goes a her'n," whispered Tom, who was not very good at seeing +birds and worse at telling what they were. + +"'Tisn't," cried Dick; "it's only a grey crow." + +"If you two go on chattering like that we shall get no birds," said Dave +sharply. "What a pair o' ruck-a-toongues you are; just like two owd +women!" + +"Well, but the birds are so long coming," said Dick; "I'm getting the +cramp. I say, Dave, are there any butterbumps [bitterns] close here?" + +"Plenty; only they wean't show theirsens. Hah!" + +They had been waiting a couple of hours, and the peewit's cry had been +uttered from time to time, but only a straggler or two had landed upon +the strip of land. Dick had been eager to capture these, but Dave shook +his head. It wasn't worth while to set the net and peg out decoys and +stales, he said, to catch two pie-wipes that weren't enough for a man's +dinner. + +So they crouched there in the punt, waiting and growing more cold and +cramped, fidgeting and changing their positions, and making waves seem +to rise from under the boat to go whispering among the reeds. + +Every now and then Tom uttered a sigh and Dick an impatient grunt, while +at these movements Dave smiled but made no other sign, merely watching +patiently. His eyes glittered, and their lids passed over them rapidly +from time to time; otherwise he was as motionless as if carved out of +old brown boxwood, an idea suggested by the colour of his skin. + +"I say," said Dick at last, as there were tokens in the distance of the +day coming to an end with mist and fine rain, "I am getting so hungry! +Got anything to eat, Dave?" + +"When we've done, lads." + +"But haven't we done? No birds will come to-day." + +Dave did not answer, only smiled very faintly; and it seemed as if the +lad was right, for the sky and water grew more grey, and though the +stuffed birds appeared to be diligently feeding, and those which were +tethered hopped about and fluttered their wings, while the two free ones +ran here and there, flew away and returned, as if exceedingly mystified +at the state of affairs on that long, narrow strip of land, Dave's calls +seemed to be as vain as the snares he had made. + +"I wonder whether these birds break their shins in running over the +meshes of the net!" said Dick after a long yawn. "Oh, I say, Dave, +there's no fun in this; let's go!" + +"Hist! pee-eugh, pee-eugh!" whistled Dave loudly, and then in quite a +low tone that sounded distant, and this he kept up incessantly and with +a strange ventriloquial effect. + +The boys were all excitement now, for they grasped at once the cause of +their companion's rapid change of manner. For there in the distance, +coming down with the wind in scattered flight and as if labouring +heavily to keep themselves up, appeared a flock of lapwings pretty well +a hundred strong. + +"Hooray! At last, Tom!" cried Dick. "Will they come and settle on the +net, Dave?" + +"Not a bird of 'em if thou keeps up that ruck," whispered the man +excitedly. + +The next minute he was imitating the cry of the peewit, and it was +answered from the distance by the birds coming along, while the two +stragglers which had been hanging about so long now rose up, circled +round, and settled again. + +"Look at them!" whispered Dick. "Lie low, Tom; they're coming." + +Both lads were on the tiptoe of expectation, but it seemed as if they +were to be disappointed, for the flock came on slowly, uttering its +querulous cries, and circled round as if to pass over, but they were +evidently still attracted by the decoy-birds, and hesitated and flew to +and fro. + +"Oh, if they don't light now!" said Dick to himself. "They're going," +he sighed half aloud, and then he seized Tom's arm in his excitement, +and gripped it so hard that the boy nearly cried out, and would have +done so but for the state of eagerness he too was in. + +For after farther signs of hesitation and doubt, all of which were in +favour of the flock going right away, one of them seemed to give a +regular tumble over in the air, as if it were shot, and alighted. +Another followed, and another, and another, till, to the intense +excitement of the occupants of the boat among the reeds, the long, low +spit of gravel, almost level with the water, became alive with birds +running here and there. + +It was on Dick's lips to cry, "Now, Dave, pull!" but he could not speak, +only watch the thin, keen, yellow man, whose eye glittered beneath his +rough hairy cap as he slowly tightened the line, drawing it up till it +was above the surface of the water, which began to ripple and play about +it in long waves running off in different directions. There was so +great a length that it was impossible to draw it tight without moving +the spreader poles; and as the lads both thought of what the +consequences would be if the line broke, the movement at the ends of the +long net spread the alarm. + +There was a curious effect caused by the spreading of the wings of the +birds, and the whole island seemed to be slowly rising in the air; but +at that moment the water hissed from the punt right away to where the +flock was taking flight, and as the line tightened, a long filmy wave +seemed to curve over towards them. By one rapid practice-learned drag, +the net was snatched over and fell on to the water, while a great flock +of green plovers took flight in alarm and went flapping over reed-bed +and mere. + +"Oh, what a pity!" cried Dick, jumping up in the boat and stamping his +foot with rage. + +"And so near, too!" cried Tom. + +"Sit down, lads," roared Dave, who was dragging the pole out of the +ground, and the next moment he was thrusting the light boat along over +the intervening space, and the more readily that the bottom there was +only three or four feet below the surface, and for the most part firm. + +"Why, have you caught some?" cried Dick. + +The answer was given in front, for it was evident that the net had +entangled several of the unfortunate birds, which were flapping the +water and struggling vainly to get through the meshes, but drowning +themselves in the effort. + +The scene increased in excitement as the boat neared, for the birds +renewed their struggles to escape, and the decoys tethered on the island +to their pegs leaped and fluttered. + +In an incredibly short time the skilful puntsman had his boat alongside +the net, and then began the final struggle. + +It was a vain one, for one by one the plovers were dragged from beneath +and thrust into a large basket, till the net lay half-sunk beneath the +surface, and the feeble flapping of a wing or two was all that could be +heard. + +The boat was dripping with water and specked with wet feathers, and a +solitary straggler of the plover flock flew to and fro screaming as if +reproaching the murderers of its companions; otherwise all was still as +Dave stood up and grinned, and showed his yellow teeth. + +"There!" he cried triumphantly; "yow didn't expect such a treat as +that!" + +"Treat!" said Dick, looking at his wet hands and picking some feathers +from his vest, for he and Tom after the first minute had plunged +excitedly into the bird slaughter and dragged many a luckless bird out +of the net. + +"Ay, lad, treat!--why, there's nigh upon fourscore, I know." + +Dick's features had a peculiar look of disgust upon them and his brow +wrinkled up. + +"Seems so precious cruel," he said. + +Dave, who was rapidly freeing his decoy-birds and transferring them to +the cage, stood up with a fluttering plover in one hand. + +"Cruel!" he cried. + +"Yes, and treacherous," replied Dick. + +"Deal more cruel for me to be found starved to death in my place some +day," said Dave. "Pie-wipes eats the beedles and wains, don't they? +Well, we eats the pie-wipes, or sells 'em, and buys flour and bacon. +Get out wi' ye! Cruel! Yow don't like piewipe pie!" + +"I did, and roast piewipe too," cried Dick; "but I don't think I shall +ever eat any again." + +"Hark at him!" cried Dave, going on rapidly with his task and packing up +his stuffed birds neatly in their basket, drawing out his pegs, and then +rolling up and wringing the wet net before placing it in the punt, and +winding in the dripping line which he drew through the water from the +reed-bed. "Hark at him, young Tom Tallington!"--and he uttered now a +peculiarly ugly harsh laugh--"young squire ar'n't going to eat any more +bacon, 'cause it's cruel to kill the pigs; nor no eels, because they has +to be caught; and he wean't catch no more jacks, nor eel-pouts, nor yet +eat any rabbud-pie! Ha--ha--ha--ha--ha!" + +"Look here, Dave!" cried Dick passionately, "if you laugh at me I'll shy +something at you! No, I won't," he shouted, seizing the cage; "I'll +drown all your decoys!" + +"Ay, do!" said Dave, beginning to use the pole. "You're such a +particular young gentleman! Only, wouldn't it be cruel?" + +"Ha--ha--ha!" laughed Tom. + +"Do you want me to punch your head, Tom?" roared Dick, turning scarlet. + +"Nay, lads, don't spyle a nice bit o' sport by quarrelling," said Dave, +sending the boat rapidly homeward. "I wean't laugh at you no more, +Mester Dick. I like you for it, lad. It do seem cruel; and sometimes +when I weer younger, and a bud looked up at me with its pretty eyes, as +much as to say, `don't kill me!' I would let it go." + +"Ah!" ejaculated Dick with a sigh of relief. + +"But what did that bud do, lad? If it was a piewipe, go and kill +hundreds o' worms, and snails, and young frogs; if it was a heron, spear +fish and pick the wriggling young eels out of the mud. No, lad, it +wean't do; buds is the cruellest things there is, pretty as they are-- +all except them as only eats seeds. Everything 'most is cruel; but if +they wasn't the world would get so full that everything would starve. +We've got say fourscore pie-wipes--not for fun, but for wittles--and +what's fourscore when there's thousands upon thousands all about?" + +"Why, Dave, you're a philosopher!" said Dick, who felt relieved. + +"Yes," said Dave complacently, but with a very foggy idea of the meaning +of the word; "it's being out so much upon the water. Now, there's a +nice couple o' ducks swimming just the other side o' them reeds, as a +lad might hit just as they rose from the water when we come round the +corner; and I'd say hev a shot at 'em, Mester Dick--on'y, if I did, it +would hurt your feelings." + +Dick was silent for a moment or two as he tried to keep down his human +nature. Then he spoke out: + +"I beg your pardon, Dave, after what you did for us. May I take up the +gun?" + +"Ay. Steady, lad!--keep her head over the stem, and I'll turn the boat +round and send you along gently. Now you lie down on your chesty and +rest the barr'l on the net, for she's too heavy for you to handle. Then +wait till the ducks rise, and let go at 'em." + +There was another interval full of excitement; the punt was sent quietly +toward the end of the reed-bed; and in obedience to his instructions +Dick knelt ready to fire--Tom watching him enviously, and wishing it +were his turn. + +Nearer, nearer, with the punt allowed to go on now by the force of the +last thrust given to it, till the last patch of reed was cleared; and +there, not twenty yards away, swam a fine shieldrake and four ducks. + +As the punt glided into sight there was a splashing and whirring of +wings, a great outcry, and away went the birds. + +"Now, lad!" cried Dave; and the gun was fired with a deafening report. +But no feathers flew--no unfortunate duck or drake dropped, +broken-winged, into the water. The only living being injured was Dick, +who sat up rubbing his shoulder softly. + +"I say," he said, "how that gun kicks!" + +"Yes," said Dave dryly, "I put a big charge in her, my lad; but it was a +pity to waste it." + +"I couldn't help missing," said Dick. "They were so quick." + +"Nay, you wouldn't try to hit 'em, lad, because you thought you'd hot +'em," said Dave, chuckling; and Tom laughed, while Dick sat and nursed +the gun in silence, till the punt was poled ashore and its contents +landed. + +"Now," said Dave, "I've got a rabbud-pie as I made mysen. Come and hev +a bit, lads; and then you shall take home a dozen pie-wipes apiece. +It'll be moonlight, and I'll soon punt you across." + +That pie, in spite of the rough surroundings, was delicious; and Dick +forgot to pity the poor rabbits, and he did not refuse to take his dozen +lapwings home for a welcome addition to the next day's dinner. + +"You see, Tom," he whispered, "I think I was a little too particular. +Good-night, Dave, and thank you!" he shouted. + +"Good-night, lads--good-night!" came off the water. Then there was a +splash of the pole, and Dave disappeared in the moonlit mist which +silvered the reeds, while the boys trudged the rest of their way home. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +THE DRAIN PROGRESSES. + +The number of workers increased at the sea-bank, quite a colony growing +up, and Dick paid several visits to the place with his father to see how +busily the men were delving, while others built up what was termed a +_gowt_--a flood-gate arrangement for keeping out the sea at high water, +and opening it at low, so as to give egress to the drain-water collected +from the fen-land. + +Both lads were eager enough to be there to witness the progress of the +works at first; but after going again and again, they voted the whole +thing to be uninteresting, and no more worth seeing than the digging of +one of the ditches on the farms at home. + +And certainly there was no more difference than in the fact that the +ditches at home were five or six feet wide, while the one the +adventurers were having cut through the fen-land would be forty feet, +and proportionately deep. + +So the big drain progressed foot by foot, creeping on as it were from +the sea-shore, an innocent-looking channel that seemed valueless, but +which would, when finished, rid the land of its stagnant water, and turn +the boggy, peaty soil of the fen into rich pasture and corn-land, +whereas its finest produce now was wild-fowl and a harvest of reeds. + +"We're getting on, neighbour," said the squire to Farmer Tallington one +evening. + +"Ay, but it's slow work," said Tom's father. "It'll be years before +that lode is cooten." + +"Yes, it will be years before it is finished," said the squire, +"certainly." + +"Then, what's the good of us putting our money in it, eh? It'll do us +no good, and be robbing our boys." + +"Then why don't you leave off, father?" said Tom stoutly. "Dick +Winthorpe and I don't want the fen to be drained, and we don't want to +be robbed. Do we, Dick?" + +The two elders laughed heartily, and the squire was silent for a few +minutes before he began to speak. + +"The drain's right, neighbour," he said gravely. "Perhaps you and I +will reap no great benefit from it; though, if we live, we shall; but +instead of leaving to our boys, when they take up our work, neighbour, +either because we are called away to our rest or because we have grown +old, these farms with so much good land and so much watery bog, we shall +leave them acre upon acre of good solid land, that has been useless to +us, but which will bear them crops and feed their beasts." + +"Yes," said Farmer Tallington, "there's something in that, but--" + +"Come, neighbour, look ahead. Every foot that drain comes into the fen +it will lower the level, and we shall see--and before long--our farm +land grow, and the water sink." + +"Ye-es; but it's so like working for other people!" + +"Well," said the squire laughing, "what have you been doing in that half +acre of close beside your house?" + +"That! Oh, only planted it with pear-trees so as to make a bit of an +orchard!" + +"Are you going to pick a crop of pears next year, neighbour?" + +"Next year! Bah! They'll be ten years before they come well into +bearing." [This was the case with the old-fashioned grafting.] + +"So will the acres laid bare by the draining," said the squire smiling, +"and I hope we shall live to see our boys eating the bread made from +corn grown on that patch of water and reeds, along with the pears from +your trees." + +"That's a clincher," said the farmer. "You've coot the ground from +under me, neighbour, and I wean't grudge the money any more." + +"I wish father wouldn't say _coot_ and _wean't_!" whispered Tom, whose +school teaching made some of the homely expressions and bits of dialect +of the fen-land jar. + +"Why not? What does it matter?" said Dick, who was busy twisting the +long hairs from a sorrel nag's tail into a fishing-line. + +"Sounds so broad. Remember how the doctor switched Bob Robinson for +saying he'd been _agate_ early." + +"Yes, I recollect," said Dick, tying a knot to keep the hairs from +untwisting; "and father said he ought to have been ashamed of himself, +for _agate_ was good old Saxon, and so were all the words our people use +down here in the fen. I say, what are they talking about now?" + +"Well, for my part," said the squire rather hotly, in reply to some +communication his visitor had made, "so long as I feel that I'm doing +what is right, no threats shall ever stop me from going forward." + +"But they seem to think it arn't right," said the farmer. "Those in the +fen say it will ruin them." + +"Ruin! Nonsense!" cried the squire. "They'll have plenty of good land +to grow potatoes, and oats, instead of water, which produces them a +precarious living from wild-fowl and fish, and ruins no end of them with +rheumatism and fever." + +"Yes, but--" + +"But what, man? The fen-men who don't cultivate the soil are very few +compared to those who do, and the case is this. The fen-land is growing +about here, and good land being swallowed up by the water. Five acres +of my farm, which used to be firm and dry, have in my time become +water-logged and useless. Now, are the few to give way to the many, or +the many to give way to the few?" + +"Well, squire, the few think we ought to give way to them." + +"Then we will not," said the squire hotly; "and if they don't know +what's for their good, they must be taught. You know how they will +stick to old things and refuse to see how they can be improved." + +"Ay, it's their nature, I suppose. All I want is peace and quietness." + +"And you'll have it. Let them threaten. The law is on our side. They +will not dare." + +"I don't know," said Farmer Tallington, scratching his head as they +walked out into the home close. "You see, squire, it wean't be open +enemies we shall have to fear--" + +"The Winthorpes never feared their enemies since they settled in these +parts in the days of King Alfred," said Dick grandly. + +"Hear, hear, Dick!" cried his father, laughing. + +"No more did the Tallingtons," said Tom, plucking up, so as not to be +behindhand. + +"Nay, Tom, my lad," said the farmer, "Tallingtons was never fighting +men. Well, squire, I thought I'd warn you." + +"Of course, of course, neighbour. But look here, whoever sent you that +cowardly bit of scribble thought that because you lived out here in this +lonely place you would be easily frightened. Look here," he continued, +taking a scrap of dirty paper out of his old pocket-book; "that bit of +rubbish was stuck on one of the tines of a hay-fork, and the shaft +driven into the ground in front of my door. I said nothing about it to +you, but you see I've been threatened too." + +He handed the paper to Farmer Tallington, who read it slowly and passed +it back. + +"Same man writ both, I should say." + +"So should I--a rascal!" said the squire. "Here, Dick, don't say a word +to your mother; it may alarm her." + +"No, father, I sha'n't say anything; but--" + +"But what? Speak out." + +"May I read it--and Tom?" he added, for he saw his companion's eager +looks. + +"Well, yes, you've heard what we've been talking about--what neighbour +Tallington came over for." + +"Yes, father," said Dick, taking the piece of paper, and feeling very +serious, since he knew that it contained a threat. But as soon as he +grasped its contents--looking at them as a well-educated lad for his +days, fresh from the big town grammar-school--he slapped his thigh with +one hand, and burst into a roar of laughter, while his father looked on +with a grim smile. + +"What is it, Dick?" cried Tom eagerly. + +"Here's a game!" cried Dick. "Just look!" + +There was not much on the paper, and that was written in a clumsy +printing-letter fashion, beneath a rough sketch, and with another to +finish. + +"Why, here's a hollow turnip and two sticks!" cried Dick aloud; "and-- +and what is it, Tom?" + + `stope the dyke + or yow hev 2 + dighe' + +"Stop the dyke or you'll have to dig," said Tom eagerly. "You'll have +to dig! Does he mean dig the ditch?" + +"No!" roared Dick; "that's the way he spells die, and that long square +thing's meant for a coffin." + +"Yes, Dick, and that's the spirit in which to take such a cowardly +threat--laugh at it," said the squire, replacing the letter in his +pocket-book. "I only wish I knew who sent it. Who's this coming?" + +"Why, it's Dave!" cried Tom eagerly, as the man came slowly along one of +the winding lanes of water in his punt. + +"Oh, yes, I remember!" said the squire; "he was here yesterday and said +he would come and fetch you, Dick, if you liked to go, over to the +decoy." + +"And you never said a word about it, father! Here, come along, Tom." + +The latter glanced at his father, but read consent in his eyes, and the +two lads dashed off together. + +"Seems to be letting him idle a deal," said Farmer Tallington +thoughtfully. + +"Not it," said the squire. "They're both very young and growing. Let +them enjoy themselves and grow strong and hearty. They've had a long +turn at school, and all this will do them good." + +"Ay, it'll mak 'em grow strong and lusty if it does nowt else," said the +farmer. + +"And as to the big drain," said the squire; "we're farmers, neighbour, +even if I do work my land as much for pleasure as for profit." + +"Ay, but what's that to do with it?" + +"This," said the squire, smiling; "a man who puts his hand to the plough +should not look back." + +"That's true," said Farmer Tallington; "but when he gets a letter to say +some one's going to kill him, and draws coffins on the paper, it's +enough to mak' him look back." + +"It's all stuff, neighbour! Treat it as I do--with contempt." + +"Ah! you see you're a gentleman, squire, and a bit of a scholar, and I'm +only a plain man." + +"A good neighbour and a true Englishman, Tallington; and I'm glad my son +has so good and frank a companion as your boy. There, take my advice: +treat all this opposition with contempt." + +"Theer's my hand, squire," said Farmer Tallington. "You nivver gave me +a bad bit of advice yet, and I'll stick to what you say--but on one +condition." + +"What's that?" said the squire, smiling. + +"You'll let me grumble now and then." + +Long before Farmer Tallington had parted from the squire at the +beginning of the rough track which led from the Priory to Grimsey, Dick +and Tom were down by the water's edge waiting for Dave, who came up with +a dry-looking smile upon his face--a smile which looked as if it were +the withered remains of a last year's laugh. + +"How are you, Dave?" cried Dick. "We only just knew you were coming. +Are there plenty of ducks?" + +"Mebbe. Few like," said Dave in the slow way of a man who seldom +speaks. + +"_Wuph_! _wuph_!" came from the boat. + +"What! Chip, boy! how are you?" cried Dick, patting the dog, which +seemed to go half mad with delight at having someone to make a fuss over +him, and then rushed to Tom to collect a few more friendly pats and +words. + +"Shall we get in, Dave?" cried Tom. + +"Get in, lad! Why, what for?" + +"Now, Dave, don't go on like that," cried Dick impatiently. "Let's get +on, there's a good fellow. I do want to see you work the decoy." + +"Oh, you don't care for that! 'Sides, I want to go to Hickathrift's to +see his dunky pigs." + +"Nonsense! What do you want to see the dunks for?" + +"Thinking o' keeping a pig o' my own out thar, lads. It's rayther +lonesome at times; and," he added quite seriously, "a pig would be +company." + +The boys looked at one another and smothered a laugh for fear of giving +offence. + +"What, with a place like a jolly island all to yourself, where you live +like a Robinson Crusoe and can keep tame magpies and anything you like, +and your boat, and your dog, and eel-spear?" + +"And nets," put in Tom. + +"And fishing-lines," said Dick. + +"And gun," said Tom. + +"Ay, lads," said Dave gravely; "seems aw reight to you, but it be +lonesome sometimes when the bootherboomps get running out o' the reeds +in the dark evenings and then go sailing high up and round and round." + +"Oh, I should like that!" said Dick. + +"Nay, lad, yow wouldn't. It would scar yow. Then o' soft warm nights +sometimes the frogs begins, and they go on crying and piping all round +you for hours." + +"Pooh!" said Tom; "who'd mind a few frogs?" + +"And then o' still nights theer's the will o' the wipses going about and +dancing over the holes in the bog." + +"I say, Dave, what is a will o' the wisp really like?" + +"What! heven't you niver seen one, lad?" said Dave, as he seated himself +on the edge of the boat. + +"No; you see we've always been away at school. I can remember one of +our men--Diggles it was--pointing out one on a dark night when I was +quite young, and I saw some kind of light, and I was such a little +fellow then that I ran in--frightened." + +"Ay, they do frecken folk," said Dave, putting a piece of brown gum in +his mouth; "only you must be careful which way you run or you may go +right into the bog and be smothered, and that's what the wills like." + +"Like! why, they're only lights," said Tom. + +"They'm seem to you like lights, but they be kind o' spirits," said Dave +solemnly; "and they wants you to be spirits, too, and come and play with +'em, I s'pose." + +"But, Dave, never mind the will o' the wisps. Come on to the 'coy." + +"Nay, it's no use to go there; the nets that goes over the pipes has +been charmed [gnawed] by the rats." + +"Yes, I know," cried Dick, laughing; "and you've put all new ones. I +heard you tell father so, and he paid you ever so much money. He's only +playing with us, Tom." + +Dave laughed like a watchman's rattle, whose wooden spring had grown +very weak. + +"Look here, Dave, now no nonsense! Want some more powder?" + +"Nay, I don't want no poother," said Dave. + +"Do you want some lead to melt down? I'll give you a big lump." + +"Nay, I don't want no poother, and I don't want no lead," said Dave in +an ill-used tone. "I can buy what I want." + +"He does want it, Dick." + +"Nay, I don't, lad; and things a man do want nobody asks him to hev." + +"Why, what do you want, Dave?" + +"Oh, nowt! I don't want nowt. But there is times when a man's a bit +ill out there in the fen, and he gets thinking as a drop o' sperrits 'd +do him good. But I d'n know." + +"All right, Dave! I won't forget," said Dick. "Jump in, Tom." + +"Nay, what's the good?" said Dave. + +"All right, Tom! He's going to take us to the 'coy." + +Tom followed his companion into the boat, the dog leaped in after them, +whining with pleasure; and shaking his head and talking to himself, Dave +followed, seized the pole, giving a grunt at Dick, who wanted to preside +over the locomotion, and then, with a tremendous thrust, he sent the +punt surging through the water. + +"Nay, I'll pole," he said. "Get us over sooner, and we can begin work." + +Dick exchanged glances with his companion, and they sat playing with the +dog and watching the birds that rose from the reeds or swept by in +little flocks in the distance, till, after about half an hour's poling, +Dave ran the boat into a narrow lane among the uncut reeds, after a +warning to be quite still, which the lads observed and the dog +understood, going forward and crouching down in front of his master, +with his eyes glittering and ears quivering with the intense way in +which he was listening. + +The way through the reeds was long, and in spite of the stealthy way in +which the boat was propelled, several birds were startled, and flew up +quacking loudly, and went away. + +At last, though, they emerged from the dry growth into a little open +pool, and crossing this, landed by a low house thatched with reeds and +hidden in a thick grove of alders. + +"Now, lads," said Dave in a whisper, "not a word. Stay here while I go +and look. I wean't be long." + +He secured the boat to a stump of wood, and landed, leaving the lads +seated in the punt, and gazing about them. But there was very little to +see, for, save in the direction of the patch of reeds through which they +had passed, there was a low dense growth of alders and willows running +up to the height of twelve or fifteen feet; and it was beyond this that +the sport was to be had. + +They had not very long to wait before Dave returned, with Chip the piper +at his heels--not that the dog had any musical gifts, but that he was +clever in doing certain duties in connection with a pipe, as will be +seen, and to perform these adequately utter silence was required. + +Dave seemed quite transformed. His yellow face, instead of being dull +and heavy, was full of anxious lines, his eyes twinkled, his mouth +twitched and worked, and his brown wiry hands were fidgeting about his +chin. + +As he came up he held a finger in the air to command silence, and with +stooping body and quick alert way he paused till he was close to the +boys, and then whispered: + +"You couldn't hev come better, lads; there's a boat load of 'em in the +pond." + +"What sort?" whispered Dick excitedly. + +"All sorts, lad: widgeons, teal, mallards, and some pochards. Only +mind, if you say a word aloud, or let that theer dog bark, we sha'n't +get a duck." + +Dick clapped his hand over his mouth, as if to ensure silence, and Tom +compressed his lips. + +"Come along, then, boys, and I'll set yow wheer yow can look through a +hole in one o' the screens and see all the fun." + +"But can't we help, Dave?" asked Tom. + +"Help, lad! no, not till the ducks are in the net. Then you may. Now, +not a word, and come on." + +Dave led the way to the little house, where he filled his pockets with +barley and oats mixed, out of a rough box, and as he did so he pointed +to one corner which had been gnawed. + +"Been charming of it," he whispered. "Eats! Now come, quiet-like;" and +he stepped out and into a narrow path leading through the dense alder +wood, and in and out over patches of soft earth which quivered and felt +like sponges beneath their feet. + +Dave glanced back at them sharply two or three times when a rustling +sound was made, and signed to them to be careful. Then once he stopped +in a wider opening and tossed up a feather or two, as if to make sure of +the way the wind blew. Apparently satisfied, he bent towards the two +lads and whispered: + +"I'm going to the second pipe. Come quiet. Not a word, and when I mak' +room for you, peep through the screen for a minute, and then come away." + +The boys nodded, and followed in silence through a part of the alder +wood which was not quite so dense, for here and there patches of tall +reeds had grown out of a watery bed, and now stood up seven or eight +feet high and dry and brown. + +Then all at once Dave stopped and looked back at them with a sly kind of +grin upon his face, as he pointed down to a strong net stretched loosely +over some half hoops of ash, whose ends were stuck down tightly in the +soft ground so as to form a tunnel about two feet wide. + +This was over the soft earth, upon which lay the end of the net, tied +round with a piece of cord. A few yards farther on, however, this first +net was joined to another, and the tunnel of network was arched over a +narrow ditch full of water, and this ditch gradually increased in width +as the man led on, and ran in a curve, along whose outer or convex side +they were proceeding. + +Before long, as the bent-over willows spanned the ditch or "pipe," as it +was called, the net ceased to come down quite to the ground, its place +being occupied by screens made of reeds and stakes, and all so placed +that there was room to go round them. + +The boys now noted that the dog was following close behind in a way as +furtive as his master, and apparently quite as much interested as he in +what was to take place. + +The water ditch increased in width rapidly now till the net tunnel +became six feet, twelve feet, twenty feet, and, close to the mouth, +twenty-four feet wide, while the light ash-poles, bent over and tied in +the middle, were quite twelve feet above the water. + +They were now near the mouth of the curved ditch, whose narrow portion +bent round quite out of sight among the trees, while at a signal from +Dave they went to a broad reed screen in front, and gazed through an +opening, to see stretching out before them, calm and smooth beneath the +soft grey wintry sky, a large pool of about a couple of acres in extent, +surrounded by closely growing trees similar to those through which they +had passed, while at stated intervals were openings similar to that by +which they stood, in all five in number, making a rough star whose arms +or points were ditches or pipes some five-and-twenty feet wide, and +curving off, to end, as above told, sixty or seventy yards from the +mouth, only two feet wide, and covered right along with net. + +All this was well-known to them before, and they hardly gave it a second +glance. What took their attention were some half dozen flocks of +water-fowl seated calmly on the smooth surface of the pool and a couple +of herons standing in the shallow water on the other side, one so +hitched up that he seemed to have no neck, the other at his full height, +and with bill poised ready to dart down at some unfortunate fish. + +Here and there a moor-hen or two swam quietly about flicking its +black-barred white tail. There were some coots by a bed of reeds, and a +couple of divers, one of which disappeared from time to time in the most +business-like manner, and came up at the end of a long line of bubbles +many yards away. + +Nearest to them was a large flock of quite a hundred ordinary wild +ducks, for the most part asleep, while the others sat motionless upon +the water or swam idly about, all waiting patiently in the secluded +pool, which seemed to them a sanctuary, for nightfall, when slugs and +snails would be out and other things in motion, ready to supply them +with a banquet on some of their far-off feeding grounds. The drakes +were already distinct enough from the sober-feathered ducks, but the +former were not in their spring plumage, when they would put on their +brightest colours and their heads glisten in green and gold. + +Away to the left were a number of flat-looking squatty-shaped pochards +with their brown heads and soft grey backs, while to the right were +plenty of widgeons and another little flock of teal, those pretty +miniature ducks, with here and there a rarer specimen, among which were +pintails, drakes with the centre feathers of the tail produced like +those of a parroquet. + +The lads could have stopped for an hour gazing at the manners and +customs of the wild-fowl dotting the lake in happy unconsciousness of +the enemies so near; but, just as Dick had fixed his eyes upon a +solitary group of about a couple of dozen ducks nearly across the pond, +he felt a tug behind him, and turning, there was Dave signing to him to +come away. + +Dave made the lads follow him till he could place them in among the +trees with a tuft of reeds before them, which proved sufficient screen +and yet gave them a view of part of the pool, and the entrance to the +pipe upon whose bank they had been standing. + +"Now, look here, bairns," he whispered; "if you move or says a word, +there'll be no ducks." + +The lads nodded and crouched in their places, while Dave disappeared +behind them, but appeared again close to the screen of reed which hid +him from the birds in the pool. + +Matters were so exciting now as the watchers looked on that Dick +relieved his feelings by pinching Tom's leg, and then holding up his +fist, as if in promise of what was to follow if he made a sound. + +Meanwhile, with Chip close at his heels, Dave went to the farthest +screen and peered through the opening, and after satisfying himself they +saw him thrust one hand into his pocket and make a sign to Chip, while +almost simultaneously he scattered a handful of the oats and barley +right over the water, the grain falling through the meshes of the +outspread net. + +Just then Chip, in the most quiet matter-of-fact way, made his +appearance on the fore-shore of the pool, and, without barking or taking +notice of the ducks, trotted slowly along toward the entrance to the +pipe, leaped over a low piece of wood, and disappeared from sight to +join his master behind the screen, when the dog was rewarded for what he +had done with a piece of cheese. + +The coming of the dog, however, had created quite a commotion upon the +lake, for the knot of two dozen ducks on the other side no sooner caught +sight of him than, uttering a prodigious quacking, they came swimming +and half flying as rapidly as they could toward the mouth of the pipe, +to begin feeding upon the oats scattered upon the water. + +"Look at the decoy-ducks," whispered Dick, and then he watched in +silence, for these two dozen were regularly fed wild-fowl which had +become so far half tame that, knowing the appearance of the dog to be +associated with corn and other seeds at the mouth of the pipe, they came +at once. + +This was too much for the strangers, which followed them, mingled with +them, and began to feed as well. + +Dave was at this time behind the second screen waiting for Chip, who +showed himself for a moment or two at the edge of the long water ditch, +trotted on towards the second screen, leaped over a low wood bar at the +end, and joined his master, to receive a second piece of cheese. + +That white dog was a wonder to the wild ducks, which left off eating +directly and began to swim slowly and cautiously up the netted tunnel to +try and find out what he was doing. + +Had Chip stopped and looked at them, and barked, they would all have +taken flight, but the dog was too well taught. He was a piper of the +highest quality, and knew his business, which was to show himself for a +short time and then trot on to the next screen and leap over and +disappear just as if he were engaged in some mysterious business of his +own. + +This was too much for the ducks, which cackled and bobbed their heads up +and down and swam on, moved by an intense curiosity to find out what was +Chip's particular game. + +But Chip's proceedings were stale to the decoy-ducks, who had seen him +so often that they cared nothing, but stopped behind to partake of the +food, while quite a hundred followed their leaders up the pipe in happy +ignorance of the meaning of a net. What was more, the decoy-ducks often +found food at the mouths of the pipes when their wild relatives were off +feeding, and hence they troubled themselves no more. All that was +impressed upon their small brains was that the appearance of Chip meant +food, and they stayed behind to feed. + +Chip was invisible eating a piece of cheese. Then he appeared again +higher up, trotted on, leaped over the low wood bar, and joined his +master for more cheese. + +And so it went on, Dave going higher and higher from screen to screen, +and the dog slowly following and alternately appearing to and +disappearing from the sight of the ducks, which never of course caught +sight of Dave, who was too well hidden behind the screens. + +At last they were lured on and on so far by the dog that they were where +the ditch began to bend round more sharply and the pipe was narrowing. +This was the time for a fresh proceeding. + +Dave had gone on right up to the farthest screen, and suddenly dived +into a narrow path through the trees which led him, quite concealed from +view, round and back to the first screen. He passed the boys, making +them a sign to be silent, and then went right round that first screen +just as Chip was appearing far up by the side of the pipe--and the flock +of ducks were following--and quickly now showed himself at the mouth of +the trap. + +The ducks saw him instantly, and there was a slight commotion as he took +off and held up his hat; but there was no attempt at flight, the birds +merely swam on rapidly farther toward the end and disappeared round the +curve. + +Dave went quickly on past a screen or two and showed himself again, the +curve of the pipe bringing him once more into view. He held up his hat +and the ducks swam on, out of sight once more. + +This was continued again and again, till the ducks were driven by +degrees from where the ditch and its arching of net decreased from eight +feet wide to six feet, to four feet, to two feet, and the flock was +huddled together, and safe in the trap that had been prepared for them. + +All at once, while the two lads were watching all these proceedings, +Dave came into sight for a moment and waved his hand for them to come, +but signed to them at the same time to be quiet. + +It was as well that he did, for otherwise they would have uttered a +shout of triumph. + +"We've got 'em, lads," he said, with his yellow face puckered up with +satisfaction; "but don't make a noise. I like to keep the 'coy quiet. +Come along!" + +"Is there any fear of their getting away now, Dave?" whispered Dick as +he followed. + +"Yes, to market," said Dave grimly. + +As they neared the end of the pipe there was a loud cackling and +fluttering heard, and the ducks were disposed to make a rush back, but +the sight of the man sent them all onward once more to the end of the +pipe, where they were driven to leave the water for the dry land, over +which the net was spread for the last few yards, forming a gigantic +purse or stocking. + +And now a tremendous fluttering and excitement ensued, for as, in +obedience to their leader's sign, the lads stopped once more, Dave +stepped forward rapidly, detached the final portion of the net which +formed the bag or purse from the bent-over ash stick, and twisted it +together and tied it round, with the result that the birds were all shut +up in the long purse and at his mercy. + +Just then Chip performed a kind of triumphal dance, and leaped up at +Dick and again at Tom before becoming quiescent, and looking up at all +in turn, giving his little stumpy tail a few wags, while his whole +aspect seemed to say: + +"Didn't we do that well?" + +"That's a fine take, my lads," said Dave in congratulatory tones. + +"Yes," said Dick, looking down at the frightened birds scuffling over +each other; "but--" + +"Nay! don't, man, say that!" cried Dave. "I know, my lad. But wild +duck's good to yeat; and they've got to be killed and go to market. Yow +wanted to see me ketch the duck, and theer they are. Going to help me +kill 'em?" + +"No!" cried Dick in a voice full of disgust. But he helped carry the +capture to the boat after the slaying was at an end and the empty short +net replaced, ready distended at the end of the tunnel or pipe. + +"There we are!" said Dave. "Ready for another flock?" + +"And are you going to try for another in one of the pipes over the other +side?" + +"Nay, not to-day, my lad," was the reply. "The 'coy-ducks wean't be +hungry and come for their food, so we'll wait for another time." + +"Don't the 'coy-ducks ever go right away, Dave?" asked Tom, as the boat +was being quietly poled back. + +"Sometimes; but not often, and if they do some others taks their places, +and stops. They get fed reg'lar, and that's what a duck likes. Good +uns to eat, ducks. They mak' nests and bring off broods of young ones, +and keep to the pool year after year, and seem to know me a bit; but if +Chip here went barking among 'em, or I was to go shooting, they'd soon +be driven away." + +"But do they know that they are leading the wild ducks into the pipe?" +said Dick eagerly. + +"_Not_ they. Ducks can't think like you and me. They come to be fed, +and the others follow 'em, and then get thinking about Chip and follow +him." + +"Does Chip know?" said Tom. + +"Ask him," said Dave, laughing in his grim, silent way. "I think he +doos, but he never said so. Hello!" + +They were passing the edge of a great bed of reeds, and rounding a +corner, when they came in sight of three or four teal, and no sooner did +the birds catch sight of them than they began to scurry along the water +preparatory to taking flight, but all at once there was a rush and a +splash, and the party in the boat saw a huge fish half throw itself out +of the water, fall back, and disappear. + +"He caught him," said Dave grimly. "You see, lad, other things 'sides +me ketches the ducks." + +"A great pike!" cried Dick, standing up to try and catch sight of the +tyrant of the waters. + +"Ay! One as likes duck for dinner. He'll eat him without picking his +feathers off." + +"Wasn't it a very big one, Dave?" cried Tom. + +"Ay, lad, a thirty-pounder like enew," said Dave, working his pole. + +"Dave, shall you know this place again?" cried Dick. + +"Should I know my own hand!" + +"Then let's come over and try for that fellow to-morrow or next day." + +"Right, lad! I'll come. We'll set some liggers, and I dessay we can +get hold of him. If we can't theer's plenty more." + +"To-morrow, Dave?" + +"Nay, I shall be getting off my ducks. Two hundred wants some seeing +to." + +"Next day, then?" + +"Say Saturday, my lads. That'll give me time to get a few baits." + +So Saturday was appointed for the day with the pike, and the ducks and +the boys were duly landed, the latter to go homeward with four couples +each, and Dick with strict orders to ask the squire whether he wanted +any more, before they were sent off in Hickathrift's car to the town. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +DICK IS CALLED EARLY. + +It was Friday night. Dick had been over with the squire and two or +three gentlemen interested in the great drain, to see how it progressed; +and the lad had found the young engineer in charge of the works ready to +ask him plenty of questions, such as one who had a keen love of the +natural objects of the country would be likely to put. + +The result was that Squire Winthorpe invited him over to the old Priory +to come and make a fishing, shooting, or collecting trip whenever he +liked. + +"You are very hospitable, Mr Winthorpe," he said. + +"Oh, nonsense! Shame if we who bring you people down from London to do +us good here in the fens, could not be a little civil." + +This was after the inspection was over, the young engineer at liberty, +and he was walking part of the way back with Dick. + +"Well, I must frankly say, Mr--ought I to say Squire Winthorpe?" + +"No, no, Mr Marston," was the laughing reply, "I am only a plain +farmer. It is the fashion down here to call a man with a few acres of +his own a squire. I'm squire, you see, of a lot of bog." + +"Which we shall make good land, Mr Winthorpe," said the engineer. "But +I was going to say it will be a treat to come over from my lonely +lodgings to some one who will make me welcome, for I must say the common +people here are rather ill-disposed." + +"Only snarling," said the squire. "They daren't bite. They don't like +any alterations made. Take no notice of their surly ways. The soreness +will soon wear off. Cruel thing to do, Mr Marston, turn a piece of +swamp into a wholesome field!" + +They both laughed, and soon after parted. + +"I rather like that young fellow, Dick," said the squire. "Knows a deal +about antiquities. Little too old for a companion for you, but people +who collect butterflies and nettles and flowers generally mix regardless +of age." + +"Do you think the people about will interfere with the works, father?" +said Dick, as they trudged along homeward. + +"No, I don't, Dick," said the squire. "I should like to catch them at +it." + +Dick went to bed that night very tired, and dropped asleep directly, +thinking of Dave and the expedition to set trimmers, or "liggers" as +they called them, and he was soon in imagination afloat upon the lanes +and pools of water among the reeds, with Dave softly thrusting down his +pole in search of hard places, where the point would not sink in. Then +he dreamed that he had baited hook after hook, attached the line to a +blown-out bladder, and sent it sailing away to attract the notice of +some sharking pike lurking at the edge of one of the beds of reeds. + +Then he dreamed that the sun was in his eyes as it went down in a rich +glow far away over the wide expanse of water and rustling dried reed, +where the starlings roosted and came and went in well-marshalled clouds, +all moving as if carefully drilled to keep at an exact distance one from +the other, ready to wheel and turn or swoop up or down with the greatest +exactness in the world. + +That dreamy imagination passed away, and he became conscious that he was +having his morning call, as he termed it, and for which he always +prepared when going to bed by pulling up the blind and drawing aside the +white curtains, so that the sun who called him should shine right in +upon his face. + +For the sun called Dick Winthorpe when he shone, and as the lad lay upon +his side with his face toward the window the sun seemed to be doing his +morning duty so well that Dick yawned, stretched, and lay with his eyes +closed while the glow of red light flooded his room. + +"Only seem to have just lain down," he grumbled, keeping his eyes more +tightly shut than ever. "Bother! I wish I wasn't so drowsy when it's +time to get up!" + +At last he opened his eyes, to stare hard at the light, and then with a +cry full of excitement, he threw off the clothes and leaped out of bed, +to rush to the window. + +"Oh!" he ejaculated; and darting back to the bed-side he hurried on his +trousers, opened his door, and the next moment his bare feet padded over +the polished oak floor as he made for his father's room and thumped at +the door. + +"Father, quick!--father!" + +"Hallo! Any one ill?" cried the squire, for thieves and burglars were +known only by repute out there in the fen. + +"Tallington's farm's in a blaze!" cried Dick, hoarsely. + +He heard a thump on the floor, a hasty ejaculation from his mother, and +then ran back to his own room to finish dressing, gazing out of his +window the while, to see that the bright glow about Grimsey was +increasing, and that a golden cloud seemed to be slowly rising up +through the still air. + +"Now, Dick!" shouted his father, "run down and rouse up the people at +the cottages." + +Dick ran out, and down past the old Priory ruins, to where a cluster of +cottages, half-way to Hickathrift's, were occupied by the people who +worked upon the farm; and, distant as the fire was, he could yet see the +ruddy glow upon the water before him. + +Half-way there, he heard a shout: + +"Who's there!" + +It was in a big bluff voice, which Dick recognised at once. + +"That you, Hicky? Fire! fire!" + +"Ay, my lad, I was coming to rouse up the folk. You go that end, I'll +do this. Hey! Fire! Fire!" + +He battered cottage door after cottage door, Dick following his example, +with the result that in their alarm the people came hurrying out like +bees whose hive has been disturbed by a heavy blow. + +There was no need to ask questions. Every man, while the women began to +wail and cry, started for the Tallingtons' farm; but they were brought +up by a shout from the squire. + +"What are you going to do, men?" he cried. + +"The fire!"--"help!"--"water!"--rose in a confused babble. + +"Back, every one of you, and get a bucket!" cried the squire. "You, +Hickathrift, run into the wood-house and bring an axe." + +"Aw, reight, squire!" cried the wheelwright, and in another minute every +man was off at a trot following Dick's father, and all armed with a +weapon likely to be of service against the enemy which was rapidly +conquering the prosperous little farm at Grimsey. + +Two miles form a long distance in a case of emergency, and before the +party were half-way there they began to grow breathless, and there was a +disposition evinced to drop into a walk. One or two of those in advance +checked their rate, others followed, and for the next two or three +hundred yards the rescuers kept to a foot-pace, breathing heavily the +while, and speaking in snatches. + +"Which is it, Dick--the house or the great stack?" + +"I can't see, father," panted the lad; "sometimes it seems one, +sometimes both." + +"Stacks, squire, I think," cried Hickathrift. "I don't think house is +afire yet, but it must catch the thack before long." + +The faint sound of a dog barking at a distance now reached their ears, +but it was evidently not from the direction of the farm, and the +squire's thoughts were put into words by Dick, who, as he looked on now +between his father and the wheelwright, exclaimed in a hoarse voice: + +"Why, father, don't they know that the place is on fire?" + +"Nay, that they don't," cried the wheelwright excitedly. "They're all +asleep." + +"Let's run faster," cried Dick. + +"No. We have a long way to go yet," cried the squire, "and if we run +faster we shall be too much exhausted to help." + +"But, father--oh, it is so dreadful!" cried Dick, as in imagination he +pictured horror after horror. + +"Can you run, Dick--faster?" + +"Yes, father, yes." + +"I can't," panted Hickathrift; "I've growed too heavy." + +"Run on, then, and shout and batter the door. We'll get up as quickly +as we can." + +"Ay, roon, Master Dick, roon!" cried the wheelwright. "Fire's ketched +the thack." + +Dick doubled his fists, drew a long breath, and made a rush, which took +him fifty yards in advance. Then he trotted on at the same pace as the +others; rushed again; and so on at intervals, getting well ahead of the +rest. But never, in the many times he had been to and fro, had he so +thoroughly realised how rough and awkward was the track, and how long it +took to get to Grimsey farm. + +As he ran on, it was with the fire glowing more brightly in his face, +and the various objects growing more distinct, while there was something +awful in the terrible silence that seemed to prevail, in the midst of +which a great body of fire steadily rose, in company with a cloud of +smoke, which was spangled with tiny flakes that seemed to be of gold. +Tree, shed, barn, and chimney-stack, too, seemed to have been turned to +the brilliant metal; but to the lad's great relief he saw that the +wheelwright was wrong, the "thack" had not caught, and so far the house +was safe, though the burning stacks were so near that at any moment the +roof of the reed-thatched house might begin to blaze. + +At last there was a sound--one that might have been going on before, but +kept by the distance from reaching Dick's ear--a cock crowed loudly, and +there was a loud cackling from the barn where the fowls roosted. + +Then came the lowing of a cow; but all was perfectly still at the house, +and it seemed astounding that no one should have been alarmed. + +Only another hundred yards or so and the farm would be reached. Dick +had settled down to a much slower speed. There was a sensation as if +the fire that shone in his face had made his breath scorching, so that +it burned his chest, while his feet were being weighted with lead. + +"Tom!" he tried to shout as he drew near; but his voice was a hoarse +whisper, and it seemed to be drowned by the steady beat of the feet +behind upon the road. + +"Tom!" he cried again, but with no better result, as he staggered on by +the wide drain which ran right up to the farm buildings from the big +pool in the fen where the reeds were cut. + +And now that full drain and the pool gleamed golden, as if they too were +turned to fire, as Dick pushed by, realising that the hay-stack, the +great seed-stack, and the little stack of oats were blazing together, +not furiously, but with the flame rising up in a steady silent manner +which was awful. + +There was a rough piece of stone in the way, against which Dick caught +his foot and nearly fell; but he saved himself, stooped, and picked up +the stone; and as he panted up to the long low red-brick farm, he hurled +it through a window on his left, and then fell up against, more than +stopped at, the door, against which he beat and kicked with all his +might. + +The crashing in of the leaded pane casement had, however, acted like the +key which had unlocked the silent farmstead. + +Tom Tallington rushed to the window. + +"Who's--" + +He would probably have said "that," but he turned his sentence into the +cry of "Fire! fire!" + +The alarm spread in an instant. Farmer Tallington's window was thrown +open; and as he realised all, he dashed back, and then the rest of the +party came panting up, and Hickathrift cried, "Stand clear, Mester +Dick!" + +He threw himself against the door, to burst it open, just as the farmer +came down, half carrying his wife wrapped in a blanket, and Tom ran out, +to dart down to the end of the long low building where a second tenement +formed the sleeping-place of the two men and a big lad who worked upon +the farm. + +They were already aroused, and came out hurrying on their clothes, while +the squire and Hickathrift got out the women, who, with Mrs Tallington, +were hurried into a cart-shed. + +"Why, neighbour, you'd have been burned in your bed!" cried the squire. +"Now, lads, all of you form line." + +"She's caught now!" shouted Hickathrift, who had been round to the back. + +"Then we must put it out," said the squire, as he busily ranged his men, +and those of Farmer Tallington, so that they reached from the nearest +point of the big drain to the corner of the farm, and in a double line, +so that full buckets of water could be passed along one and returned +empty along the other. + +"Hickathrift, you go and dip." + +"Ay, ay, squire!" roared the great fellow, and he rushed down to the +water's edge like a bull, while the squire went to the other end. + +"Neighbour," cried Farmer Tallington excitedly, "you'll go on, wean't +you? I must get in and bring out a few writings and things I'd like to +save." + +"Here, Tom, let's you and me get out the clothes and things." + +"Yes, and the small bits of furniture, boys," cried the squire. "Now, +my lads, ready!" + +There was a general shout from the men, who fell into their places with +the promptitude that always follows when they have a good leader. + +"Get all you can out in case," shouted the squire; "but we're going to +save the house." + +"Hurrah!" shouted the men as they heard this bold assertion, which the +squire supplemented by saying between his teeth, "Please God!" + +"Bring up that ladder," cried the squire--"two of them." + +These were planted against the end of the house, and none too soon, for +the corner nearest the burning stacks was beginning to blaze furiously, +and the fire steadily running up, while a peculiar popping and crackling +began to be heard as the flames attacked the abundant ivy which mounted +quite to the chimney-stack. + +"Ho! ho! ho! ho!" came now from the front of the cart-shed in a regular +bellowing cry. + +"What is it, wench--what is it?" cried Farmer Tallington, as he hurried +out of the burning house, laden with valuables, which he handed to his +quiet business-like wife. + +"My best Sunday frock! Oh, my best Sunday frock!" sobbed the red-faced +servant lass. + +"Yes, and oh my stacks! and oh my farm!" cried her master, as he ran +back into the house after a glance at the squire, who, in the midst of a +loud cheering, stood right up with one foot on the ladder, one on the +thatched roof, and sent the first bucket of water, with a good spreading +movement, as far as he could throw it, and handed back the bucket. + +The flames hissed and danced, and there was a rush of steam all along +the ridge, but the water seemed to be licked up directly. + +Another was dashed on and the bucket passed back, and another, and +another; but the effect produced was so little that, after distributing +about a dozen which the wheelwright sent along the line, making the men +work eagerly, as he plunged the buckets into the drain and brought them +dripping out, the squire shouted, "Hold hard!" and descended to change +the position of the long ladder he was on by dragging out the foot till +it was at such an angle that the implement now lay flat upon the thatch, +so that anyone could walk right up to the chimney-stack. + +"Now, then!" cried the squire, mounting once more. "We want another +flood just now, my lads, but as there isn't one we must make it." + +"It arn't safe," muttered one of the men. "See theer, lad!" + +The others needed no telling, as the speaker, who had followed the +squire on to the roof so as to be within reach, now felt the flames +scorch him, though what he had alluded to was the top of the ladder +which was beginning to burn where it lay on the burning thatch, and +crackling and blazing out furiously. + +_Whizz-hizz_ rose from the water as the first bucket was thrown with +such effect that the ladder ceased to burn, and, undismayed by the smoke +and flame that floated towards him, the latter in separated patches with +a strange fluttering noise, the squire scattered the water from his +advantageous position, and with good effect, though that part of the +house was now burning fast, the fire having eaten its way through the +thatch into the room below. + +Meanwhile, as the burning stacks made the whole place light as day, Dick +and Tom rushed in and out of the house, bringing everything of value +upon which they could lay their hands, to pass their salvage to Mrs +Tallington and the women, who stored them in a heap where they seemed +safe from the flames. + +"Look at that, Tom!" cried Dick, as he paused for a few moments to get +breath, and watch his father where he stood high up on the burning roof, +like some hero battling with a fiery dragon. + +"Yes, I see," said Tom in an ill-used tone. + +"Isn't it grand?" cried Dick. "I wish I was up there. Don't it make +one proud of one's father?" + +"I don't see any more to be proud of in your father than in mine," said +Tom stoutly. "Your father wouldn't dare to go into that burning house +like mine does. See there!" + +This was as Farmer Tallington rushed into the house again. + +Dick turned sharply upon his companion. + +"There isn't time to have it out now, Tom," he said in a whisper; "but I +mean to punch your head for this, you ungrateful beggar. Afraid to go +into the house! Why, I'm not afraid to do that. Come on!" + +He ran into the house and Tom followed, for them both to come out again +bearing the old eight-day clock. + +"Its easy, that's what it is," said Dick. "Hooray, father!" he shouted, +"you'll win!" + +It did not seem as if the squire would win, for though he was gradually +being successful in extinguishing the burning thatch, the great waves of +fire which came floating from the blazing stacks licked up the moisture +and compelled him from time to time to retreat. + +Fortunately, however, the supply of water was ample, and, thanks to the +way in which Hickathrift dipped the buckets and encouraged the men as he +passed them along, the thatch became so saturated that by the time quite +a stack had been made of the indoor valuables there seemed to be a +chance to leave the steaming roof and attack the burning stacks. + +This was done, the ladder being left ready in case of the thatch +catching fire again; and soon the squire was standing as close as he +could get to the nearest stack, and sending in the contents of the +buckets. + +There was no hope of saving this, but every bucket of water promised to +keep down the great flashes of fire which floated off and licked at the +farm-house roof as they passed slowly on. + +It was a glorious sight. Everything glowed in the golden light, and a +fiery snowstorm seemed to be sweeping over the farm buildings, as the +excited people worked, each dash of water producing a cloud of steam +over which roared up, as it were, a discharge of fireworks. + +For some time no impression whatever appeared to be made, but no one +thought of leaving his position; the squire and those nearest to him +were black and covered with perspiration, their faces shining in the +brilliant light, and the leader was still emptying the buckets of water, +when Farmer Tallington ran up to him. + +"Let me give you a rest now," he cried. + +"Nay, neighbour, I'll go on." + +The friendly altercation seemed to be about to result in a struggle for +the bucket, when Dick, who had been in one of the back rooms, came +running out of the house shouting:-- + +"The stable--the stable is on fire!" + +This caused a rush in the direction of the long low-thatched building on +the other side of the house, one of a range about a yard. + +There was no false alarm, for the thatch was blazing so furiously, that +at a glance the lookers-on saw that the stable and the cart lodge +adjoining were doomed. + +"Did any one get out the horses?" roared Farmer Tallington. + +There was no answer, and the farmer rushed on up to the burning building +through tiny patches of fire where the dry mouldering straw was set +alight by the falling flakes. + +The squire followed him, and, seeing them enter the dark doorway, Dick +and Tom followed. + +It was a long low building with room for a dozen horses; but only two +were there, standing right at the end, where they were haltered to the +rough mangers, and snorted and whinnied with fear. + +Each man ran to the head of a horse, and cut the halters, lit by the +glow that came through a great hole burned in the thatched roof, from +which flakes of fire kept falling, while the smoke curled round and up +the walls and beneath the roof in a silent threatening way. + +It was easy enough to unloose the trembling beasts; but that was all +that could be done, for the horses shivered and snorted, and refused to +stir. + +Both shouted and dragged at the halters; but the poor beasts seemed to +be paralysed with fear; and as the moments glided by, the hole in the +roof was being eaten out larger and larger, the great flakes of burning +thatch falling faster, and a pile of blazing rafter and straw beginning +to cut off retreat from the burning place. + +"It's of no use," cried Farmer Tallington, after trying coaxing, main +force, and then blows. "The roof will be down directly. Run, boys, +run!" + +"You are coming too, father?" cried Tom. + +"Yes, and you, father?" cried Dick. + +"Yes, my lads; out with you!" + +"Try once more, father," said Dick. "The poor old horses!" + +"Yes, but run!" cried the squire. "I must run too. Off!" + +There was a rush made through the burning mass fallen from the roof; +and, scorched and half-blind, they reached the door half-blocked by the +anxious men. + +"Safe!" cried the farmer. "Here: where's squire?" + +As the words left his mouth there was a fierce snorting and trampling, +and those at the door had only just time to draw back, as the two horses +dashed frantically out, and then tore off at full gallop across the +yard. + +"Winthorpe!" cried Farmer Tallington. "This way!" + +"Father!" cried Dick in an agonised voice, following the farmer into the +burning building; but only to be literally carried out by his companion, +as they were driven back by a tremendous gush of burning thatch and wood +which roared out of the great doorway consequent upon a mass of the roof +falling in. + +As soon as he could recover himself, Dick turned to rush in again; but +he was checked by Hickathrift. + +"Stand back, bairn! art mad?" he cried. "Not that way." + +Dick staggered away, and nearly fell from the tremendous thrust given to +him by the big wheelwright, and as he regained his equilibrium, it was +to see Hickathrift with something flashing in his hand, making for the +other end of the stable, which was as yet untouched. + +A few blows from the axe he carried made the rough mud wall collapse, +and, without a moment's hesitation Hickathrift forced his way through +the hole he had broken, and from which a great volume of smoke began to +curl. + +Dick would have followed; but Tom clung to his arm, and before he could +get free, during what seemed to be a terribly long period of suspense, +the wheelwright appeared again, and staggered out, bearing the +insensible body of the squire. + +For a few minutes there was a terrible silence, and Hickathrift tottered +from the man he had left where he had dragged him on the ground. + +For the wheelwright was blinded and half strangled by the smoke, and +reeled like a drunken man. + +He recovered though, directly, and seized a bucket of water from one of +the men. With this he liberally dashed the squire's face, as Dick knelt +beside him in speechless agony, and grasped his hand. + +For a few minutes there was no sign. Then the prostrate man uttered a +low sigh, and opened his eyes. + +"Dick!" he said, as he struggled up. + +"Yes, father. Are you much hurt?" + +"No, only--nearly--suffocated, my boy; but--but--Oh, I remember! The +horses?" + +"They're safe, neighbour," cried Farmer Tallington, taking his hand. + +"Mind the knife!" cried the squire. "I remember now. I was obliged to +be very brutal to them to make them stir." + +He looked down at the small blade of the pocket-knife he held, closed it +with a snap, and then stared about him at the people in a vacant +confused way. + +Several of the men, led by Hickathrift, began to carry pails of water to +the burning stable, and this building being so low, they were not long +in extinguishing the flames. + +Hardly had they succeeded in this before the shrieks of the women +gathered together in a low shed drew their attention to the fact that +the roof of the house was once more blazing, and this seemed to rouse +the squire again to action, for, in spite of Hickathrift wanting to take +his place, he insisted upon re-climbing the ladder when the buckets of +water were once more passed along till all further danger had ceased, +and the farm-house escaped with one room seriously damaged and one side +of the thatched roof burned away. + +The men still plied the buckets on the burning stacks, but only with the +idea of keeping the flames within bounds, for there was nothing else to +be done. One rick was completely destroyed; the others were fiery +cores, which glowed in the darkness, and at every puff of wind sent up a +cloud of glittering, golden sparks, whose course had to be watched lest +a fresh fire should be started. + +And now the excitement and confusion died out as the fire sank lower. +The women returned to the house, and the men, under the farmer's +direction, carried back the household treasures, while Mrs Tallington, +with the common sense of an old-fashioned farmer's wife, spread a good +breakfast in the kitchen for the refreshment of all. + +It was a desolate scene at daybreak upon which all gazed. The +half-burned roof of the farm-house, the three smoking heaps where the +three stacks had stood, and the stable roofless and blackened, while the +place all about the house was muddy with the water and trampling. + +"Yes," said Farmer Tallington ruefully, "it'll tak' some time to set all +this straight; but I've got my house safe, so mustn't complain." + +"Yes; might have been worse," said the squire quietly. + +"Ay, neighbour, I began to think at one time," said Farmer Tallington, +"that it was going to be very much worse, and that I was going to have +to bear sad news across to the Toft; but we're spared that, squire, and +I'm truly thankful. Feel better?" + +"Better! oh yes, I am not hurt!" + +Just then Dick asked a question: + +"I say, Mr Tallington, wasn't it strange that you didn't know of the +fire till I came?" + +"I suppose we were all too soundly asleep, my lad. Lucky you saw it, or +we might have been burned to death." + +"But how did the place catch fire?" + +"Ah!" said Farmer Tallington, "that's just what I should like to know.-- +Were you out there last night, Tom?" he added after a pause. + +"No, father, I wasn't near the stacks yesterday." + +"Had you been round there at all?" said the squire. + +"No, not for a day or two, neighbour. It's a puzzler." + +"It is very strange!" said the squire thoughtfully; and he and Farmer +Tallington looked hard at each other. "You have had no quarrel with +your men?" + +"Quarrel! No. Got as good labourers as a man could wish for. So have +you." + +"Yes, I have," said the squire; "but those stacks could not catch fire +by accident. Has anybody threatened you?" + +"No," replied the farmer thoughtfully. "No! Say, neighbour--no, they +wouldn't do that." + +The wheelwright had come up, and stood listening to what was said. + +"What do you mean?" said the squire. + +"Oh! nothing. 'Tisn't fair to think such things." + +"Never mind! Speak out, man, speak out!" + +"Well, I was wondering whether some one had done this, just as a hint +that we were giving offence by joining in the drain business." + +"No, no!" cried the squire indignantly. "People may grumble and be +dissatisfied; but, thank Heaven, we haven't any one in these parts bad +enough to do such a thing as that, eh, Hickathrift?" + +"I dunno 'bout bad enew," said the big wheelwright; "but strikes me +Farmer Tallington's right. That stack couldn't set itself afire, and +get bont up wi'out some one striking a light!" + +"No, no!" said the squire. "I will not think such a thing of any +neighbour for twenty miles round. Now, Mr Tallington, come over to my +place and have a comfortable meal; Mrs Tallington will come too." + +"Nay, we'll stop and try to put things right." + +"Shall I lend you a couple of men?" + +"Nay, we'll wuck it oot oursens, and thank you all hearty for what +you've done. If your farm gets alight, neighbour, we'll come over as +you have to us." + +"May the demand never arise!" said the squire to himself, as he and his +party trudged away, all looking as blackened and disreputable a set as +ever walked homeward on an early winter's morn. + +Dick had made a good meal, and removed the black from his face after +deciding that it would not be worth while to go to bed, when, as he went +down the yard and caught sight of Solomon, he stopped to stare at the +cunning animal, who seemed to be working about his ears like semaphores. + +"I've a good mind to make him take me for a long ride!" said Dick to +himself. "No, I haven't. Somehow a lad doesn't care for riding a +donkey when he gets as old as I am." + +He walked away, feeling stiff, chilly, and uncomfortable from the +effects of his previous night's work, while his eyes smarted and ached. + +"I'll go over and see how old Tom's getting on," he said as he looked +across the cheerless fen in the direction of Grimsey, where a faint line +of smoke rose up toward the sky. "Wonder who did it!" + +_Plash_! _plash_! _plash_! _plash_! + +He turned sharply, to see, about a hundred yards away, the figure of +gaunt, grim-looking Dave standing up in his punt, and poling himself +along by the dry rustling reeds, a grey-drab looking object in a +grey-drab landscape. + +Then, like a flash, came to the lad's memory the engagement made to go +liggering that day, and he wondered why it was that he did not feel more +eager to have a day's fishing for the pike. + +_Pee-wit_! _pee-wit_! came from off the water in a low plaintive +whistle, which Dick answered, and in a minute or two the decoy-man poled +his boat ashore, smiling in his tight, dry way. + +"Now, then, young mester," he said, "I've got a straange nice lot o' +bait and plenty o' hooks and band, and it's about as good a day for +fishing as yow could have. Wheer's young Tom o' Grimsey?" + +"At home, of course!" said Dick in a snappish way, which he wondered at +himself. + +"At home, o' course?" said Dave quietly as he stood up in the boat +resting upon the pole. "Why, he were to be here, ready." + +"How could he be ready after last night?" said Dick sharply. + +Dave took off his fox-skin cap after letting his pole fall into the +hollow of his arm, and scratched his head before uttering a low +cachinnatory laugh that was not pleasant to the ear. + +"Yow seem straange and popped [put out of temper] this morning, young +mester. Young Tom o' Grimsey and you been hewing a bit of a fight?" + +"Fight! no, Dave; the fire!" + +"Eh?" said the man, staring. + +"The fire! Don't you know that Grimsey was nearly all burned down last +night?" + +Dave loosened his hold of his pole, which fell into the water with a +splash. + +"Grimsey! bont down!" he exclaimed, and his lower jaw dropped and showed +his yellow teeth, but only to recover himself directly and pick up the +pole. "Yah!" he snarled; "what's the good o' saying such a word as +that? He's a hidin' behind them reeds. Now, then, lad, days is short! +Coom out! I can see you!" + +He looked in the direction of a patch of reeds and alders as he spoke, +and helped himself to a pill of opium from his box. + +"Tom Tallington isn't there, Dave!" cried Dick. "I tell you there was a +bad fire at Grimsey last night!" + +"Nay, lad, you don't mean it!" cried Dave, impressed now by the boy's +earnestness. + +"There was! Look! you can see the smoke rising now." + +Dave looked as the lad pointed, and then said softly: + +"Hey! bud theer is the roke [smoke or vapour] sewer enough!" + +"Didn't you see it last night?" + +"Nay, lad; I fished till I couldn't see, for the baits, and then went +home and fitted the hooks on to the bands and see to the blethers, and +then I happed mysen oop and went to sleep." + +"And heard and saw nothing of the fire?" + +"Nay, I see nowt, lad. Two mile to my plaace from here and two mile +from here to Grimsey, mak's four mile. Nay, I heered nowt!" + +"Of course you wouldn't, Dave! The light shone in at my window and woke +me up, and we were all there working with buckets to put it out!" + +"Wucking wi' boockets!" said Dave slowly as he stared in the direction +of Tallington's farm. "Hey, but I wish I'd been theer!" + +"I wish you had, Dave!" + +"Did she blaaze much, mun?" + +"Blaze! why, everything was lit up, and the smoke and sparks flew in +clouds!" + +"Did it, though?" said Dave thoughtfully. "Now, look here, lad," he +continued, taking out his tobacco-box; "some on 'em says a man shouldn't +tak' his bit o' opium, and that he should smoke 'bacco. I say it's +wrong. If I smoked 'bacco some night I should set my plaace afire, +'stead o' just rolling up a bit o' stoof and clapping it in my mooth." + +"I don't know what you mean, Dave," cried Dick. + +"Then I'll tell'ee, lad. Some un got smoking his pipe in one of they +stables, and set it afire." + +"No, no; some one must have set fire to the stacks." + +"Nay!" cried Dave, staring in the lad's face with his jaw dropped. + +"Yes; that was it, and father thinks it was." + +"Not one o' the men, lad; nay, not one o' the men!" cried Dave. + +"No, but some one who doesn't like the drain made, and that it was done +out of spite." + +Dave whisked up his pole and struck with it at the water, sending it +flying in all directions, and then made a stab with it as if to strike +some one in the chest and drive him under water. + +"Nay, nay, nay," he cried, "no one would do owt o' the soort, lad. Nay, +nay, nay." + +"Ah, well, I don't know!" cried Dick. "All I know is that the stacks +were burnt." + +"Weer they, lad?" + +"Yes, and the stables." + +Dave made a clucking noise with his tongue. + +"And the house had a narrow escape." + +"Hey, bud it's straange; and will Tallington hev to flit [move, change +residence] then?" + +"No; the house is right all but one room." + +"Eh, bud I'm straange and glad o' that, lad. Well, we can't goo +liggering to-day, lad. It wouldn't be neighbourly." + +"No, I shouldn't care to go to-day, Dave, and without Tom. What are you +going to do?" + +"Throost the punt along as far as I can, and when I've gotten to the end +o' the watter tie her oop to the pole, and walk over to see the plaace." + +"I'll come with you, Dave." + +"Hey, do, lad, and you can tell me all about it as we go. Jump in." + +Dick wanted no second invitation, and the decoy-man sent the punt along +rapidly, and by following one of the lanes of water pursued a devious +course toward Grimsey, whose blackened ruins now began to come into +sight. + +Dick talked away about the events of the night, but Dave became more and +more silent as they landed and approached the farm where people were +moving about busily. + +"Nay," he said at last, "it weer some one smoking. Nobody would hev set +fire to the plaace. Why, they might hev been all bont in their beds." + +Tom Tallington saw them coming and ran out. + +"Why, Dave," he cried, "I'd forgotten all about the fishing, but we +can't go now." + +"Nay, we couldn't go now," said the man severely. "'Twouldn't be +neighbourly." + +Tom played the part of showman, and took them round the place, which +looked very muddy and desolate by day. + +"I say, Dick, do you know how your father made the horses come out?" he +said, as they approached the barn, which had been turned into a stable. + +"Hit 'em, I suppose, the stupid, cowardly brutes!" + +"No; hitting them wouldn't have made them move. He pricked them with +the point of his knife." + +"Did he, though?" said Dave, who manifested all the interest of one who +had not been present. + +At last he took his departure. + +"Soon as you like, lads," he said; "soon as it's a fine day. I'll save +the baits, and get some frogs too. Big pike like frogs. Theer's +another girt one lies off a reed patch I know on. I shall be ashore +every day till you're ready." + +He nodded to them, and pushed off. + +"You won't go without us, Dave?" said Dick, as the boat glided away. + +"Nay, not I," was the reply; and the boys watched him till he poled in +among the thin dry winter reeds, through which he seemed to pass in a +shadowy way, and then disappear. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +A TRIMMERING EXPEDITION. + +A stormy time ensued, lasting about a fortnight, during which the +draining business was hindered; but, upon the whole, the progress made +was steady, for a number of men were now employed, and the fen people, +who visited the outfall now and then, began to realise what kind of dyke +it was that would run across the great swamp. + +At last one evening, as the lads had wandered down to Hickathrift's, and +were talking to the great bluff wheelwright as he worked away with his +axe at roughly shaping the shaft of a sledge, Dave came silently up, +followed by the little decoy-dog; and the first knowledge of his +presence was given by an attack made upon Hickathrift's big lurcher, +which, after showing its teeth angrily, settled down, and seemed to look +scornfully at the little animal, before closing its eyes as if to go to +sleep. + +"Hallo, Dave!" cried the lads together; "want us?" + +"Nay, I don't want you, my lads." + +"Well, then, we want you," cried Tom. + +"Eh?" + +"To take us out after the pike, as you promised." + +"Nay, it would be too cold, and you wouldn't like it." + +"How do you know, Dave?" cried Dick. "Come, when shall we start?" + +"Well," said Dave, looking about him as if in search of a good piece of +wood which might prove useful, "I dunno. You lads do as you likes; but +if I wanted to go, I sud say as the weather was nicely sattled, and +start to-morrow morning." + +The hour was settled, as well as the weather, and after obtaining the +requisite permission the lads were punctual to their time, and found +Dave waiting in his punt, upon whose thwart he was seated gravely tying +a hook on to a stout piece of twisted horse-hair. + +"Got everything ready, Dave?" cried Dick. + +"Ay, lad; all ready." + +"So are we. Look, Dave," cried Dick, swinging up the big basket he +carried, "pork-pie, bread and cheese, and a lump of bacon, and--" + +Dave's face twitched as he listened, but he did not speak, only waited; +till, after waiting awhile to whet the man's anxiety, Dick added: + +"And a big bottle of beer." + +"Oh, I don't want no beer!" grumbled Dave. "Watter's good enough for +me." + +"Let's leave it behind, Tom," said Dick archly. "It will only be heavy +in the boat." + +"Nay, put it in," said the man with a dry look. "Mebbe the fish would +like a drop. Mak' 'em bite." + +The boys laughed, and stepped into the punt, which was soon gliding over +the dark waters that lay in pools and winding lane-like canals, Dave, in +his fox-skin cap, standing up in front and handling the pole, the boys +carefully examining the contents of the boat. + +"What's in that bucket, Dave?" + +"Never mind; you let it alone," said Dave gruffly; and Dick dropped the +net he was raising from the pail. + +"Well, let's look at the basket, Dave." + +"Nay; I wean't hev my hooks and lines tangled up just after I've laid +'em ready. Yow two wait and see when we get acrost to wheer the pike +lays." + +"Oh, very well!" said Dick in a disappointed tone. "I would have shown +you what we've got in our basket." + +"I know what you've got yow telled me," retorted Dave. "I don't want to +look at vittles; I want to taste 'em." + +There was a pause, while Dave worked steadily away with his pole. + +"I shall be glad when the summer comes again," said Tom. + +"So shall I," cried Dick. + +"Theer, I towd you so," cried Dave. "I knowed you'd find it ower cowd. +Let's go back." + +"Go on with you!" cried Dick; "who said it was cold? I want the summer, +because of the sunshine, and the reeds and rushes turning green again, +and the birds." + +"There's plenty o' birds," said Dave. + +"Yes, but I mean singing birds, and nesting, and flowers, and the +warmth." + +"Theer, I towd you so. You are cowd," cried Dave. + +"When I'm cold I'm going to use the pole," said Dick. "I say isn't it +deep here, Dave?" + +"Ay, theer's some deep holes hereabouts," said the man, trying in vain +to reach the bottom with his long pole. "They wean't dree-ern they in a +hurry, Mester Dick." + +"Good job too, Dave! We don't want our fishing spoiled. Now, then, how +much further are you going?" + +"Strite across to wheer we saw that big pike rise, my lad." + +"Shall we catch him, Dave?" + +"Mebbe yes; mebbe no, my lad. If he wants his dinner, and we sets it +down by his door stoop, he'll tek it. If he's hed his dinner he wean't +touch it." + +"Then let's make haste and get there before dinnertime," cried Tom. +"Pole away, Dave." + +"Nay, we've got to go quiet-like, my lad. We don't want to scare the +fish, and send 'em to the bottom to lie sulky. Nice wisp o' duck yon." + +He nodded to a long string of wild-fowl flying low over the +melancholy-looking water, and they were watched till they disappeared. + +"Caught any more in the 'coy, Dave?" asked Dick. + +"Few, lad, few. Not enew to tek' to market. Me and John Warren sent +'em wi' the rabbits." + +"Ah! he promised us a day with the ferrets. Let's stir him up, Tom. +Now, Dave, do let's begin." + +The man shook his head and smiled as if he were enjoying the tantalising +process he put the boys through, and kept on poling till they were quite +a couple of miles from the Toft, when he suddenly laid down his long +pole, and seated himself in the boat by the big basket. + +"Now," he said, "if you want to see you shall see;" and he began to take +out carefully so many short fishing-lines, the hook in each case being +carefully stuck in between the osiers so as not to catch. To every one +of these lines was attached a bladder, save and except four, which were +bound to as many black and compressed pieces of cork, which looked as if +they had been washed ashore after doing duty as buoys to some +fishermen's nets. + +"Theer we are: ten of 'em," said Dave smiling as if he were anticipating +the pleasure he would feel in getting some monster tyrant pike upon the +hook. "You, young Tom Tallington, pass me that theer boocket." + +Tom lifted the bucket, which stood at the side, covered over with some +old pieces of netting, and placed it between Dave's knees in the spot +from which he removed the basket. + +"Now you can both hev a look," he said with a sly glance from one to the +other. "Hey, little boys, then; hey, little boys: back yow go!" + +This was to a couple of frogs, which had been in the water the bucket +contained, but had climbed up the side, to try and get through the +meshes of the net, but only to force their heads through and hold on +with their claws. + +Dave poked one of the frogs with his finger, but the little reptile +swelled itself out, and took hold more tightly of the net. + +"Here, let go, will you!" cried Dick, taking the frog between his +fingers gently enough; but the little creature clung more tightly, and +began to squeal loudly, till it was dislodged and dropped into the pail, +the other being shaken free, and falling with a splash beside his +fellow, when there was a tremendous commotion in the pail; for, beside a +couple more frogs, there were about a dozen small fishes scurrying about +in the water. + +"Theer," cried Dave, looking up; "what do you say to them for bait, eh?" + +"Why, they're gudgeons, Dave!" cried Dick. + +"Ay, lad, gudgeons." + +"Where did you get them?" asked Tom. "There are no gudgeons in the fen +waters." + +"Not as I iver see," said Dave with his quiet laugh. "I went right +across to Ealand, and then walked four mile with my net and that boocket +to Brader's Mill on little Norley stream and ketched 'em theer, and +carried 'em all the way back to the boat--four mile. For, I says, I +should like they boys to ketch a big pike or two, and gudgeons is best +baits I know." + +"Better than roach and rudd, Dave?" + +"Ay, or perch, or tench, or anything. Carp's a good bait; but you can't +always ketch carps." + +"You are a good chap, Dave!" cried Tom. + +"Ay, that I am, lads. I say, though, talk 'bout ketching; hev the +squire and Farmer Tallington ketched the chap as sat fire to Grimsey +stables?" + +"Nobody set fire to Grimsey stables," said Tom. "It was to the stacks." + +"Nay, lad, I knows better than that," cried Dave, shaking his head. +"Why, didn't I see with my own eyes as roof weer all bont off the top o' +stable, and doors gone." + +"Yes; but the stable caught fire from the stacks," said Dick. + +"Yah! how could it? Why, it's reight the other side o' the house." + +"Well, couldn't the sparks and flames of fire float over and set light +to the thatch?" cried Dick. + +"Set fire to the thack!" said Dave. "Ah, well, I warn't theer! But hev +they ketched him?" + +"No, and not likely to. There, never mind Tallington's stacks; let's +try for the pike." + +"Ay, lads, we will," said Dave, and, plunging his hand into the bucket, +he took out a transparent gudgeon, whose soft backbone was faintly +visible against the light; then carefully passing the hook through its +tough upper lip, he dropped it over the side of the boat into the water +directly. + +"Theer, lads," he said; "now over with that blether." + +Dick seized the line, and as the gudgeon swam off he dropped the bladder +over the side, and it was slowly towed away. + +"I wish fishing wasn't so precious cruel," said Tom, as he watched the +bladder dance upon the surface, while the punt was slowly thrust away +from the neighbourhood of the reed-bed, where the big pike was supposed +to lie. + +"'Tisn't cruel," said Dick. + +"'Tis. How should you like to be that gudgeon with a hook in your +mouth, or the pike when he's caught?" + +"Sarve him right for killing all the little fishes," growled Dave, +punting gently along. + +"Why did you come fishing?" said Dick sharply. + +"'Cause I like it," said Tom frankly; "but it's cruel all the same. Oh, +look! Look!" + +They were about fifty yards from where the line with its buoy had been +put over the side, and as Tom had casually looked back he had seen the +bladder give a bob, and then begin to skim along the surface. + +"Well, I can see," said Dick, "it's the gudgeon swimming fast." + +"Nay," said Dave, ceasing to pull; "something's got it. I shouldn't +wonder if it's the big pike." + +The lads breathlessly watched the bladder go skimming along. Every now +and then it gave a bob or two, and then on it went farther and farther +from them toward a patch of reeds all broken down and shattered by the +wind and lying by itself quite a hundred yards from where the bait had +been dropped in. + +"Is it the big pike, Dave?" said Dick eagerly. + +"Dunno," was the laconic reply. "Mebbe 'tis, mebbe 'tisn't." + +"You'll give it time, Dave," cried Tom excitedly, forgetting all his +previous qualms. + +"Ay, we'll give him time," said Dave with his face tightened so that the +ruddy portion of his lips had disappeared, and his mouth was represented +by what seemed to be a scar extending right across the lower portion of +his countenance. "Who's going to hook him out?" + +"I will," cried Dick quickly. "No, you shall have first go, Tom." + +"May I?" cried the lad, flushing. + +"Yes; go on. Where's the big hook, Dave?" + +"Why, s'pose I forgot it," said Dave slowly. + +"You haven't," said Dick. "There's the stick," and he picked up a short +staff. + +"Ay, lad, bud there be no hook." + +"Now, none of your old games, Dave," cried Dick; "just as if we didn't +know! Come, out with it! You've got it in your pocket." + +Dave chuckled, and produced a hook made by bending round a piece of thin +iron rod and sharpening the point. + +This hook he inserted in the staff and handed to Dick, who immediately +passed it to Tom, the latter standing up ready to hook the line when the +time should come. + +But that was not yet, for the floating bladder was more than a hundred +yards away, and still skimming along. + +"Be a long time making up his mind to swallow it," said Dave, slowly and +softly reducing the distance between them and the buoy, and then pausing +while they were still fifty yards away. + +"He has stopped now," said Dick in a hoarse whisper as the bladder +gleamed quite white a few yards away from the reeds, and gently rose and +fell in the ripple caused by the wind. + +"Why, he's gone!" said Tom in a disappointed tone. + +_Bob_ went the bladder as if to contradict him, giving one sharp +movement, and then remaining still once more. + +"Nay, he hasn't gone," said Dave. "Give him a bit more time. We'll set +another while we're waiting." + +As he spoke he laid the pole across the head of the punt, and quickly +baiting another of his hooks, dropped it over the boat side away from +the direction in which they had to go; and after checking it once or +twice till the bait took the right course, he let it go. + +Meanwhile, the lads were impatiently watching the bladder, which now +remained perfectly still; and in imagination they saw a monstrous pike +swallowing the unfortunate gudgeon which bore the hook. + +"Theer!" said Dave, rising and taking up his pole. "He've hed plenty +time now. Get the basket ready, young squire Dick. Think it'll hold +him?" + +"If it won't we'll curl him round, Dave," said the lad, laughing. "Now +Tom, don't miss." + +The boat approached slowly, and Tom was awkwardly placed; but Dave was +prepared for this, and after giving the little vessel a sharp impulse he +thrust down the pole to the bottom, and checked the head, so that the +stern swung round and gave Tom a fair chance, which he stood ready to +seize as the boat drew nearer. + +They were soon only about ten yards away, and the bladder remained so +motionless that the lads' hearts sank with disappointment, for it seemed +as if the bait had been left. + +"Look out, lad!" said Dave, however, for his quick eyes had detected +what was about to happen, and he gave the boat a tremendous thrust just +as the bladder glided rapidly away. + +Tom bent down and made a dart with his hook, and so earnestly that he +would have gone overboard had not Dick caught him in the nick of time. + +"Missed him," he cried. + +"Here, this awayer," cried Dave. "You was a chap!" and he held up his +pole with the line over it. For when Tom missed, his opportunity came, +the boat gliding so near that he dropped the pole down over the line, +and a tremendous disturbance of the water began. + +Tom rushed forward, leaned over the side, and deftly hooked the line +which ran through to the bladder as Dave drew away his pole. + +"It's a monster! Oh Dick!" cried Tom, as he drew the bladder in. "Now, +then, catch hold of the line as I draw it in." + +"Yah! Why yow make as much on it as if it weer one o' they long +studggins, or a big porpus pig," growled Dave, laughing, as Dick secured +the line. "Haul him in." + +"I say! 'Tisn't a very big one, Tom; but he's strong," said Dick, +pulling the captive to the side, for his companion to gaff and lift into +the boat. "Why, it's a perch!" + +A perch it was--a fine one with ruddy fins and boldly-barred sides, and, +though fine for his kind, less than three pounds in weight. + +"I thowt that was what he was," said Dave, laughing, "when I sin him +skim that theer blether along. Pop him in the basket, lads, and let's +get all the rest of the liggers out, or we shall make a poor time of +it." + +He plied the pole vigorously and soon stopped to let the boat glide +towards an opening in the reeds, where a long water-way ran in. Here +another buoyed bait was left, and then they went on to lay another and +another, the old decoy-man, with the knowledge bought by very long +experience, selecting choice spots till the whole set were disposed of +in the course of an hour, over a space far exceeding a mile. + +"We shall never recollect where they were all set, Dave," said Dick at +last, as he stood up looking back along the side of one of the big pools +to which they had made their way through what resembled a little river +running among the reeds and joining two great pools together. + +"You wouldn't," grumbled the man; "but p'raps I may. Now let's go +reight back, and see if theer's any on, or--don't you think, lads, it's +'bout time to try and ketch me?" + +Dick stared. + +"He means he wants you to try if he'd take a corner of the pie, Dick, if +you offered it to him as a bait," cried Tom laughing, while Dave's +yellow visage developed into something like a grin. + +"Ay, that's it, lad--I feel as if I could coot a loaf in two, and eat +half wi'out winking. Nay, wait and I'll throost the boat up to yon +trees. Hey, look at that!" + +He shaded his eyes, and gazed at a large flock of birds flying as +closely together, apparently, as starlings, and hundreds upon hundreds +in number. They were flying swiftly at a good height, when all at once, +as if by a signal, they changed their direction, and, with the accuracy +of drilling, darted down in a great bird stream straight for the earth, +disappearing behind a low patch of willows. + +"Golden plovers!" cried Dick, excitedly. "Oh, Dave, if you were there +with a gun!" + +"Ay, lad, and I'm here wi' a pole," said Dave. "Niver mind, I may get a +few perhaps wi' my net. Now, then, never mind the pie-wipes; let's wipe +that theer pie." + +He rapidly thrust the boat along till it was close to the side of the +mere, where he anchored it with his pole and then leaned over and washed +his hands, which he dried upon a piece of rag. + +"Are your hands fishy, Tom?" said Dick. + +"No--I washed them." + +"Well, then, cut some bread." + +The next minute the pie was falling to pieces, the bread undergoing a +change, and the ale sinking rapidly in the stone bottle. After which +the basket was found to contain a certain number of apples, which were +converted into support for the active human beings in the boat, with the +result that the basket was tapped upside down on the edge to get rid of +a few crumbs before the empty pie-dish and stone bottle were replaced, +and the whole tucked away so as to leave all clear. + +"Now, lads, I think we ought to do some wuck," cried Dave, seizing the +pole. "I thought so," he added; "I knowed there'd be something here." + +"Eh!" cried Tom. + +"Don't you see?" said Dick. "There, that bladder's fifty yards from +where it was laid down." + +"Hundered," said Dave, plying his pole. "'Fraid it's another peerch." + +Dave was wrong, for as they approached the bladder it went off with a +swift dart, and there was a swirl in the water which indicated that a +big fish must be on. + +A good ten minutes' chase ensued before Dick was able to hook the line. + +"I've got him," he cried: "a monster!" + +It certainly was a large pike of probably ten or twelve pounds, but in +spite of its struggles it was drawn close in, with Dave smiling tightly +the while, and ending with a broad grin, for as, in the midst of the +intense excitement connected with their capture, Tom took the line and +Dick leaned forward to gaff the pike, there was a struggle, a splash, +the fish leaped right out of the water, and was gone. + +"Hey, but why didn't thou whip the hook into him?" cried Dave. + +"I was trying to," said Dick ruefully; "but just as I touched his side +he wagged his tail and went off!" + +"Niver mind, lad," cried Dave. "Let's look at the line. Ah, I thowt as +much! Hook's broke." + +"Any chance of catching him if we threw in again?" said Tom. + +"Nay, he isn't worth trying for. Mebbe he'd bite; mebbe he wouldn't. +He's gone the gainest [nearest] way to his hole. Let's try the next." + +The buoy attached to this was not in the place where it had been left, +and for a few minutes the lads looked round in a puzzled way, till, with +a grim smile, Dave thrust the boat close up to a reed patch, when, just +as the punt began to rustle against the long crisp water-grass, a +splashing was heard inside somewhere, and after parting the growth with +his pole Dave stood aside for his companions to see that the bladder +attached to the line had been drawn in for some little distance, and +then caught in the midst of a dense tangle, beyond which a good-sized +fish was tugging to get away. + +It needed some effort to force the boat to where the fish was churning +up the water; but at last this was effected, and this time, by leaning +forward and holding Tom's hand as a stay, Dick managed to gaff the +captive and lift it into the boat. + +"A beauty!" said Tom, as they gazed at the bronze, green-spotted sides +of the ferocious fish, whose fang-armed jaws closed with a snap upon the +handle of the gaff, from which a strong shake was needed to detach it. + +"Yes, but not a quarter as big as the one which got away." + +"Nay," growled Dave, "there weren't much differ, lads." + +Whatever its size, the pike, a fish of several pounds weight, was placed +alongside of the perch, upon which, by hazard or natural ferocity, it at +once fastened its peculiarly hooked back-teeth, making it almost +impossible to loosen its hold when once its jaws were closed; but the +discussion which followed upon this was interrupted by the sight of the +next bladder sailing away into the broadest part of the pool which they +now entered. + +"There's a big one howd o' that bait, my lads," said Dave, "and he'll +give us a race. Shall we leave him?" + +"Leave him! no," cried the lads together. + +"Ah, you heven't got to pole!" said Dave thoughtfully, as he gazed at +the bladder skimming along a couple of hundred yards away. + +"Then let me do the poling," cried Dick eagerly, "I'm not tired." + +"Nay," said Dave quietly, "neither you nor me can't do no poling theer. +Watter's nigh upon twenty foot deep, and a soft bottom. Pole's no use +theer." + +"What shall we do then?" + +"I weer thinking, lad," said Dave, following the direction taken by the +bladder. "He's a makkin for yon way through the reeds into next pool." + +"Then let's go there and stop him, Dave," cried Dick. + +"Ay, lad, we will. Round here by the side. Longest way's sometimes +gainest way." + +Dick looked blank upon seeing the boat's head turned right away from the +fish that was caught. Dave saw it, and handed him the pole. + +"Give her a few throosts, lad," he said. + +Dick seized the pole and thrust it down into the water lower and lower +till his hands touched the surface. + +He tried again and again, but there was no bottom within reach, and the +lad handed back the pole. + +"Why, you knew it was too deep here!" he cried. + +"Ay, I knowed, lad," said Dave, taking the pole; "but yow wouldn't hev +been saddisfied wi'out trying yoursen." + +He proceeded to row the punt now for a few yards, till, apparently +knowing by experience where he could find bottom, he thrust down the +pole again, gave a few vigorous pushes, and was soon in shallow water. + +It was a bit of a race for the river-like opening, but Dave sent the +punt along pretty merrily now, while the bladder came slowly along from +the other direction till it was only about fifty yards away, when there +was a series of bobs and then one big one, the bladder which gleamed +whitely on the grey water going down out of sight. + +Dave ceased poling, and all watched the surface for the return of the +bladder, as whale-fishers wait for the rising of the great mammal that +has thrown his flukes upward and dived down toward the bottom of the +sea; but they watched in vain. + +A minute, two minutes, five minutes, then quite a quarter of an hour, +but no sign of the submerged buoy. + +"Yow two look over the sides," said Dave. "I'll run her right over +where the blether was took down." + +Dave sent the punt along slowly, and the lads peered down into the dark +water, but could see no bladder. + +"She'll come up somewheers," said Dave at last, sweeping the surface +with his keen eyes, and then smiling in his hard, dry, uncomfortable +way, as he looked right back over the way by which they had come, and +nodding his head, "There she is!" he said. + +Sure enough there lay the bladder on the surface forty yards behind them +perfectly motionless. + +"Yow take howd o' this one, young Tom Tallington," said Dave; and the +lad prepared to hook the line as the punt was carefully urged forward. + +"Take care, Tom!" whispered Dick excitedly. "Now, now! Oh, what a +fellow you are!" + +Tom did not dash in the hook when his companion bade him, but all the +same he managed to do it at the right time, catching the line just below +the bladder, and then stooping to seize it with his hand ready for the +struggle which was to ensue. + +Both boys were flushed with excitement, and paid no heed to the grim +smile upon their companion's face--a smile which expanded into a grin as +the line came in without the slightest resistance, and the lads looked +at each other with blank dismay. + +"Clap the line in the basket, Mester Dick," said Dave; "he's took the +bait and gone." + +"Why, what a big one he must have been!" cried Tom. + +"Ah, he would be a big one!" said Dave with a chuckle, as he urged the +punt rapidly on; "them as gets away mostlings is." + +"Didn't you feel him a bit, Tom?" asked Dick. + +"No, he had gone before I touched the line," was the reply. + +It was very disappointing; but there were the other trimmers to be +examined, and though it would have puzzled a stranger, Dave went back +with unerring accuracy to the next one that had been laid down. + +This did not seem to have moved; and as it was drawn in, the bait was +swimming strongly and well. + +"Let him go, Dick," said Tom. + +"Well, I was going to, wasn't I?" was the reply. "There you are, old +chap, only got a hole in your gristly lip." + +He dropped the gudgeon into the water, and it lay motionless for a +moment or two, and then darted downward as the punt glided on. + +Another trimmer, and another, and another, was taken up as it was +reached, all these with the baits untouched, and the disappointed look +grew upon the boys' faces. + +"I thought we should get one on every hook," said Tom. "Ar'n't we going +to catch any more?" + +"Why, you've got two," said Dave. + +"Well, what are two, Dave?" cried Dick. + +"More'n I've got many a day," said the man. "I often think I'd like a +pike to stuff and bake; but lots o' times I come and I never get one. +There's one for you yonder." + +"Is there--where?" cried Tom. + +Dave nodded in the direction of the little bay they were approaching, +and it was plain to see that the bladder had been drawn close in to the +boggy shore. + +"Oh, he's gone!" cried Tom. "I don't believe there's one on." + +Tom was wrong, for upon the spot being reached the bladder suddenly +became, as it were, animated, and went sailing along bobbing about on +the surface, then plunging down out of sight, to come up yards away. + +"There's a niste one on theer, lads," said Dave. "Yow be ready with the +hook, Mester Dick, and yow kneel down ready to ketch the line, young Tom +Tallington." + +It was quite a long chase; the bladder bobbing and dancing away till +Dave forced the punt pretty near, and by a back stroke Dick caught the +line, drew it near enough for Tom to seize, when there was a tremendous +splash and plunge, and Tom fell backwards. + +"Gone!" cried Dick in a passion of angry disappointment. + +"Gone!" said Tom dolefully, "and I'd nearly got him over the side!" + +"Ay, that's the way they gooes sometimes," said Dave, sending on the +boat. "Put the band in the basket, lads. Better luck next time." + +"Why, the line's broken!" cried Dick, handing it to its owner. + +"Sawed off agen his teeth," said Dave, after a glance. "Theer, put 'em +away, lad. He's theer waiting to be ketched again some day. Theer's +another yonder. Nay, he hesn't moved." + +This one was taken up, and then others, till only two remained, one of +which was set where the great pike had been seen which took down the +duck. One had not been touched, but had had the bait seized and gnawed +into a miserable state; another bait was bitten right off cleanly close +to the head; while another had been taken off the hook; and one bait had +probably been swallowed, and the line bitten in two. + +"We are having bad luck," cried Dick dolefully. "I thought we should +get a basket full." + +"I didn't," said Dave. "Nivver did but once. Here, we'll tak' yon last +one up first, and come back along here and tak' up the big one, and go +thruff yon reed-bed home." + +"Big one!" said Tom. + +"You don't think he's on, do you?" cried Dick. + +"Hey, lad, how do I know! Mebbe he is." + +"Then let's go at once," cried Dick excitedly. + +"Nay, nay, we'll try yon one first," said Dave, for both the remaining +trimmers were in sight, and though not where they had been laid down, +they seemed to be no farther off than a lively bait and the wind might +have taken them. + +"Theer, lads, yow'll hev to be saddisfied wi' what yow've got. No more +to-day." + +"Oh, very well!" said Dick; "but I wish we'd got something more to eat." + +"There's one on," said Tom excitedly, as they neared the most remote of +the two trimmers. + +"How do you know?" + +"Saw it bob." + +"Yah! It doan't move." + +Dick glanced at Dave, whose face was inscrutable, and then the bladder +seemed to be motionless, and as if Tom's "bob" was all imagination. +Once more it seemed to move slightly, but it was nothing more than the +bait would cause. + +"In wi' it, lads," cried Dave. "You, young Tom. I wean't stop. Ketch +it as we go by." + +Tom reached over and thrust in the hook, just catching the line as the +trimmer seemed to be gliding away. + +"Something on," he shouted, as he got hold of the line with his hands, +and threw down the hook into the boat. For there was a strong sturdy +strain upon the cord; and but for the progress of the boat being +checked, either the line would have been broken, or Tom would have had +to let go. + +"Why, you've got hold of a stump!" cried Dick. "What shall we do, +Dave--cat the line?" + +"Howd on, lads, steady! Ah, that's moved him!" + +For just then, in place of the steady strain, there were a series of +short sharp snatches. + +"Eel, eel!" cried Dick; and at the end of a few minutes' exciting play, +a huge eel was drawn over the side of the boat, tied up in quite a knot, +into which it had thrown itself just at the last. + +"Coot the band close to his neb," [mouth or beak] said Dave, and this +being done, and the line saved from tangling, the captive untwisted +itself, and began to explore the bottom of the boat, a fine thick fellow +nearly thirty inches long, and the possibility was that it might escape +over the stern, till Dave put a stop to the prospect by catching it +quickly, and before it could glide out of his hand, throwing it into the +basket, where the pike resented its coming by an angry flapping of the +tail. + +"That's better," said Dick, placing the trimmer in the other basket. "I +say, Dave, would a fellow like that bite?" + +"Nigh tak' your finger off: they're as strong as strong. Say, lads, +shall we go home now, or try the other ligger?" + +"Oh, let's get the last!" cried Dick; "there may be something on it." + +Dave nodded, and poled steadily over to where the last trimmer lay off +the reedy point, and perfectly motionless, till they were within ten +yards, when there was a heavy swirl on the water, and the bladder dived +under, reappeared a couple of dozen yards away, and went off rapidly +along beside the reed-bed. + +"Is that another perch?" cried Tom, as Dave began to ply his pole +rapidly, and the boat was urged on in pursuit. + +"Nay, that's no perch," cried Dave, who for the first time looked +interested. "It's a pike, and a good one." + +"Think it's that monster that took down the duck?" cried Dick. + +"Nay, lad, I d'know," said the decoy-man; "all I say is that it be a +girt lungeing pike o' some kind." + +Dave plied his pole, and the boys, in their excitement, turned each a +hand into an oar, and swept it through the water as the pursuit was kept +up, for the bladder went sailing away, then stopped, and as soon as the +punt drew near was off again. Sometimes it kept to the surface, but now +and then, when in places where Dave's pole would not touch the bottom, +no sooner did the punt glide up, than there was an eddying swirl, and +the bladder was taken down out of sight. + +Once or twice Dick made a dash at it with the hook, but each time to +miss, and they were led a pretty dance. + +"He's a girt big un, lads, a very girt big un," said Dave, as he rested +for a moment or two with the end of the pole in the water, waiting for +the bladder to reappear, and then rowed the punt softly in the direction +in which it was gliding. "Says, shall a give 'em up?" + +"No, no," cried Dick. "Here, lend me the pole. I'll soon catch him." + +Dave smiled, but did not give up the pole. + +"Nay, lad, I'll ketch up to un. Wait a bit; fish'll be tired 'fore Dave +Gittans." + +The pursuit continued in the most exasperating way, and to an onlooker +it would have been exceedingly absurd, since it seemed as if the man and +his companions were off oh the great mere with its open spaces of water +and islands of reeds, and lanes through them like so many little crooked +canals, in pursuit of a white pig's-bladder tied round the middle to +make it double. There it would lie till the boat neared, and then off +it went with a skim that took it twenty, thirty, or forty yards. Next +time the boat neared, instead of the skim it would begin to dance as if +in mockery, bobbing down whenever Dick reached over with his hook, and +always keeping out of his reach, just as if a mocking spirit directed +all its movements and delighted in tantalising them. Again, after a +long run over the deep water, it would be quite still, and the punt +would be sent forward so cautiously that the capture seemed to be a +moral certainty; but so sure as Dick crept to the extreme end of the +punt and reached out, there was a tremor for an instant visible on the +water and the bladder disappeared. + +"He must be a monster!" cried Dick, whose face was scarlet. "Oh, Dave, +do go more quietly this time!" + +"Let me try!" cried Tom, making a snatch at the hook. + +"No! I'll have him," said Dick. "I wouldn't miss this chance for the +world!" + +"Ay, I'll goo up quiet-like," said Dave, pausing to give himself an +opium pill before resuming his task. "Yow be quicker this time, lad--a +bold dash and you'll get him!" + +The double-looking bladder seemed now to be quite divided in two, for +the string had grown tighter in being drawn through the water, and as it +lay quite still, about forty yards from them, it looked a task that a +child might have done, to go up to it softly and hook the string. + +"Now!" said Dave as he propelled the boat stern foremost by working the +pole behind as a fish does its tail. + +"Oh! do get it this time, Dick!" panted Tom as he knelt in the boat. + +"One quick dash, Mester Dick, and you hev it!" + +Dick did not answer, but lay prone upon his chest well out over the +stern of the boat, holding on with one hand, the hook stretched out over +the water, ready, his heart beating and his eyes glittering with +excitement. + +As the punt glided on Dick's face was reflected in the dark amber-tinted +water--for there was not a ripple made--but he saw nothing of the glassy +surface; his eyes were riveted upon the gleaming white bladder, into +which the string had cut so deeply. + +Another moment or two and he would be within striking distance, but a +glance at his hook showed that, perhaps from looseness in its socket, +the point was turned too much away. + +He had barely time to turn it, as the moment arrived to strike, and +strike he did, just as the bladder was plunging down. + +A yell came from behind him from Dave! + +A groan from Tom! + +Dick rose up in the boat with a feeling of misery and disappointment, +such as he had never before experienced, for he was perfectly conscious +of what he had done. The bladder had been snatched under so quickly, +that when he struck, instead of the hook going beneath and catching the +string, the point had entered the bladder. He had even felt the check, +and knew that he had torn a hole in the side. + +"Hey, but yow've done it now, Mester Dick!" said Dave, laying the pole +across the boat and sitting down. + +"I couldn't help it, Dave. I did try so hard!" pleaded the lad. + +"And you wouldn't let me try--obstinate!" grumbled Tom. + +"Deal better you'd have done it, wouldn't you!" cried Dick in an +exasperated tone. + +"Done it better than that!" cried Tom hotly. + +"Nay, yow wouldn't, lad," said Dave coolly. "It's a girt big un, and +he's too sharp for us. Well, it's getting on and we may as well go +home. He's gone! Blether wean't come to the top no more!" + +"But will he take a bait again, Dave?" said Dick; "I mean, if we come +another time." + +"Will yow want any dinner to-morrow, lad?" said Dave, laughing. "Ay, +he'll tek a bait again, sure enough, and we'll hev him some day! Theer, +it's getting late; look at the starnels sattling down on the reeds!" + +He pointed to the great clouds of birds curving round in the distance as +he stooped and picked up the pole, ready to send the punt homewards, for +the evening was closing in, and it would be dark before they reached the +shore. + +"What's that?" cried Tom suddenly, as he swept the surface of the water, +and he pointed to a faint white speck about twenty yards away. + +"Hey? Why, it is!" cried Dave. "Tek the hook again, Mester Dick, lad; +there's a little wind left yet in th' blether, and it's coom oop!" + +"Let me!" cried Tom. + +"Shall I do it, lad?" said Dave. + +"No, let me try this once!" cried Dick. "Or, no; you try, Tom!" + +Tom snatched at the staff of the hook, but offered it back to his +companion. + +"No, Dick," he said; "you missed, and you've a right to try again!" + +"No, you try!" said Dick hurriedly, as he thrust his hands in his +pockets to be out of temptation. + +"Nay, let Mester Dick hev one more try!" cried Dave; and the lad took +the staff, went through all his former manoeuvres, struck more deeply +with the staff, and this time, as he felt a check, he twisted the hook +round and round in the string, and felt as if it would be jerked out of +his hand. + +"Twist un again, mun! Get well twissen!" cried Dave; and as the lad +obeyed, the punt, already in motion, was for a short distance literally +drawn by the strong fish in its desperate efforts to escape. + +"Let me come this time, young Tom Tallington!" cried Dave. + +"No, no; I'll help!" cried Tom. + +"But I shouldn't like you to lose this un, lads. Theer, go on and +charnsh it. You get well howd o' the band while young squire untwisses +the hook. He's 'bout bet out now and wean't mak' much of a fight!" + +Tom obeyed, and Dick, who was trembling with excitement, set the hook at +liberty. + +Meanwhile the fish was struggling furiously at the end of some fifteen +feet of stout line; but the fight had been going on some time now, and +at the end of a few minutes, as Dave manoeuvred the punt so as to ease +the strain on the line, Tom found that he could draw the captive slowly +to the surface. + +"Tak' care, Mester Dick, throost hook reight in his gills, and in wi' un +at onced." + +Dick did not reply, but stood ready, and it was well that he did so, for +as Tom drew the fish right up, such a savage, great, teeth-armed pair of +jaws came gaping at him out of the water, that he started and stumbled +back, dragging the hook from its hold. + +But before he could utter a cry of dismay there was a tremendous sputter +and splash, for Dick had been in time, and, as the fish-hook was +breaking out, had securely caught the pike with the gaff. + +The next moment, all ablaze in the evening light with green, and gold, +and silver, and cream, the monster was flopping on the floor of the +punt, trying frantically to leap out, and snapping with its jaws in a +way that would have been decidedly unpleasant for any hand that was +near. + +The monster's career was at an end, though. A heavy blow on the head +stunned it, and a couple more put it beyond feeling, while the occupants +of the boat stood gazing down at their prize, as grand a pike as is +often seen, for it was nearly four feet long, and well-fed and thick. + +"Look at his teeth!" cried Tom excitedly; "why, there's great fangs full +half an inch long." + +"Yes, and sharp as knives!" cried Dick. + +"Ay, he've hed nice games in his time here, lads!" said Dave, grinning +with pleasure. "I'm straange and glad you've caught him. Many's the +time I've sin him chase the fish and tak' down the water-rats. One day +he hed howd of a big duck. He got it by its legs as I was going along, +and the poor thing quacked and tried to fly, but down it went d'reckly. +Big pike like this un'll yeat owt." + +"And if he got hold of them with these hooked teeth, Dave, they wouldn't +get away." + +"Nay, lad, that they wouldn't. He'd take a pike half as big as hissen, +if he got the charnsh." + +"Well, he won't kill any more," cried Dick triumphantly. "Oh, Tom, if +we had lost him after all!" + +"I'd reyther hev lost a whole tak' o' duck, lads," said Dave, shaking +each of his companions' hands warmly. "There'll be straange games among +all the fishes and birds here, because he's ketched. Look at him! +Theer's a pike, and they're a trying to dree-ern all the watter off from +the fens and turn 'em into fields. Hey, lads, it'll be a straange bad +time for us when it's done." + +"But do you think it will take off all the water, and spoil the fen, +Dave?" said Tom. + +"Nay, lad, I don't," said Dave with sudden emphasis. "It's agen nature, +and it wean't be done. Hey and we must be getting back." + +He plunged the pole into the water as he spoke, and it seemed to grow +blacker and blacker, as they talked pike over their capture, till the +shore was reached, and the prize borne to Hickathrift's workshop, where +a pair of big rough scales showed that within a few ounces the pike +weighed just what Dave guessed, to wit two stone and a half old +Lincolnshire weight of fourteen pounds to the stone, or thirty-five +pounds. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +MR. MARSTON'S NARROW ESCAPE. + +The wintry weather passed away with its storms and continuous rains and +floods, which hindered the progress of the great lode or drain, and then +came the spring sunshine, with the lads waking up to the fact that here +and there the arums were thrusting up their glossy-green spathes, that +the celandines were out like yellow stars, and that the rustling reeds +left uncut had been snapped off and beaten down, and had rotted in the +water, and that from among them the young shoots of the fresh crop were +beginning to peep. + +Bold brisk winds swept over the fen and raised foamy waves in the meres, +and the nights were clear and cold, though there had been little frost +that year, never enough to well coat the lakes and pools with ice, so +that the pattens could be cleaned from their rust and sharpened at +Hickathrift's grindstone ready for the lads at the old Priory and +Grimsey to skate in and out for miles. But, in spite of the cold, there +was a feeling of spring in the air. The great grey-backed crows were +getting scarce, and the short-eared owls, which, a couple of months +before, could be flushed from the tufts in the fen, to fly off looking +like chubby hawks, were gone, and the flights of ducks and peewits had +broken up. The golden plovers were gone; but the green peewits were +busy nesting, or rather laying eggs without nests--pear-shaped eggs, +small at one end, large at the other, thickly blotched and splashed with +dark green, and over which the birds watched, ready to fall as if with +broken wing before the intruder, and try to lure him away. + +Many a tramp over the sodden ground did the lads have with Dave, who +generally waited for their coming, leaping-pole in hand, and then took +them to the peewits' haunts to gather a basketful of their eggs. + +"I don't know how you do it, Dave," said Dick. "We go and hunt for +hours, and only get a few pie-wipes' eggs; you always get a basketful." + +"It's a man's natur," said Dave. + +"Well, show us how you know," said Dick, shouldering his leaping-pole, +and pretending to hit his companion's head. + +"Nay, lad, theer's no showing a thing like that," said Dave +mysteriously. "It comes to a man." + +"Gammon!" cried Dick. "It's a dodge you've learned." + +Dave chuckled and tramped on beside the lads, having enough to do to +avoid sinking in. + +"She's reyther juicy this spring, eh? They heven't dree-ernt her yet," +said Dave with a malicious grin. "See there, now, young Tom +Tallington," he cried, stepping past the lad, and, picking up a couple +of eggs in spite of the wailing of their owners, as they came napping +close by, the cock bird in his glossy-green spring feathers, and a long +pendent tuft hanging down from the back of his head. + +"How stupid!" cried Tom. "I didn't see them." + +"Nay, you wouldn't," said Dave, stepping across Dick, who was on his +left; "and yow, young squire Dick, didn't see they two." + +"Yes, I did, Dave, I did," cried Dick. "I was just going to pick them +up." + +"Pick' em up then," cried Dave quietly; "where are they then?" Dick +looked sharply round him; but there was not an egg to be seen, and he +realised that Dave had cheated him, and drawn him into a declaration +that was not true. + +He was very silent under the laughter of his companions, and felt it all +the more. + +They went on, the lads sometimes finding an egg or two, but nearly all +falling to Dave, who, as if by unerring instinct, went straight to the +spots where the nests lay, and secured the spoil. + +Now and then a heron flew up, one with a small eel twining about its +bill; and more than once a hare went bounding off from its form among +the dry last year's grass. + +"We want Hickathrift's dog here," cried Dick. + +"What for, lad? what for?" said Dave, laughing. + +"To catch the hares." + +"Nay, yow want no dog," said Dave. "Easy enough to catch hares." + +"Easy! How?" cried Tom. + +"Go up to 'em and catch 'em," said Dave coolly. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Dick, and his companion joined in. "I should like +to see you catch a hare, Dave." + +"Shouldst ta, lad? Very well, wait a bit." + +They tramped on, with Dave picking up an egg here, a couple there, in a +way that was most exasperating to the boys, whose luck was very bad. + +"I never saw such eyes," said Tom. "I can't see the eggs like he can." + +Dave chuckled as if he had a rattlesnake in his throat, and they went on +for a while till Dick stopped suddenly, and pointed to the side of one +of the fen ponds. + +"That isn't a heron," he said. + +"No. One o' them long-legged ones--a crane," said Dave. "Getting +straange and scarce now. Used to be lots of 'em breed here when my +grandfather was a boy. Nay, nay, don't scar' him," he cried, checking +Dick, who was about to wave his hands. "Niver disturb the birds wi'out +you want 'em to eat or sell. Now, then: yonder's a hare." + +"Where?" cried Tom. "I can't see it." + +"Over yonder among that dry grass." + +"There isn't," said Dick. "I can't see any hare." + +"Like me to go and catch him, young Tom?" + +"Here, I'll soon see if there's a hare," cried Dick; but Dave caught him +by the shoulder with a grip of iron, and thrust the pole he carried into +the soft bog. + +"I didn't say I was going to run a hare down," he said. "Theer's a hare +yonder in her form. Shall I go and catch her?" + +"Yes," said Dick, grinning. "Shall I say, `Sh!'" + +"Nay, if thou'rt going to play tricks, lad, I shall howd my hand. I +thowt yow wanted to see me ketch a hare." + +"Go on, then," said Dick, laughing; "we won't move." + +Dave chuckled, swung his basket behind him as if hung by a strip of +cow-hide over his shoulder, and walked quietly on, in and out among the +tufts of heather and moss, for some five-and-twenty yards. + +"He's laughing at us," said Dick. + +"No, he isn't. I've heard Hickathrift say he can catch hares," replied +Tom. "Look!" + +For just then they saw Dave go straight up to a tuft of dry grass, stoop +down and pick up a hare by its ears, and place it on his left arm. + +The boys ran up excitedly. + +"Why, Dave, I didn't think you could do it!" cried Dick. + +"Dessay not," replied the decoy-man, uttering his unpleasant laugh. +"Theer, she's a beauty, isn't she?" + +The hare struggled for a moment or two, and then crouched down in the +man's arm, with its heart throbbing and great eyes staring round at its +captors. + +"Kill it, Dave, kill it," cried Tom. + +"Kill it! What for? Pretty creatur'," said Dave, stroking the hare's +brown speckled fur, and laying its long black-tipped sensitive ears +smoothly down over its back. + +"To take home." + +"Nay, who kills hares at the end of March, lad? Hares is mad in March." + +"Is that why it let you catch it, Dave?" + +"Mebbe, lad, mebbe, Mester Dick. Theer, hev you done stroking her?" + +"No. Why?" + +"Going to let her run?" + +"Wait a bit," cried Dick. + +"Tek her by the ears, lad, and putt thy hand beneath her. That's the +ways." + +Dick took the hare in his arms, and the trembling beast submitted +without a struggle. + +"How did you know it was there?" said Tom. + +"How did I know she was theer! Why, she had her ears cocked-up +listening, plain enough to see. Theer, let her go now. She's got a +wife somewheers about." + +"_She's_ got a wife! Why don't you say _He_?" cried Dick. "Now, Tom, +I'm going to let him go; but he won't run, he's a sick one. You'll see. +Anyone could catch a hare like this." + +He carefully placed the hare upon the ground, holding tightly by its +ears. + +"There," he cried; "I told you so! Look how stupid and--Oh!" + +The hare made one great leap, and then hardly seemed to touch the ground +again with its muscular hind-legs; but went off at a tremendous rate, +bounding over heath and tuft, till it disappeared in the distance. + +"There's a sleepy sick one for you, Mester Dick!" cried Dave. "Now, +then, goo and ketch her, lad." + +"Well, I never!" cried Dick. "I say, Dave, how do you manage it? Could +you catch another?" + +"Ay, lad, many as I like." + +"And rabbits too?" + +"Nay, I don't say that. I hev ketched rabbuds that ways, but not often. +Rabbud always makes for his hole." + +As he spoke he walked back to where he had left his pole standing in the +bog earth, and they trudged on again to where a lane of water impeded +their further progress. + +"Too wide for you, lads?" said Dave. + +"No," replied Dick, "if it's good bottom." + +"Good bottom a little higher up here," said Dave, bearing off to the +left. "Now, then, over you go!" + +Dick, pole in hand, took a run without the slightest hesitation, for +Dave's word was law. He said there was good bottom to the lane of +water, and he was sure to know, for he had the knowledge of his father +and grandfather joined to his own. If it had been bad bottom Dick's +feat would have been impossible, for his pole would have gone down +perhaps to its full length in the soft bog; as it was, the end of the +pole rested upon gravel in about three feet of water, and the lad went +over easily and describing a curve through the air. + +"Look out!" shouted Tom, following suit, and landing easily upon the +other side; while Dave took off his basket of plovers' eggs by slipping +the hide band over his head, then, hanging it to the end of his pole, he +held it over the water to the boys, who reached across and took it +together on their poles, landing it safely without breaking an egg. + +The next minute, with the ease of one long practised in such leaps, Dave +flew over and resumed his load. + +Several more long lanes of water were cleared in this way, Dave leading +the boys a good round, and taking them at last to his house, pretty well +laden with eggs, where he set before them a loaf and butter, and lit a +fire. + +"Theer, you can boil your eggs," he said, "and mak' a meal. Mebbe +you're hungry now." + +There was no maybe in the matter, judging from the number of slices of +bread and butter and hard-boiled plovers' eggs the lads consumed. + +Over the meal the question of the draining was discussed +sympathetically. + +"No fish," said Dick. + +"No decoy," said Tom. + +"No plovers' eggs," said Dave. + +"No rabbiting," said Dick. + +"No eeling," said Tom. + +"No nothing," said Dave. "Hey bud it'll be a sad job when it's done. +But it arn't done yet, lads, eh?" + +"No, it isn't done yet," said Dick. "I say, where's John Warren? I +haven't seen him for months." + +"I hev," said Dave. "He's a breaking his heart, lads, about big drain. +Comes over to see me and smoke his pipe. It'll 'bout kill him if his +rabbud-warren is took awaya. Bud dree-ern ar'n't done yet, lads, eh?" + +Squire Winthorpe was of a different opinion that night when Dick reached +home after seeing Tom well on his way. + +"They're going on famously now," he said to Mrs Winthorpe, who was +repairing the damage in one of Dick's garments. + +"And was the meeting satisfied?" + +"Yes, quite," said the squire. "We had a big meeting with the gentlemen +from London who are interested in the business, and they praised young +Mr Marston, the engineer, wonderfully fine young fellow too." + +Dick pricked up his ears. + +"I thought Mr Marston was coming to see us a deal, father!" he said. + +"He's been away during the bad weather when the men couldn't work--up in +town making plans and things. He's coming over to-night." + +"And do the people about seem as dissatisfied as ever about the work?" +said Mrs Winthorpe. + +"I don't hear much about it," said the squire. "They'll soon settle +down to it when they find how things are improved. Well, Dick, plenty +of sport to-day?" + +"Dave got plenty of pie-wipes' eggs, father. I didn't find many." + +"Got enough to give Mr Marston a few?" + +"Oh, yes, plenty for that! What time's he coming?" + +"About eight, I should think. He's coming along the river bank after +his men have done." + +"And going back, father?" + +"Oh no! he'll sleep here to-night." + +The squire went out to have his customary look round the farmstead +before settling down for the night, and Dick followed him. The thrushes +were piping; sounds of ducks feeding out in the fen came off the water, +and here and there a great shadowy-looking bird could be seen flapping +its way over the desolate waste, but everywhere there was the feeling of +returning spring in the air, and the light was lingering well in the +west, making the planet in the east look pale and wan. + +Everything seemed to be all right. There was a loud muttering among the +fowls at roost. Solomon laid back his ears and twitched the skin of his +back as if he meant to kick when Dick went near the lean-to shed +supported on posts, thatched with reeds and built up against an old +stone wall in which there were the remains of a groined arch. + +Everything about the Toft was at peace, and down toward the +wheelwright's the labourers' cottages were so still that it was evident +that some of the people had gone to bed. + +The squire went on down the gravel slope, past the clump of firs, and by +the old ivied wall which marked the boundary of the ancient priory, +when, after crossing a field or two, they came to the raised bank which +kept the sluggish river within bounds. + +"Looks cold and muddy, father," said Dick. + +"Yes, not tempting for a bathe, Dick; but some day I hope to see a river +nearly as big as that draining our great fen." + +"But don't you think it will be a pity, father?" + +"Yes, for idle boys who want to pass their lives fishing, and for men +like Dave and John Warren. Depend upon it, Dick, it's the duty of every +man to try and improve what he sees about." + +"But natural things look so beautiful, father!" + +"In moderation, boy. Don't see any sign of Mr Marston yet, do you?" + +"No, father," replied Dick after taking a long look over the desolate +level where the river wound between its raised banks toward the sea. + +"Can't very well miss his way," said the squire, half to himself. + +"Unless he came through the fen," said Dick. + +"Oh, he wouldn't do that! He'd come along by the river wall, my boy; +it's longer, but better walking." + +The squire walked back toward the house, turning off so as to approach +it by the back, where his men were digging for a great rain-water tank +to be made. + +The men had not progressed far, for their way was through stones and +cement, which showed how, at one time, there must have been either a +boundary-wall or a building there; and as they stood by the opening the +latter was proved to be the case, for Dick stooped down and picked up a +piece of ancient roofing lead. + +"Yes, Dick, this must have been a fine old place at one time," said the +squire. "Let's get back. Be a bit of a frost to-night, I think." + +"I hope not, father." + +"And I hope it will, my boy! I like to get the cold now, not when the +young trees are budding and blossoming." + +They went in, to find the ample supper spread upon its snowy cloth and +the empty jug standing ready for the ale to be drawn to flank the pinky +ham, yellow butter, and well-browned young fowl. + +"No, wife, no! Can't see any sign of him yet," said the squire. "Dick, +get me my pipe. I'll have just one while we're waiting. Hope he has +not taken the wrong road!" + +"Do you think he has?" said Mrs Winthorpe anxiously. "It would be very +dangerous for him now it is growing dark." + +"No, no; nonsense!" said the squire, filling his pipe from the stone +tobacco-jar Dick had taken from the high chimney-piece of the cosy, low, +oak-panelled room. + +It was a curious receptacle, having been originally a corbel from the +bottom of a groin of the old building, and represented an evil-looking +grotesque head. This the squire had had hollowed out and fitted with a +leaden lid. + +"Think we ought to go and meet him, father?" said Dick, after watching +the supper-table with the longing eyes of a young boy, and then taking +them away to stare at his mother's glistening needle and the soft grey +clouds from his father's pipe. + +"No, Dick, we don't know which way to go. If we knew we would. Perhaps +he will not come at all, and I'm too tired to go far to-night." + +Dick bent down and stroked Tibb, the great black cat, which began to +purr. + +"Put on a few more turves, Dick, and a bit or two of wood," said his +mother. "Mr Marston may be cold." + +Dick laid a few pieces of the resinous pine-root from the fen upon the +fire, and built up round it several black squares of well-dried peat +where the rest glowed and fell away in a delicate creamy ash. Then the +fir-wood began to blaze, and he returned to his seat. + +"'Tatoes is done!" said a voice at the door, and the red-armed maid +stood waiting for orders to bring them in. + +"Put them in a dish, Sarah, and keep them in the oven with the door +open. When Mr Marston comes you can put them in the best wooden bowl, +and cover them with a clean napkin before you bring them in," said Mrs +Winthorpe. + +"Oh, I say, mother, I am so hungry! Mayn't I have one baked potato?" + +"Surely you can wait, my boy, till our visitor comes," said Mrs +Winthorpe quietly. + +Dick stared across at the maid as she was closing the door, and a look +of intelligence passed between them, one which asked a question and +answered it; and Dick knew that if he went into the great kitchen there +would be a mealy potato ready for him by the big open fireplace, with +butter _ad libitum_, and pepper and salt. + +Dick sat stroking the cat for a few minutes and then rose, to go to the +long low casement bay-window, draw aside the curtain, and look out over +the black fen. + +"Can't see him," he said with a sigh; and then, as no notice was taken +of his remark, he went slowly out and across the square stone-paved hall +to the kitchen, where, just as he expected, a great potato was waiting +for him by the peat-fire, and hot plate, butter, pepper, and salt were +ready. + +"Oh, I say, Sarah, you are a good one!" cried Dick. + +"I thought you'd come, Mester Dick," said the maid; and then, with a +start, "Gracious! what's that?" + +"Sea-bird," said Dick shortly, and then he dropped the knife and ran +back to the parlour, for another cry came from off the fen. + +"Hear that, father!" cried Dick. + +"Hear it! yes, my lad. Quick! get your cap. My staff, mother," he +added. "Poor fellow's got in, p'r'aps." + +The squire hurried out after Dick, who had taken the lead, and as they +passed out of the great stone porch the lad uttered a hail, which was +answered evidently from about a couple of hundred yards away. + +"He has been coming across the fen path," said the squire. "Ahoy! don't +stir till we come." + +"Shall we want the lantern, father?" cried Dick. + +"No, no, my lad; we can see. Seems darker first coming out of the +light." + +A fresh cry came from off the fen, and it was so unmistakably the word +"Help!" that the squire and his son increased their pace. + +"Ahoy, there!" cried a big gruff voice. + +"Hickathrift?" + +"Ay, mester! Hear that! some un's in trouble over yonder." + +The wheelwright's big figure loomed up out of the darkness and joined +them as they hurried on. + +"Yes, I heard it. I think it must be Mr Marston missed his way." + +"What! the young gent at the dreeaning! Hey, bud he'd no call to be out +theer." + +"Where are you?" shouted Dick, who was ahead now and hurrying along the +track that struck off to the big reed-beds and then away over the fen to +the sea-bank. + +"Here! help!" came faintly. + +"Tak' care, Mester Dick!" cried Hickathrift as he and the squire +followed. "Why, he is reight off the path!" + +"I'll take care!" shouted Dick. "Come on! All right; it isn't very +soft here!" + +Long usage had made him so familiar with the place that he was able to +leave the track in the darkness and pick his way to where, guided by the +voice, he found their expected visitor, not, as he expected, up to his +middle in the soft peat, but lying prone. + +"Why, Mr Marston, you're all right!" cried Dick. "You wouldn't have +hurt if you had come across here." + +"Help!" came faintly from the prostrate traveller, and Dick caught his +arm, but only to elicit a groan. + +"Well, he is a coward!" thought Dick. "Here, father! Hicky!" + +"Rather soft, my boy!" said the squire. + +"Ay, not meant for men o' our weight, mester," said the wheelwright; and +they had to flounder in the soft bog a little before they reached the +spot where Dick stood holding the young man's cold hand. + +"He has fainted with fright, father," said Dick, who felt amused at +anyone being so alarmed out there in the darkness. + +"Let me tackle him, mester," said the wheelwright. + +"No; each take a hand, my lad," said the squire, "and then let's move +together for the path as quickly as possible." + +"Reight!" cried Hickathrift, laconically; and, stooping down, they each +took a hand, and half ran half waded through the black boggy mud, till +they reached the path from which the young man had strayed. + +"Poor chap! he were a bit scar'd to find himself in bog." + +"Pity he ventured that way," said the squire. + +"Here, Mr Marston, you're all right now," said Dick. "Can you get up +and walk?" + +There was no answer, but the young man tried to struggle up, and would +have sunk down again had not the squire caught him round the waist. + +"Poor lad! he's bet out. Not used to our parts," said Hickathrift. +"Here, howd hard, sir. Help me get him o' my back like a sack, and I'll +run him up to the house i' no time." + +It seemed the best plan; and as the young man uttered a low moan he was +half lifted on to Hickathrift's broad back, and carried toward the +house. + +"Run on, Dick, and tell your mother to mix a good glass of hollands and +water," said the squire. + +Dick obeyed, and the steaming glass of hot spirits was ready as the +wheelwright bore in his load, and the young man was placed in a chair +before the glowing kitchen fire. + +"My arm!" he said faintly. + +"You wrenched his arm, Hicky," said Dick, "when you dragged him out." + +"Very sorry, Mester Dick." + +"Ugh!" cried the lad, who had laid his hand tenderly on their visitor's +shoulder. + +"What is it?" cried Mrs Winthorpe. + +"Blood. He has been hurt," said Dick. + +"Shot! Here," said the young man in a whisper; and then his head sank +down sidewise, and he fainted dead away. + +Mr Marston's faintly-uttered words sent a thrill through all present, +but no time was wasted. People who live in out-of-the-way places, far +from medical help, learn to be self-reliant, and as soon as Squire +Winthorpe realised what was wrong he gave orders for the injured man to +be carried to the couch in the dining parlour, where his wet jacket was +taken off by the simple process of ripping up the back seam. + +"Now, mother, the scissors," said the squire, "and have some bandages +ready. You, Dick, if it's too much for you, go away. If it isn't: +stop. You may want to bind up a wound some day." + +Dick felt a peculiar sensation of giddy sickness, but he tried to master +it, and stood looking on as the shirt sleeve was cut open, and the young +man's white arm laid bare to the shoulder, displaying an ugly wound in +the fleshy part. + +"Why, it's gone right through, mother," whispered the squire, shaking +his head as he applied sponge and cold water to the bleeding wounds. + +"And doctor says there's veins and artrys, mester," said Hickathrift, +huskily. "One's bad and t'other's worse. Which is it, mester?" + +"I hope and believe there is no artery touched," said the squire; "but +we must run no risk. Hickathrift, my man, the doctor must be fetched. +Go and send one of the men." + +"Nay, squire, I'll go mysen," replied the big wheelwright. "Did'st see +his goon, Mester Dick?" + +"No, I saw no gun." + +"Strange pity a man can't carry a gun like a Chrishtun," said the +wheelwright, "and not go shutin hissen that way." + +The wheelwright went off, and the squire busied himself binding up the +wounds, padding and tightening, and proving beyond doubt that no artery +had been touched, for the blood was soon nearly staunched, while, just +as he was finishing, and Mrs Winthorpe was drawing the sleeve on one +side so as to secure a bandage with some stitches, something rolled on +to the floor, and Dick picked it up. + +"What's that, Dick--money?" + +"No, father; leaden bullet." + +"Ha! that's it; nice thing to go through a man's arm," said the squire +as he examined the roughly-cast ragged piece of lead. "We must look for +his gun to-morrow. What did he expect to get with a bullet at a time +like this? Eh? What were you trying to shoot, Marston?" said the +squire, as he found that the young man's eyes were open and staring at +him. + +"I--trying to shoot!" + +"Yes; of course you didn't mean to bring yourself down," said the +squire, smiling; "but what in the world, man, were you trying to shoot +with bullets out here?" + +The young engineer did not reply, but looked round from one to the +other, and gave Mrs Winthorpe a grateful smile. + +"Do you recollect where you left your gun?" said Dick eagerly, for the +thought of the rust and mischief that would result from a night in the +bog troubled him. + +"Left my gun!" he said. + +"Never mind now, Mr Marston," said the squire kindly. "Your things are +wet, and we'll get you to bed. It's a nasty wound, but it will soon get +right again. I'm not a doctor, but I know the bone is not broken." + +"I did not understand you at first," said the young engineer then. "You +think I have been carrying a gun, and shot myself?" + +"Yes, but never mind now," said Mrs Winthorpe, kindly. "I don't think +you ought to talk." + +"No," was the reply; "I will not say much; but I think Mr Winthorpe +ought to know. Some one shot me as I was coming across the fen." + +"What!" cried Dick. + +"Shot you!" said the squire. + +"Yes. It was quite dark, and I was carefully picking my way, when there +was a puff of smoke from a bed of reeds, a loud report, and I seemed to +feel a tremendous blow; and I remember no more till I came to, feeling +sick and faint, and managed to crawl along till I saw the lights of the +farm here, and cried for help." + +"Great heavens!" cried the squire. + +"Didn't you see any one?" cried Mrs Winthorpe. + +"No, nothing but the smoke from the reeds. I feel rather faint now--if +you will let me rest." + +With the help of Dick and his father the young engineer was assisted to +his bed, where he seemed to drop at once into a heavy sleep; and, +satisfied that there was nothing to fear for some time, the squire +returned to the parlour looking very serious, while Dick watched him +intently to see what he would say. + +"This is very dreadful, my dear," whispered Mrs Winthorpe at last. +"Have we some strange robber in the fen?" + +"Don't know," said the squire shortly. "Perhaps some one has a spite +against him." + +"How dreadful!" said Mrs Winthorpe. + +"One of his men perhaps." + +"Or a robber," cried Dick excitedly. "Why, father, we might get Dave +and John Warren and Hicky and some more, and hunt him down." + +"Robbers rob," said the squire laconically. + +"Of course, my dear," said Mrs Winthorpe; "and it would be dreadful to +think of. Why, we could never go to our beds in peace." + +"But Mr Marston's watch and money are all right, my dear. Depend upon +it he has offended one of the rough drain diggers, and it is an act of +revenge." + +"But the man ought to be punished." + +"Of course, my dear, and we'll have the constables over from town, and +he shall be found. It won't be very hard to do." + +"Why not, father?" + +"Because many of the men have no guns." + +"But they might borrow, father?" + +"The easier to find out then," said the squire. "Well, one must eat +whether a man's shot or no. History does not say that everybody went +without his supper because King Charles's head was cut off. Mother, +draw the ale. Dick, tell Sarah to bring in those hot potatoes. I'm +hungry, and I've got to sit up all night." + +There proved to be no real need, for the squire's patient slept soundly, +and there was nothing to disturb the silence at the Toft. But morning +found the squire still watching, with Mrs Winthorpe busy with her +needle in the dining parlour, and Dick lying down on the hearth-rug, and +sleeping soundly by the glowing fire. For about four o'clock, after +strenuously refusing to go to bed, he had thought he would lie down and +rest for a bit, with the result that he was in an instant fast asleep, +and breathing heavily. + +By breakfast-time Farmer Tallington had heard the news, and was over +with Tom, each ready to listen to the squire's and Dick's account; and +before nine o'clock Dave and John Warren, who had come over to +Hickathrift's, to find him from home, came on to the Toft to talk with +Dick and Tom, and stare and gape. + +"Why, theer heven't been such a thing happen since the big fight wi' the +smugglers and the king's men," said Dave. + +To which John Warren assented, and said it was "amaazin'." + +"And who do you think it weer?" said Dave, as he stood scratching his +ear; and upon being told the squire's opinion, he shook his head, and +said there was no knowing. + +"It's a bad thing, Mester Dick, bringing straangers into a plaace. Yow +nivver know what characters they've got. Why, I do believe--it's a +turruble thing to say--that some of they lads at work at big dree-ern +hevven't got no characters at all." + +"Here be Hickathrift a-coming wi' doctor," said John Warren. + +And sure enough there was the doctor on his old cob coming along the fen +road, with Hickathrift striding by his side, the man of powder and +draught having been from home with a patient miles away when Hickathrift +reached the town, and not returning till five o'clock. + +"He'll do right enough, squire," said the doctor. "Young man like he is +soon mends a hole in his flesh. You did quite right; but I suppose the +bandaging was young Dick's doing, for of all the clumsy bungling I ever +saw it was about the worst." + +Dick gave his eye a peculiar twist in the direction of his father, who +was giving him a droll look, and then they both laughed. + +"Very delicately done, doctor," said the squire. "There, Dick, as he +has put it on your shoulders you may as well bear it." + +"Ah, let him!" said the doctor. "Now, what are you going to do?" he +said aloud; "catch the scoundrel who shot Mr Marston, and get him +transported for life?" + +"That's what ought to be done to him," said John Warren solemnly, as he +looked straight away over the fen. + +"Ay," said Dave. "How do we know but what it may be our turn or +Hickathrift's next? It's a straange, bad thing." + +"I must talk it over with Mr Marston," said the squire, "when he gets +better, and then we shall see." + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE PATIENT'S FRIENDS. + +Mr Marston declared that he had not the most remote idea of having +given any of his men offence, and then looked very serious about the +question of bringing over the constables from the town to investigate +the matter. + +"It may have been an accident, Mr Winthorpe," he said; "and if so, I +should be sorry to get any poor fellow into trouble." + +"Yes, but it may not have been an accident," said the doctor. + +This was in the evening, the doctor having ridden over again to see how +his patient was getting on. + +"Heaven forbid, sir," said Marston warmly, "that I should suspect any +man of such a cowardly cruel deed! Impossible, sir! I cannot recall +having done any man wrong since I have been here. My lads like me." + +"How do you know that?" said the squire dryly. "Men somehow are not +_very_ fond of the master who is over them, and makes them fairly earn +their wages." + +"Well, sir, I don't know how to prove it," said Marston, who was lying +on a dimity-covered couch, "but--" + +"Hallo!" cried the squire, leaping up and going to the window, as a loud +and excited buzzing arose, mingled with the trampling of feet, which +sounded plainly in the clear cold spring evening. + +"Anything wrong?" said the doctor. + +"Why, here's a crowd of a hundred fellows armed with sticks!" cried the +squire. "I believe they've got the rascal who fired the shot." + +"No!" said the doctor. + +"Father! Mr Marston!" cried Dick, rushing up stairs and into the +visitor's bed-room; "here are all the drain-men--hundreds of them--Mr +Marston's men." + +"Not hundreds, young fellow," said Marston smiling, "only one, if they +are all here. What do they want? Have they caught anyone?" + +"No, sir. They want to see you. I told them you were too bad; but they +say they will see you." + +"I'll go and speak to them and see what they want," said the squire. +"Is it anything about paying their wages?" + +"Oh dear, no!" said Marston. "They have been paid as usual. Shall I go +down to them, doctor?" + +"If you do I'll throw up your case," cried the doctor fiercely. "Bless +my soul, no! Do you think I want you in a state of high fever. Stop +where you are, sir. Stop where you are." + +"I'll go," said the squire, "before they pull the house down." + +For the men were getting clamorous, and shouting loudly for Mr Marston. + +The squire descended, and Dick with him, to find the front garden of the +old farm-house full of great swarthy black-bearded fellows, everyone +armed with a cudgel or a pick-axe handle, some having only the parts of +broken shovels. + +"Well, my lads, what is it?" said the squire, facing them. + +A tremendous yell broke out, every man seeming to speak at once, and +nothing could be understood. + +"Hullo, Hickathrift! You're there, are you?" said the squire. "What do +they want?" + +"Well, you see, squire," began the wheelwright; but his voice was +drowned by another furious yell. + +"Don't all speak at once!" cried Dick, who had planted himself upon a +rough block of stone that had been dug out of the ruins and placed in +the front of the house. + +There was something so droll to the great band of workmen in a mere +stripling shouting to them in so commanding a way, that they all burst +into a hearty laugh. + +"Here, let Hicky speak!" cried Dick. + +"Yes!--Ay!--Ah!--Let big Hickathrift speak!" was shouted out. + +"Keep quiet, then," said the wheelwright, "or how can I! You see, +squire," he continued, "the lads came along by my place, and they said +some one had put it about that one of them had fired a shot at the young +engyneer, and they're all popped about it, and want to see Mr Marston +and tell him it isn't true." + +"You can't see Mr Marston, my lads," said the squire. + +Here there was a fierce yell. + +"The doctor says it would do him harm," continued the squire, "and you +don't want to do that." + +"Nay, nay, we wean't do that," shouted one of the men. + +"But I may tell you that Mr Marston says that he does not believe +there's a man among you who would do him any harm." + +"Hooray!" shouted one of the men, and this was followed by a roar. "We +wouldn't hurt the ganger, and we're going to pay out him as did." + +There was a tremendous yell at this, and the men nourished their weapons +in a way that looked serious for the culprit if he should be discovered. + +"Ay, but yow've got to find out first who it was," said Hickathrift. + +"Yes, and we're going to find out too," cried one rough-looking fellow +standing forward. "How do we know as it warn't you?" + +"Me!" cried Hickathrift, staring blankly. + +"Ay, yow," roared the great rough-looking fellow, a man not far short of +the wheelwright's size. "We've heered all on you a going on and pecking +about the dree-ern being made. We know yow all hates our being here, so +how do we know it warn't yow?" + +The man's fierce address was received with an angry outburst by the men, +who had come out on purpose to inflict punishment upon some one, and in +their excitement, one object failing, they were ready to snatch at +another. + +It was perhaps an insensate trick; but there was so much of the frank +manly British boy in Dick Winthorpe that he forgot everything in the +fact that big Hickathrift, the man he had known from a child--the great +bluff fellow who had carried him in his arms and hundreds of times made +him welcome in that wonderland, his workshop, where he was always ready +to leave off lucrative work to fashion him eel-spear or leaping-pole, or +to satisfy any other whim that was on the surface--that this old friend +was being menaced by a great savage of a stranger nearly as big as +himself, and backed by a roaring excited crowd who seemed ready for any +outrage. + +Dick did not hesitate a moment, but with eyes flashing, teeth clenched, +and fists doubled, he leaped down from the stone, rushed into the midst +of the crowd, closing round the wheelwright, and darting between the +great fellow and the man who had raised a pick-handle to strike, seized +hold of the stout piece of ash and tried to drag it away. + +"You great coward!" he roared--"a hundred to one!" + +It was as if the whole gang had been turned to stone, their +self-constituted leader being the most rigid of the crowd, and he stared +at Dick Winthorpe as a giant might stare at the pigmy who tried to +snatch his weapon away. + +But the silence and inert state lasted only a few seconds, before the +black-bearded fellow's angry face began to pucker up, his eyes half +closed, and, bending down, he burst into a hearty roar of laughter. + +"See this, lads!" he cried. "See this! Don't hurt me, mester! Say, +lads, I never felt so scared in my life." + +The leader's laugh was contagious, and the crowd took it up in chorus; +but the more they laughed, the more angry grew Dick. He could not see +the ridiculous side of the matter; for, small as was his body in +comparison with that of the man he had assailed, his spirit had swollen +out as big as that of anyone present. + +"I don't care," he cried; "I'll say it again--You're a set of great +cowards; and as for you," he cried to the fellow whose weapon he had +tried to wrest away, "you're the biggest of the lot." + +"Well done, young un--so he is!" cried the nearest man. "Hooray for +young ganger!" + +The men were ready to fight or cheer, and as ready to change their mood +as crowds always are. They answered the call with a stentorian roar; +and if Dick Winthorpe had imitated Richard the Second just then, and +called upon the crowd to accept him as their leader, they would have +followed him to the attempt of any mad prank he could have designed. + +"Thank ye, Mester Dick!" said Hickathrift, placing his great hand upon +the lad's shoulder, as the squire forced his way to their side. "I +always knowed we was mates; but we're bigger mates now than ever we was +before." + +"Ay, and so 'm _I_," said the big drain delver. "Shake hands, young un. +You're English, you are. So 'm I. He's English, lads; that's what he +is!" he roared as he seized Dick's hand and pumped it up and down. "So +'m I." + +"Hooray!" shouted the crowd; and, seeing how the mood of all was +changed, the squire refrained from speaking till the cheering was dying +out, when, making signs to the men to hear him, he was about to utter a +few words of a peacemaking character, but there was another burst of +cheering, which was taken up again and again, the men waving their caps +and flourishing their cudgels, and pressing nearer to the house. + +For the moment Dick was puzzled, but he realised what it all meant +directly, for, looking in the same direction as the men, it was to see +that the young engineer had disregarded the doctor's orders, and was +standing at the open window, with his face very pale and his arm in a +sling. + +He waved his uninjured arm to command silence, and this being obtained, +his voice rang out firm and clear. + +"My lads," he cried, "I know why you've come, and I thank you; but these +people here are my very good friends, and as for the squire's son and +the wheelwright there, they saved my life last night." + +"Hooray!" roared the leader of the gang frantically; and as his +companions cheered, he caught hold of Hickathrift's hand, and shook it +as earnestly as if they were sworn brothers. + +"As to my wound," continued the engineer, "I believe it was an accident; +so now I ask you to go back home quietly, and good-night!" + +"Well said, sir; good-night to you!" roared the leader as the window was +closed. "Good-night to everybody! Come on, lads! Good-night, young +un! We're good mates, eh?" + +"Yes," said Dick, shortly. + +"Then shake hands again. We don't bear no malice, do us? See, lads. +We're mates. I wean't laugh at you. You're a good un, that's what you +are, and you'll grow into a man." + +The great fellow gave Dick's hand another shake that was very vigorous, +but by no means pleasant; and then, after three roaring cheers, the +whole party went off, striking up a chorus that went rolling over the +fen and kept on dying out and rising again as the great sturdy fellows +tramped away. + +"I'm not an inhospitable man, doctor," said the squire, as the former +shook hands to go, after giving orders for his patient to be kept quiet, +and assuring the squire that the young fellow would be none the worse +for the adventures of the night--"I'm not an inhospitable man, but one +has to think twice before asking a hundred such to have a mug of ale. I +should have liked to do it, and it was on my lips, but the barrel would +have said no, I'm sure. Good-night!" + +"Now, sir," said the squire as soon as he was alone with his son, "what +have you got to say for yourself?" + +"Say, father!" replied Dick, staring. + +"Yes, sir. Don't you think you did about as mad and absurd a thing as +the man who put his head into the lion's jaws?" + +"I--I didn't know, father," replied Dick, who, after the exultation +caused by the cheering, felt quite crestfallen. + +"No, of course you did not, but it was a very reckless thing to do, +and--er--don't--well, I hope you will never have cause to do it again." + +Dick went away, feeling as if his comb had been cut, and of course he +did not hear his father's words that night when he went to bed. + +"Really, mother, I don't know whether I felt proud of the boy or vexed +when he faced that great human ox." + +"I do," said Mrs Winthorpe smiling, but with the tears in her +eyes--"proud." + +"Yes, I think I did," said the squire. "Good-night!" + +"Don't you think some one ought to sit up with Mr Marston?" + +"No: he is sleeping like a top; and after our bad time with him +yesternight, I mean to have some sleep." + +Five minutes after, the squire's nose proclaimed that it was the hour of +rest, and Dick heard it as he stole from his bed-room, to see how the +wounded man was; and this act he repeated at about hourly intervals all +through the night, for he could not sleep soundly, his mind was so busy +with trouble about the injury to their visitor's arm, and the wonder +which kept working in his brain. Who was it fired that shot? + +The doctor was right; the wounded man's arm soon began to mend; but +naturally there was a period when he was unable to attend to his duties, +and that period was a pleasant one for Dick Winthorpe, inasmuch as it +was the commencement of a long friendship. + +John Marston was for going back to his lodgings near the outfall or +_gowt_ as it was termed; but the squire and Mrs Winthorpe would not +hear of it, and to the boys' great delight, he stayed. + +He was an invalid, but the right kind of invalid to make a pleasant +companion, for he loved the open air, and was never happier than when he +was out with the boys and Dave or John Warren, somewhere in the fen. + +"It's all gammon to call him ill, and for the doctor to keep coming," +said Tom Tallington. + +"Oh, he is ill!" said Dick; "but you see he's only ill in one arm." + +Dick had only to propose a run out, and John Marston immediately seemed +to forget that he was a man, became a boy for the time being, and +entered into the spirit of their pursuits. + +One day it was pike-fishing, with Dave to punt them about here and there +among the pools. At another time ordinary tackle would be rigged up, +and Dave would take them to some dark hole where fish were known to +swarm, and for hours the decoy-man would sit and watch patiently while +the three companions pulled up the various denizens of the mere. + +One bright April morning Dave was seen coming out of the mist, looking +gigantic as he stood up in his boat; and his visit was hailed with +delight, for the trio had been wondering how they should pass that day. + +"Morning, Dave!" said Marston as the fen-man landed slowly from his +boat, and handed Dick a basket of fresh ducks' eggs. + +"Morn', mester! Tak them up to the missus, Mester Dick. They be all +noo-laid uns. Straange thick haar this morn," he continued, wiping the +condensed mist from his eyelashes. "Re'glar sea-haar." [sea-fog--mist +from the German Ocean.] + +"Take those eggs up to mother, Tom," said Dick imperatively. + +"Sha'n't. I know! You want to be off without me." + +"Hallo, young fellow!" said the squire cheerily. "What have you got +there--eggs?" + +"Yes, mester, fresh uns for the missus." + +"I'm going in, and I'll take them," said the squire, thus disposing of +the difficulty about a messenger. "There's a canister of powder for +you, Dave, when you want some more." + +"Thanky kindly, mester. I'll come and get it when I'm up at house." + +The squire nodded and went on, but turned back to ask when Mr Marston +was going over to the works, and upon hearing that it was in the +afternoon, he said he would accompany him. + +"And how's your lame arm, mester?" said Dave as soon as the squire had +gone. + +"Getting better fast, Dave, my man." + +"And with two holes in it, mester?" + +"Yes, with two holes in it." + +"But are they both getting better?" + +"Why, you've been told a dozen times over that they are!" cried Dick. + +"Nay, Mester Dick, I know'd as one hole was getting reight, but Mester +Marston here nivver said as both weer. I'm straange and glad. Heered +aught yet 'bout him as did it?" + +"No, my man, and don't want to." + +"Hark at that, Mester Dick! Why, if any one had shot at me, and hot me +as they did him, I'd have found him out somehow afore now. Mebbe I +shall find this out mysen." + +"Why, you're not trying, Dave." + +"Not trying, lad! Nay, but I am, and I shall find him yet some day. +Look here, boys. If you want to find out anything like that, you +mustn't go splashing about among the reeds, or tug-slugging through the +bog-holes, or he hears you coming, and goos and hides. You must sit +down among the bushes, and wait and wait quiet, like a man does when he +wants to get the ducks, and by-and-by him as did it comes along. Dessay +I shall catch him one of these days, and if I do, and I've got my pole +with me, I'll throost him under water and half-drownd him." + +"Never mind about all that, Dave. What are you going to do to-day?" +cried Dick. + +"Me, lad! Oh, nowt! I've brote a few eggs for the missus, and I shall +tak' that can o' powder back wi' me, and then set down and go on makkin +soom new coy-nets." + +"That's his gammon, Mr Marston," cried Dick. + +"Nay, nay, mester, it's solemn truth." + +"'Tisn't; it's gammon. Isn't it, Tom?" + +"Every bit of it. He's come on purpose to ask us to go out with him." + +"Nay, nay, nay, lads," said Dave in an ill-used tone. "I did think o' +asking if Mester Marston here would like to try for some eels up in the +long shallows by Popley Watter, for they be theer as thick as herrin', +bubblin' up and slithering in the mud." + +"Let's go, then, Mr Marston. Eel-spearing," cried Dick. + +"But I could not use an eel-spear," said the young engineer, smiling. + +"But Tom and I could do the spearing, and you could put the eels in the +basket." + +"When you caught them," said Marston, laughing. + +"Oh, we should be sure to catch some! Shouldn't we, Dave?" + +"Ay, theer's plenty of 'em, mester." + +"Let's go, then," cried Dick excitedly; "and if we get a whole lot, +we'll take them over to your men, Mr Marston. Come on!" + +"Nay, but yow weant," said Dave, with a dry chuckle. + +"Why not?" + +"Mester Hickathrift has got the stong-gad to mend. One of the tines is +off, and it wants a noo ash pole." + +"Here, stop a moment," said Marston, laughingly interrupting a groan of +disgust uttered by the boys; "what, pray, is a stong-gad?" + +"Ha--ha--ha!" laughed Tom. "Don't know what a stong-gad is!" + +"Hold your tongue, stupid!" cried Dick indignantly, taking the part of +his father's guest. "You don't know everything. What's a dumpy +leveller? There, you don't know, and Mr Marston does." + +"But what is a stong-gad?" said Marston. + +"Eel-spear," said Dick. "How long would it take Hicky to mend it?" + +"'Bout two hours--mebbe only one. I could mak' a new pole while he +forged the tine." + +"Come along, then. Hicky will leave anything to do it for me." + +"Nay, he's gone to market," said Dave. + +"Yes; I saw him pass our house," said Tom. + +"What a shame!" cried Dick. "Here, I say, what's that basket for in the +punt?" he added eagerly. + +"Why, he's got a net, too, and some poles," cried Tom. "Yah! he meant +to do something." + +"Why, of course he did," cried Dick, running down to the boat. "Now, +then, Dave, what's it to be?" + +"Oh, nowt, Mester Dick! I thought to put a net in, and a pole or two, +and ask if you'd care to go and get a few fish, but Mester Marston's too +fine a gentleman to care for ought o' the sort." + +"Oh, no, I'm not!" said Marston. "I should enjoy it, boys, above all +things." + +"There, Dave, now then! What is it--a drag-net?" + +"Nay, Mester Dick, on'y a bit of a new." + +"But where are you going?" + +"I thowt o' the strip 'tween Long Patch and Bootherboomp's Roostens." + +"Here, stop a moment," cried the engineer. "I've heard that name +before. Who was Mr Bootherboomp?" + +"Hi--hi--hi! hecker--hecker--hecker. Heigh!" + +That does not express the sounds uttered by Dave, for they were more +like an accident in a wooden clock, when the wheels run down and finish +with a jerk which breaks the cogs. But that was Dave's way of laughing, +and it ended with a horrible distortion of his features. + +"I say: don't, Dave. What an old nut-cracker you are! You laugh like +the old watchman's rattle in the garret. Be quiet, Tom!" + +"But Mr Bootherboomp!" roared Tom, bursting into a second fit of +laughter. + +"It's butterbump, Mr Marston. It's what they call those tall brown +birds something like herons. What do you call them in London?" said +Dick. + +"Oh, bitterns!" + +"Yes, that's it. Come on!" + +"Nay," said Dave; "I don't think you gentlemen would care for such poor +sport. On'y a few fish'." + +"You never mind about that! Jump in, Mr Marston. Who's going to +pole?" + +"Nay, I'll pole," said Dave. "If yow mean to go we may as well get +theer i' good time; but I don't think it's worth the trouble." + +"Get out! It's rare good fun, Mr Marston; sometimes we get lots of +fish." + +"I'm all expectation," said Marston as Dave smiled the tight smile, +which made his mouth look like a healed-up cut; and, taking the pole, +began to send the punt over the clear dark water. "Shall we find any of +those curious fish my men caught in the river the other day?" + +"What curious fish were they?" asked Dick. + +"Well, to me they seemed as if so many young eels had grown ashamed of +being so long and thin, and they had been feeding themselves up and +squeezing themselves short, so as to look as like tench as possible." + +"Oh, I know what you mean!" cried Tom. "Eel-pouts! they're just about +half-way between eels and tench." + +"Nay, yow wean't catch them here," said Dave oracularly. "They lives in +muddy watter in rivers. Our watter here's clean and clear." + +It was a bright pleasant journey over the mere, in and out of the lanes +of water to pool after pool, till Dave suddenly halted at a canal-like +spot, where the water ran in between two great beds of tender-growing +reeds, which waved and undulated in the soft breeze. Here he thrust +down his pole and steadied the punt, while he shook out his light net +with its even meshes, securing one end to a pole and then letting the +leaden sinkers carry it to the bottom before thrusting the punt over to +the other side of the natural canal, to which he made fast the second +end of the net in a similar way, so that the water was sealed with a +light fence of network, whose lower edge was close to the black ooze of +the bottom, held there by the leaden sinkers of the foot line, the top +line being kept to the surface by a series of tightly-bound little +bundles of dry rushes. + +"Theer," said Dave as soon as he had done, his proceedings having been +carefully watched; "that un do!" + +"Will the fish go into that net?" said Marston. + +"Nay, not unless we mak 'em, mester," said Dave, smiling. "Will they, +Mester Dick?" + +"Not they," cried Dick. "Wait a minute, Mr Marston; you'll see." + +Dave took his pole and, leaving the net behind, coasted along by the +shore of the little island formed by the canal or strait, which ran in, +zigzagging about like a vein in a piece of marble; and after about a +quarter of an hour's hard work he forced the punt round to the other +side of the island, and abreast of a similar opening to that which they +had left, in fact the other end of the natural canal or lane, here about +twelve or fourteen feet broad. + +"Oh, I see!" said the engineer. "You mean to go in here, and drive the +fish to the net at the other end." + +"That's the way, Mr Marston," said Tom Tallington. "Wait a bit, and +you'll see such a haul." + +"Perhaps of an empty net, Mr Marston," said Dick with a grin. "Perhaps +there are none here." + +"You set astarn, mester," said Dave. "I'll put her along, and you tak' +one side, Mester Dick; and you t'other, young Tom Tallington." + +The boys had already taken up two long light poles that lay in the boat, +and standing up as Dave sent the boat along slowly and making a great +deal of disturbance with his pole, they beat and splashed and stabbed +the water on both sides of the boat, so as to scare any fish which might +happen to be there, and send them flying along the lane toward the net. + +This was a comparatively easy task, for the coming of the boat was +sufficient as a rule to startle the timid fish, which in turn scared +those in front, the beating with the poles at either side sending +forward any which might be disposed to slip back. + +There was more labour than excitement in the task; but the course along +the lane of water was not entirely uneventful, for a moor-hen was +startled from her nest in a half-liquid patch of bog, above which rose +quite a tuft of coarse herbage; and farther on, just as Dick thrust in +his pole to give it a good wriggle and splash, there was a tremendous +swirl, and a huge pike literally shot out of the water, describing an +arc, and after rising fully four feet from the surface dropped +head-first among the tangled water-weeds and reedy growth, through which +it could be seen to wriggle and force its way farther and farther, the +waving reeds and bubbling water between showing the direction in which +it had gone. + +"Hooray, Dave! a forty-pounder!" cried Dick. "Push the punt in and we +can easily catch him." + +"Not you," said Dave stolidly; "he'll get through that faster than we +could." + +"But, look, look! I can see where he is." + +"Nay, he'll go all through theer and get deeper and deeper, and it's +more wattery farther on. He'll go right through theer, and come out the +other side." + +"But he was such a big one, Dave--wasn't he, Mr Marston?--quite forty +pounds!" + +"Nay, not half, lad," said Dave stolidly, as he thrust the boat on. +"Beat away. We'll come and set a bait for him some day. That's the way +to catch him." + +Dick uttered an angry ejaculation as he looked back towards where he +could still see the water plants waving; and in his vexation he raised +his pole, and went on with the splashing so vigorously, and, as legal +folks say, with so much _malice prepense_, that he sent the water flying +over Dave as he stood up in the bows of the punt. + +Tom chuckled and followed suit, sending another shower over the +puntsman. Then Dick began again, the amber water flying and sparkling +in the sunshine; but Dave took no notice till the splashing became too +pronounced, when he stopped short, gave his head a shake, and turned +slowly round. + +"Want to turn back and give up?" he said slowly. + +Dick knew the man too well to continue, and in penitent tones exclaimed: + +"No, no, go on, Dave, we won't splash any more." + +"Because if there's any more of it--" + +"I won't splash any more, Dave," cried Dick, laughing, "It was Tom." + +"Oh, what a shame!" + +"So you did splash. Didn't he, Mr Marston?" + +"I don't want to hear no more about it, Mester Dick. I know," growled +Dave. "I only says, Is it to be fishing or games?" + +"Fishing, Dave. It's all right; go on, Tom; splash away gently." + +"Because if--" + +"No, no, go on, Dave. There, we won't send any more over you." + +Dave uttered a grunt, and forced the boat along once more, while Marston +sat in the stern an amused spectator of the boys' antics. + +Everything now went on orderly enough, till they had proceeded a long +way on, in and out, for a quarter of a mile, when at a word from Dave +the splashing and stabbing of the water grew more vigorous, the punt +being now pretty close to the net, the irregular row of bundles of +rushes showing plainly. + +And now Dave executed a fresh evolution, changing the position of the +punt, for instead of its approaching end on, he turned it abreast, so +that it pretty well touched the reedy sides of the canal, and with the +poles now being plied on one side, the boat was made to approach more +slowly. + +"Now, mester, you'd better stand up," said Dave. + +"Yes, Mr Marston, stand up," cried Dick. "Look!" + +Marston rose to his feet, and as he looked toward the entrance where the +net was spread there was a wave-like swell upon the surface, which might +have been caused by the movement of the boat or by fish. + +There was no doubt about its being caused by fish, for all at once, +close by the row of rush bundles, there was a splash. Then, as they +approached, another and another. + +"They're feeling the net," cried Dick excitedly. + +"Ay, keep it oop, lads, or they'll come back," cried Dave, making the +water swirl with his pole, which he worked about vigorously. + +Even as he spoke there came another splash, and this time the sun +flashed upon the glittering sides of the fish which darted out and fell +over the other side of the top line of the net. + +"There goes one," shouted Tom. + +"Ay, and theer goes another," said Dave with a chuckle as he forced the +boat along slowly. + +And now, as Marston watched, he saw that the irregular line of rush +bundles which stretched across the mouth of the canal was changing its +shape, and he needed no telling that the regular semicircular form it +assumed was caused by the pressure of a shoal of fish seeking to escape +into the open mere, but of course checked by the fragile wall of net. + +"There must be a lot, Tom," cried Dick excitedly. "Look, Mr Marston! +There goes another. Oh, Dave, we shall lose them all!" + +This was consequent upon another good-sized fish flying out of the +water, falling heavily upon one of the rush floats, and then darting +away. + +"Nay, we sha'n't lose 'em all," said Dave coolly. "Some on 'em's safe +to go. Now, then, splash away. Reach over your end, young Tom +Tallington, or some on 'em 'll go round that way." + +Tom changed his place a little, to stand now on what had been the front +of their advance, and thrusting in his pole he splashed and beat the +narrow space between him and the dense boggy side, where the sphagnum +came down into the water. + +Dick followed suit at the other end, and Dave swept his pole sidewise as +if he were mowing weeds below the surface. + +"Oh!" cried Dick, as he overbalanced himself, and nearly went in from +the stern. He would have gone headlong had not Mr Marston made a +bound, and caught him as he vainly strove to recover his balance. + +The effort was well timed, and saved him, but of course the consequences +of jumping about in a boat are well-known. The punt gave such a lurch +that Dave almost went out, while, as for Tom, he was literally jerked up +as from a spring-board, and, dropping his pole, he seemed to be taking a +voluntary dive, describing a semicircle, and going down head-first, not +into the narrow slit between him and the boggy shore, but right into the +semi-fluid mass of sphagnum, water, and ooze, where he disappeared to +his knees. + +Tom's dive sent the boat, as he impelled it with his feet, a couple of +yards away; and for a moment or two those who were in it seemed half +paralysed, till a roar of laughter from Dick, who did not realise the +danger, roused Dave to action. + +For the dense mass, while fluid enough to allow Tom to dive in, was not +sufficiently loose to let him rise; and there he stuck, head downwards, +and with his legs kicking furiously. + +"Now if we was to leave him," said Dave sententiously, "he wouldn't +never be no more trouble to his father; but I suppose we must pull him +out." + +"Pull him out, man? Quick, use your pole!" + +"Ay, I'm going to, mester," said Dave coolly. "Theer we are," he +continued, as he sent the end of the punt back to where poor Tom's legs +went on performing a series of kicks which were sometimes like those +made by a swimming frog, and at others as if he were trying to walk +upside down along an imaginary flight of aerial stairs. + +The time seemed long, but probably it was not half a minute from the +time Tom dived into the bog till the young engineer seized him by the +legs and dragged him into the boat, to sit upon the bottom, gasping, +spitting, and rubbing the ooze from his eyes. But it was a good two +minutes before he was sufficiently recovered to look round angrily, and +in a highly-pitched quavering voice exclaimed: + +"Look here: who was it did that?" + +"Nobody," roared Dick. "Oh, I say, Tom, what a game! Are your feet +wet?" + +Tom turned upon him savagely, but everyone in the boat was laughing, and +his countenance relaxed, and he rose up and leaned over the side of the +boat to wash his face, which a splash or two relieved from the pieces of +bog and dead vegetation which adhered. + +"I don't mind," he said. "Only you wouldn't have found it a game if +you'd been there." + +"Let's get back quickly," said Mr Marston, "or the boy will catch +cold." + +"Oh, it won't hurt me!" cried Tom. "Let's catch the fish first. They +never get cold." + +"Yes: let's haul the net out first," said Dick. "Tom won't mind a +ducking." + +"Ay, we're going to hev out the net," said Dave. "Splash away, my lad. +That'll keep away the cold." + +Poor Tom's feet had not been wet, but as he stood up with the water +trickling from him, a couple of streams soon made their way down the +legs of his trousers into his boots. This was, however, soon forgotten +in the excitement of the hauling. + +For, after a fresh amount of splashing, though Dave declared the fish +had all come back, the punt was run pretty close up to one side, the +lines and pole taken on board, and the punt thrust toward the other +side. + +Before they reached it the bobbing of the rush floats and the +semicircular shape of the top line showed plainly enough that there were +a good many fish there; and when Dave had secured the lines at the other +end, removed the poles, and by ingenious manipulation drawn on the +bottom line so as to raise the cord, it was not long before the net +began to assume the shape of a huge bag, and one that was pretty heavy. + +Every now and then a swirl in the water and a splash showed where some +large fish was trying to escape, while sometimes one did leap out and +get away. Then the surface would be necked with silvery arrows as +swarms of small-fry appeared flashing into sight and disappearing, these +little bits of excitement growing less frequent as the small fish found +their way over the top of the net, or discovered that the meshes were +wide enough to allow them to pass through. + +"How is it, Dave, that all the little fish like to keep to the top of +the water, and the big ones out of sight down at the bottom?" said Dick. + +Dave chuckled, or rather made a noise something like a bray. + +"S'pose you was a fish, young mester, wouldn't you, if you was a little +one, keep nigh the top if you found going down to the bottom among the +big uns meant being swallowed up?" + +"Oh, of course!" cried Dick. "I forgot that they eat one another. +Look, Mr Marston, that was a pike." + +He pointed excitedly to a large fish which rose to the surface, just +showing its dark olive-green back as it curved over and disappeared +again, making the water eddy. + +"They do not seem to have all gone, Dave," said Mr Marston. + +"Nay, theer's a few on 'em left, mester," replied Dave. "Now, my lads, +all together. That's the way." + +The lines were drawn, and the weight of the great bag of meshes proved +that after all a good fair haul had been made, the net being drawn close +to the boat and the bag seeming to shrink in size till there was a mass +of struggling, splashing fish alongside, apparently enough to far more +than fill a bushel basket. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mr Marston, who was as excited now as +the boys, while Dave worked away stolidly, as if it was all one of the +most commonplace matters for him. + +"Haul the net into the boat," cried Tom. + +"Nay, my net would break," said Dave. "There's a lot of owd rushes and +roots, and rotten weeds in it." + +"I don't believe there are, Dave," said Dick. "It's all solid fish." + +"Nay, lad, but net'll break. Let's hev out some of the big uns first." + +"Look! there's a fine one," cried Dick, making a dash at a large fish +which rose out of the writhing mass, but it glided through his hands. + +"Howd hard!" said Dave. "You lads go th'other side o' the punt or we +shall capsize. Let me and the London gentleman get them in." + +"Oh!" groaned Tom. + +"No, I've only one hand to work with," said Marston, who saw the +reasonableness of the old fen-man's remark, for the side of the boat had +gone down very low once or twice, and the effect of dragging a portion +of the laden net on board might have been sufficient to admit the water. +"I'll give way, and act as ballast." + +"No, no!" cried Dick. "You help, Mr Marston." + +But the young engineer remained steadfast to his proposal, and seated +himself on the other side. + +"Better let me lade out a few o' the big uns, Mester Dick," said Dave, +"while you lads hold on." + +The boys hardly approved of the proposal, but they gave way; and each +taking a good grip of the wet net, they separated toward the head and +stern, while Dave stayed in the middle, and taking off his jacket, +rolled up his sleeves close to the shoulder, and then plunging his arms +in among the swarm of fish he brought out a good-sized pike of six or +seven pounds. + +This was thrown into the basket, to flap furiously and nearly leap out, +renewing its efforts as another of its kind was thrown in to keep it +company. + +"Is there a very big one, Dave?" cried Dick. + +"Nay; nought very big," was the reply. "Draw her up, my lads. That's +reight." + +As Dave spoke he kept on plunging his hands into the splashing and +struggling mass of fish, and sometimes brought out one, sometimes +missed. But he kept on vigorously till, feeling satisfied that the net +would bear the rest, he drew the loaded line well over into the boat, +and, giving the boys a hint to tighten the line, he plunged in his arms +once more, got well hold, and the next minute, by a dexterous lift, +raised the bag, so that its contents came pouring over the edge of the +punt in a silvery, glittering cataract of fish, leaping, gliding, and +flapping all over the bottom about his feet. + +Then a few fish, which were hanging by their gills, their heads being +thrust through the meshes, were shaken out, the net bundled up together +and thrown into the fore part of the boat, and the little party came +together to gloat over their capture. + +"Theer, lads," said Dave, coolly resuming his jacket, "you can pitch 'em +all into the baskets, all the sizable ones, and put all the little ones +back into the watter. I'll throost the punt back, so as young Tom +Tallington can get some dry clothes." + +These latter were the last things in Tom's mind, for just then, as Dave +resumed the pole, and began sending the boat quickly through the water, +the boy was trying to grasp an eel, which had found the meshes one size +too small for his well-fed body, and was now in regular serpentine +fashion trying to discover a retreat into which he could plunge, and so +escape the inevitable frying-pan or pot. + +Irrespective of the fact that a large eel can bite sharply, it is, as +everyone knows, one of the most awkward things to hold, for the moment a +good grip of its slimy body is made, the result seems to be that it +helps the elongated fish to go forward or slip back. And this Tom found +as he grasped the eel again and again, only for it to make a few +muscular contortions and escape. + +Then Dick tried, with no better effect, the pursuit lasting till the +active fish made its way in among the meshes of the net, when its +capture became easy, and it was swept into the great basket, to set the +pike flapping and leaping once more. + +Then the sorting commenced, all the small fish being thrown back to +increase in size, while the rest of the slimy captives went into the +basket. + +There was no larger pike than the one first taken out of the net by +Dave, but plenty of small ones, all extremely dark in colour, as if +affected by living in the amber-tinted water, and nearly all these were +thrown back, in company with dozens of silvery roach and orange-finned, +brightly gilded rudd, all thicker and broader than their relatives the +roach. + +Many scores of fish were thrown overboard, some to turn up and float for +a few minutes before they recovered their breath, as Tom called it, but +for the most part they dived down at once, uninjured by what they had +gone through, while their largeness fortunate friends were tossed into +the basket--gilded side-striped perch, with now and then a fat-looking, +small-eyed, small-scaled tench, brightly brazen at the sides, and +looking as if cast in a soft kind of bronze. Then there were a couple +of large-scaled brilliantly golden carp; but the majority of the fish +were good-sized, broad, dingy-looking bream, whose slimy emanations made +the bottom of the punt literally ask for a cleansing when the basket was +nearly filled. + +By that time the party were well on their way to the Toft, and as they +neared the shore, it was to find the squire waiting to speak to the +engineer, while John Warren was close behind with his dog, ready to join +Dave, in whose company he went off after the latter had been up to the +house and had a good feast of bread and cheese and ale. + +That evening the squire and Mr Marston went over to the works to see +how matters were progressing, to find all satisfactory, and the night +passed quietly enough; but at breakfast the next morning, when some of +the best of the tench appeared fried in butter, a messenger came over to +see the engineer on his way to the town for the doctor, to announce that +Hez Bargle, the big delver, who had been leader of the party who came +over so fiercely about the attack upon Mr Marston, had been found that +morning lying in the rough hovel where he slept alone, nearly dead. + +The man was sharply examined by the engineer, a fresh messenger in the +shape of Hickathrift being found to carry on the demand for the doctor. +But there was very little to learn. Bargle had not come up to his work, +and the foreman of the next gang went to see why his fellow-ganger had +not joined him, and found him lying on the floor of the peat-built hut +quite insensible, with the marks of savage blows about the head, as if +he had been suddenly attacked and beaten with a club, for there was no +sign of any struggle. + +Mr Marston went over at once with the squire, Dick obtaining permission +to accompany them; and upon their arrival it was to find all the work at +a stand-still, the men being grouped about with their sleeves rolled-up, +and smoking, and staring silently at the rough peat hovel where their +fellow-worker lay. + +The engineer entered the shelter--it did not deserve the title of +cottage--and the squire and Dick followed, to find the man nearly +insensible, and quite unable to give any account of how the affair had +happened. + +The men were questioned, but knew nothing beyond the fact that they had +parted from him as usual to go to their own quarters, Bargle being the +only one who lodged alone. There had been no quarrel as far as Mr +Marston could make out, everyone he spoke to declaring that the work had +gone on the previous day in the smoothest way possible; and at last +there seemed to be nothing to do but wait until the great, rough fellow +could give an account of the case for himself. + +The doctor came at last, and formed his opinion. + +"He is such a great, strong fellow that unless he was attacked by two or +three together, I should say someone came upon him as he lay asleep and +stunned him with a blow on the head." + +"The result of some quarrel or offence given to one of the men under +him, I'm afraid," said the engineer with a look of intense vexation in +his eyes. "These men are very brutal sometimes to their fellows, +especially when they are placed in authority. Will he be long before he +is better?" + +"No," replied the doctor. "The blows would have killed an ordinary man, +but he has a skull like an ox. He'll be at work again in a fortnight if +he'll behave sensibly, and carry out my instructions." + +A couple of days later Bargle was sitting up smoking, when the engineer +entered the reed-thatched hut, in company with Dick. + +"Hallo, youngster!" growled the great fellow, with a smile slowly +spreading over his rugged face, and growing into a grin, which accorded +ill with his bandaged head; "shak' hands!" + +Dick obeyed heartily enough, the great fellow retaining the lad's hand +in his, and slowly pumping it up and down. + +"We're mates, that's what we two are," he growled. "You ar'n't half a +bad un, you ar'n't. Ah, mester, how are you? Arm better?" + +"Mending fast, my lad; and how are you?" + +"Tidy, mester, tidy! Going to handle a spade again to-morrow." + +"Nonsense, man! you're too weak yet." + +"Weak! Who says so? I don't, and the doctor had better not." + +"Never mind that. I want you to tell me how all this happened." + +"He ar'n't half a bad un, mester," said the injured man, ignoring the +remark, as he held on to the boy's hand. "We're mates, that's what we +are. See him stand up again me that day? It were fine." + +"Yes; but you must tell me how this occurred. I want to take some steps +about it." + +"Hey! and you needn't take no steps again it, mester. I shall lay hold +on him some day, and when I do--Hah!" + +He stretched out a huge fist in a menacing way that promised ill to his +assailant. + +"But do you know who it was?" said the engineer. + +"It warn't him," growled Bargle, smiling at Dick. "He wouldn't come and +hit a man when he's asleep. Would you, mate?" + +"I wouldn't be such a coward," cried Dick. + +"Theer! Hear that, mester! I knowed he wouldn't. He'd hev come up to +me and hit me a doubler right in the chest fair and square, and said, +`now, then, come on!'" + +"Then someone did strike you when you were asleep, Bargle, eh?" + +"Dunno, mester; I s'pose so. Looks like it, don't it?" + +"Yes, my man, very much so. Then you were woke out of your sleep by a +blow, eh?" + +"Weer I? I don't know." + +"Tell me who have you had a quarrel with lately?" + +"Quarrel?" + +"Well, row, then." + +"Wi' him," said the big fellow, pointing at Dick. + +"Oh, but he would not have come to you in the night!" + +"Who said he would, mester?" growled Bargle menacingly. "Not he. He'd +come up square and give a man a doubler in the chest and--" + +"Yes, yes," said the engineer impatiently; "but I want to know who it +was made this attack upon you--this cowardly attack. You say it was +while you slept." + +"Yes, I s'pose so; but don't you trouble about that, mester. I'm big +enough to fight my bit. I shall drop on to him one of these days, and +when I do--why, he'll find it okkard." + +Mr Marston questioned and cross-questioned the man, but there was no +more to be got from him. He s'posed some un come in at that theer door +and give it him; but he was so much taken up with Dick's visit that he +could hardly think of self, and when they came away Mr Marston had +learned comparatively nothing, the big fellow shouting after Dick: + +"I've got a tush for you, lad, when I get down to the dreern again--one +I digged out, and you shall hev it." + +Dick said, "Thank you," for the promised "tush," and walked away. + +"I don't like it," said Mr Marston. "Someone shooting at me; someone +striking down this man. I'm afraid it's due to ill-will towards me, +Dick. But," he added, laughing, "I will not suspect you, as Bargle lets +you off." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +THE SHAKES. + +The time glided on. Bargle grew better; Mr Marston's wound healed; and +these troubles were forgotten in the busy season which the fine weather +brought. For the great drain progressed rapidly in the bright spring +and early summer-time. There were stoppages when heavy rains fell; but +on the whole nature seemed to be of opinion that the fen had lain +uncultivated for long enough, and that it was time there was a change. + +The old people scattered here and there about the edge shook their +heads, especially when they came over to Hickathrift's, and said it +would all be swept away one of these fine nights--_it_ being the new +river stretching week by week farther into the morass; but the flood did +not seem to have that effect when it did come. On the contrary, short +as was the distance which the great drain had penetrated, its effect was +wonderful, for it carried off water in a few days which would otherwise +have stayed for weeks. + +Dick said it was a good job that Mr Marston had been shot. + +Asked why by his crony Tom, he replied that it had made them such good +friends, and it was nice to have a chap who knew such a lot over at the +Toft. + +For the intimacy had grown; and whenever work was done, reports written +out and sent off, and no duties raised their little reproving heads to +say, "You are neglecting us!" the engineer made his way to the Toft, +ready to join the two boys on some expedition--egg-collecting, fishing, +fowling, or hunting for some of the botanical treasures of the bog. + +"I wish he wouldn't be so fond of moss and weeds!" said Tom. "It seems +so stupid to make a collection of things like that, and to dry them. +Why, you could go to one of our haystacks any day and pull out a better +lot than he has got." + +Dick said nothing, for he thought those summer evenings delightful. He +and Tom, too, had been ready enough to laugh at their new friend +whenever he displayed ignorance of some term common to the district; but +now this laughter was lost in admiration as they found how he could +point out objects in their various excursions which they had never seen +before, book-lore having prepared him to find treasures in the +neighbourhood of the Toft of whose existence its occupants knew naught. + +"Don't you find it very dull out there, Mr Marston," said Mrs +Winthorpe one day, "always watching your men cut--cut--cut--through that +wet black bog?" + +"Dull, madam!" he said, smiling; "why, it is one continual time of +excitement. I watch every spadeful that is taken out, expecting to come +upon some relic of the past, historical or natural. By the way, Dick, +did that man Bargle ever give you the big tusk he said he had found?" + +"No, he has never said any more about it, and I don't like to ask." + +"Then I will. Perhaps it is the tooth of some strange beast which used +to roam these parts hundreds of years ago." + +"I say, Marston," said the squire, "you'd like to see your great band of +ruffians at work excavating here, eh?" + +"Mr Winthorpe," said the young man, "I'd give anything to be allowed to +search the ruins." + +"Yes, and turn my place upside down, and disturb the home of the poor +old monks who used to live here! No, no; I'm not going to have my place +ragged to pieces. But when we do dig down, we come upon some curious +old stones." + +"Like your tobacco-jar?" the engineer said, pointing to the old carven +corbel. + +The squire nodded. + +"You've got plenty of digging to do, my lad," he said, laughing. +"Finish that, and then perhaps I may let you have a turn my way. Who's +going over to see John Warren?" + +"Ah, I wish you would go," said Mrs Winthorpe, "and take the poor +fellow over some things I have ready, in a basket!" + +"I'll go," said Dick. "Hicky will take us in his punt. There'll be +plenty of time, and it's moonlight at nine." + +"I'll go with you, Dick," said Marston. "What's the matter with the +man?" + +"Our own particular complaint, which the people don't want you to kill, +my lad," said the squire. "Marsh fever--ague. Years to come when it's +swept away by the drainage, the people will talk of it as one of the +good things destroyed by our work. They are rare ones to grumble, and +stick to their old notions." + +"But the people seem to be getting used to us now." + +"Oh yes! we shall live it down." + +Dick sat and listened, but said nothing. Still he could not help +recalling how one old labourer's wife had shaken her head and spit upon +the ground as his father went by, and wondered in his mind whether this +was some form of curse. + +"Tak' you over to the Warren, my lad?" said Hickathrift, as they reached +the wheelwright's shed, where the big fellow was just taking down a hoe +to go gardening. + +"Why, of course I will. Straange niced evening, Mr Marston! Come +along. I'll put on my coat though, for the mist'll be thick to-night." + +Hickathrift took his coat from behind the door, led the way to the place +where his punt was floating, fastened to an old willow-stump; and as +soon as his visitors were aboard he began to unfasten the rope. + +"Like to tak' a goon, sir, or a fishing-pole?" + +"No: I think we'll be content with what we can see to-night." + +Hickathrift nodded, and Dick thought the engineer very stupid, for a gun +had a peculiar fascination for him; but he said nothing, only seated +himself, and trailed his hand in the dark water as the lusty wheelwright +sent the punt surging along. + +"Why, Hickathrift," cried Mr Marston, "I thought our friend Dave a +wonder at managing a punt; but you beat him. What muscles you have!" + +"Muscles, mester? Ay, they be tidy; but I'm nowt to Dave. I can shove +stronger, but he'd ding [beat] me at it. He's cunning like. Always at +it, you see. Straange and badly though." + +"What, Dave is?" cried Dick. + +"Ay, lad; he's got the shakes, same as John Warren. They two lay out +together one night after a couple o' wild swans they seen, and it give +'em both ager." + +It was a glorious evening, without a breath of air stirring, and the +broad mere glistened and glowed with the wonderful reflection from the +sky. The great patches of reeds waved, and every now and then the weird +cry of the moor-hen came over the water. Here and there perfect clouds +of gnats were dancing with their peculiar flight; swallows were still +busy darting about, and now and then a leather-winged bat fluttered over +them seeking its insect food. + +"What a lovely place this looks in a summer evening!" said Mr Marston +thoughtfully. + +"Ay, mester, and I suppose you are going to spoil it all with your big +drain," said the wheelwright, and he ceased poling for a few moments, as +the punt entered a natural canal through a reed-bed. + +"Spoil it, my man! No. Only change its aspect. It will be as +beautiful in its way when corn is growing upon it, and far more useful." + +"Ay, bud that's what our people don't think. Look, Mester Dick!" + +Dick was already looking at a shoal of fish ahead flying out of the +water, falling back, and rising again, somewhat after the fashion of +flying-fish in the Red Sea. + +"Know what that means?" said the wheelwright. + +"Perch," said Dick, shortly. "A big chap too, and he has got one," he +added excitedly, as a large fish rose, made a tremendous splash, and +then seemed to be working its way among the bending reeds. "Might have +got him perhaps if we had had a line." + +Mr Marston made no reply, for he was watching the slow heavy flap-flap +of a heron as it rose from before them with something indistinctly seen +in its beak. + +"What has it got?" he said. + +Dick turned sharply, and made out that there seemed to be a round knob +about the great bird's bill, giving it the appearance of having thrust +it through a turnip or a ball. + +"Why, it's an eel," he cried, "twisting itself into a knot. Yes: look!" + +The evening light gleamed upon the glistening skin of the fish, as it +suddenly untwisted itself, and writhed into another form. Then the +heron changed its direction, and nothing but the great, grey beating +pinions of the bird were visible, the long legs outstretched like a +tail, the bent back neck, and projecting beak being merged in the body +as it flew straight away. + +Hickathrift worked hard at the pole, and soon after rounding one great +bed of reeds they came in sight of the rough gravelly patch with a +somewhat rounded outline, which formed the Warren, and upon which was +the hut inhabited by John o' the Warren, out of whose name "o'-the" was +generally dropped. + +The moment they came in sight there was a loud burst of barking, and +Snig, John Warren's little rabbit-dog, came tearing down to the shore, +with the effect of rendering visible scores of rabbits, until then +unseen; for the dog's barking sent them scurrying off to their holes, +each displaying its clear, white, downy tuft of a tail, which showed +clearly in the evening light. + +The dog's bark was at first an angry challenge, but as he came nearer +his tone changed to a whine of welcome; and as soon as he reached the +water's edge he began to perform a series of the most absurd antics, +springing round, dancing upon his hind-legs, and leaping up at each in +turn, as the visitors to the sandy island landed, and began to walk up +to the sick man's hut. + +There were no rabbits visible now, but the ground was honey-combed with +their holes, many of which were quite close to the home of their tyrant +master, who lived as a sort of king among them, and slew as many as he +thought fit. + +John Warren's home was not an attractive one, being merely a hut built +up of bricks of peat cut from the fen, furnished with a small window, a +narrow door, and thickly thatched with reeds. + +He heard them coming, and, as they approached, came and stood at the +door, looking yellow, hollow of cheek, and shivering visibly. + +"Here, John Warren, we've brought you a basket!" cried Dick. "How are +you? I say, don't you want the doctor?" + +"Yah! what should I do with a doctor?" growled the man, scowling at all +in turn. + +"To do you good," said Dick, laughing good-humouredly. + +"He couldn't tell me nothing I dunno. I've got the ager." + +"Well, aren't you going to ask us in?" + +"Nay, lad. What do you want?" + +"That basket," said Dick briskly. "Here, how is Dave?" + +"Badly! Got the ager!" + +"But is he no better?" + +"Don't I tell you he's got the ager!" growled the man; and without more +ado he took the basket from the extended hand, opened the lid, and +turned it upside down, so that its contents rolled upon the sand, and +displayed the kind-heartedness of Mrs Winthorpe. + +Dick glanced at Marston and laughed. + +"Theer's your basket," growled John Warren. "Want any rabbuds?" + +"No; they're out of season, John!" cried Dick. "You don't want us here, +then?" + +"Nay; what should I want you here for?" growled the man. "Can't you see +I've got the ager?" + +"Yes, I see!" cried Dick; "but you needn't be so precious cross. +Good-night!" + +John Warren stared at Dick, and then at his two companions, and, turning +upon his heel, walked back into the hut, while Snig, his dog, seated +himself beside the contents of the basket, and kept a self-constituted +guard over them, from which he could not be coaxed. + +"Might have showed us something about the Warren," said Dick in an +ill-used tone; "but never mind, there isn't much to see." + +He turned to go back to the boat. + +"I say, Hicky," he said; "let's go and see Dave. You won't mind +poling?" + +"He says I won't mind poling, Mester Marston," said Hickathrift with a +chuckle. "Here, come along." + +John Warren had disappeared into the cottage, but as they walked away +some of the rabbits came to the mouths of their holes and watched their +departure, while Snig, who could not leave his master's property, +uttered a valedictory bark from time to time. + +"I say, Mr Marston," cried Dick, pausing, "isn't he a little beauty, to +have such a master! Look at him watching that food, and not touching +it. Wait a minute!" + +Dick ran back to the dog and stooped down to open a cloth, when the +faithful guard began to snarl at him and show his teeth. + +"Why, you ungrateful beggar!" cried Dick; "I was going to give you a bit +of the chicken. Lie down, sir!" + +But Snig would not lie down. He only barked the more furiously. + +"Do you want me to kick you?" cried Dick. + +Snig evidently did, for not only did he bark, but he began to make +charges at the visitor's legs so fiercely that Dick deemed it prudent to +stand still for a few moments. + +"Now, then," he said, as the dog seemed to grow more calm; "just see if +you can't understand plain English!" + +The dog looked up at him and uttered a low whine, accompanying it by a +wag of the tail. + +"That's better!" cried Dick. "I'm going to pull you off a leg of that +chicken for yourself. Do you understand?" + +Snig gave a short, friendly bark. + +"Ah, now you're a sensible dog," said Dick, stooping down to pick up the +cloth in which the chicken was wrapped; but Snig made such a furious +onslaught upon him that the boy started back, half in alarm, half in +anger, and turned away. + +"Won't he let you touch it, Mester Dick?" chuckled Hickathrift. + +"No; and he may go without," said Dick. "Come along!" + +They returned to the boat, Snig giving them a friendly bark or two as +they got on board; and directly after, with lusty thrusts, the +wheelwright sent the punt along in the direction of Dave's home. + +The evening was still beautiful, but here and there little patches of +mist hung over the water, and the rich glow in the west was fast fading +out. + +"I say, Mr Marston," said Dick, "you'll stay at our place to-night?" + +"No; I must go home, thank you," was the reply. + +"But it will be so late!" + +"Can't help that, Dick. I want to be out early with the men. They came +upon a great tree trunk this afternoon, and I want to examine it when it +is dug out. Is that Decoy Dave's place?" + +"That's it, and there's Chip!" cried Dick, as the boat neared the shore. +"You see how different he'll be!" + +Dick was right in calling attention to the dog's welcome, for Chip's +bark was one of delight from the very first, and dashing down to the +water, he rushed in and began swimming rapidly to meet them. + +"Why, Chip, old doggie!" cried Dick, as, snorting and panting with the +water he splashed into his nostrils, the dog came aside, and after being +lifted into the boat gave himself a shake, and then thrust his nose into +every hand in turn. "This is something like a dog, Mr Marston!" +continued Dick. + +"Yes; but he would behave just the same as the other," said the +engineer. + +"Here's Dave," said Dick. "Hoy, Dave!" + +The decoy-man came slowly down toward the shore to meet them, and waved +his hand in answer to Dick's call. + +"Oh, I am sorry!" cried the latter. "I wish I'd brought him something +too. I daresay he's as bad as John Warren." + +Dave's appearance proved the truth of Dick's assertion. The decoy-man +never looked healthy, but now he seemed ghastly of aspect and +exceedingly weak, as he leaned upon the tall staff he held in his hand. + +"We've come to see how you are, Dave," cried Dick as the boat bumped up +against the boggy edge of the landing-place. + +"That's kindly, Mester Dick. Servant, mester. How do, neighbour?" + +Dave's head went up and down as if he had a hinge at the back; and as +the party landed, he too shivered and looked exceedingly feverish and +ill. + +"Why, Dave, my man, you ought to see a doctor!" said Mr Marston, +kindly. + +"Nay, sir, no good to do ought but bear it. Soon be gone. Only a +shivering fit." + +"Well, I'm trying to doctor you," said the engineer, laughing. "Once we +get the fen drained, ague will begin to die out." + +"Think so, mester?" + +"I am sure so." + +"Hear that, neighbour?" said Dave, looking at Hickathrift. "Think o' +the fen wi'out the shakes." + +"We can't stop, Dave," cried Dick; "because we've got to get home, for +Mr Marston to walk over to the sea-bank to-night; but I'll come over +and see you to-morrow and bring you something. What would you like?" + +"What you heven't got, Mester Dick," said the fen-man, showing his +yellow teeth. "Bit of opium or a drop o' lodolum. Nay, I don't want +you to send me owt. Neighbour Hick'thrift here'll get me some when he +goes over to market." + +Hickathrift nodded, and after a little more conversation the party +returned toward the boat. + +"Straange and thick to-night, Mester Dick," said Dave. "Be thicker +soon. Yow couldn't pole the boat across wi'out losing your way." + +"Couldn't I?" cried Dick. "Oh, yes, I could! Good-night! I want you +to show Mr Marston some sport with the ducks some day." + +"Ay; you bring him over, Mester Dick, and we'll hev' a good turn at the +'coy. Good-night!" + +They pushed off, and before they were fifty yards from the shore the +boat seemed to enter a bank of mist, so thick that the wheelwright, as +he poled, was almost invisible from where Mr Marston and Dick were +seated. + +"I say, Hicky, turn back and let's go along the edge of the fog," cried +Dick. + +"Nay, it's driftin' ower us," replied the wheelwright. "Best keep on +and go reight through." + +"Go on, then," cried Dick. "Feel how cold and damp it is." + +"Feel it, Dick? Yes; and right in my wounded arm." + +"Does it hurt much?" + +"No; only aches. Why, how dense it is!" + +"Can you find your way?" + +"Dunno, mester. Best keep straight on, I think. Dessay it'll soon pass +over." + +But it did not soon pass over; and as the wheelwright pushed on it +seemed to be into a denser mist than ever. + +For a long time they were going over perfectly clear water; but soon the +rustling of reeds against the prow of the boat told that they must be +going wrong, and Hickathrift bore off to the right till the reeds warned +him to bear to the left. And so it went on, with the night falling, and +the thick mist seeming to shut them in, and so confusing him that at +last the wheelwright said: + +"Best wait a bit, Mester Dick. I dunno which way I'm going, and it's +like being blind." + +"Here, let me have the pole!" cried Dick. And going to the front of the +boat, the wheelwright good-humouredly gave way for him, with the result +that the lad vigorously propelled the craft for the space of about ten +minutes, ending by driving it right into a reed-bed and stopping short. + +"Oh, I say, here's a muddle!" he cried. "You can't see where you are +going in the least." + +"Shall I try?" said Mr Marston. + +"Yes, do, please," cried Dick, eager to get out of his difficulty. +"Take the pole." + +"No, thank you," was the laughing reply. "I cannot handle a pole, and +as to finding my way through this fog I could as soon fly." + +_Bang_! + +A heavy dull report of a gun from close by, and Hickathrift started +aside and nearly went overboard, but recovered himself, and sat down +panting. + +"Here! hi! Mind where you're shooting!" cried Dick. "Who's that?" + +He stared in the direction from which the sound had come, but nothing +but mist was visible, and no answer came. + +"Do you hear? Who's that?" shouted Dick with both his hands to his +mouth. + +No answer came, and Hickathrift now shouted. + +Still no reply. His great sonorous voice seemed to return upon him, as +if he were enveloped in a tremendous tent of wet flannel; and though he +shouted again and again it was without result. + +"Why, what's the matter with your hand, man?" cried Mr Marston, as the +wheelwright took his cotton kerchief from his neck, and began to bind it +round his bleeding palm. + +"Nowt much, sir," said the man smiling. + +"Why, Hickathrift, were you hit?" + +"S'pose I weer, sir. Something came with a whuzz and knocked my hand +aside." + +"Oh!" ejaculated Dick; while Mr Marston sat with his heart beating, +since in spite of his efforts to be cool he could not help recalling the +evening when he was shot, and he glanced round, expecting to see a flash +and hear another report. + +Dick seized the pole which he had laid down, and, thrusting it down, +forced the punt back from the reeds, and then, as soon as they were in +open water, began to toil as hard as he could for a few minutes till the +wheelwright relieved him. Declaring his injury to be a trifle, he in +turn worked hard with the pole till, after running into the reeds +several times, and more than once striking against patches of bog and +rush, they must have got at least a mile from where the shot was fired, +by accident or purposely, when the great fellow sat down very suddenly +in the bottom of the boat. + +As he seated himself he laid the pole across, and then without warning +fell back fainting dead away. + +A few minutes, however, only elapsed before he sat up again and looked +round. + +"Bit sick," he said. "That's all. Heven't felt like that since one o' +squire's horses kicked me and broke my ribs. Better now." + +"My poor fellow, your hand must be badly hurt!" said Mr Marston; while +Dick looked wildly on, scared by what was taking place. + +"Nay, it's nowt much, mester," said the great fellow rather huskily, +"and we'd best wait till the mist goes. It's no use to pole. We may be +going farther away, like as not." + +Dick said nothing, but stood listening, fancying he heard the splash of +a pole in water; but there was no sound save the throbbing of his own +heart to break the silence, and he quite started as Mr Marston spoke. + +"How long is this mist likely to last?" + +"Mebbe an hour, mebbe a week," was the unsatisfactory reply. "Bud when +the moon rises theer may come a breeze, and then it'll go directly." + +Hickathrift rested his chin upon his uninjured hand, and Dick sat down +in silence, for by one consent, and influenced by the feeling that some +stealthy foe might be near at hand keen-eyed enough to see them through +the fog, or at all events cunning enough to trace them by sound, they +sat and waited for the rising of the moon. + +The time seemed to be drawn out to a terrible extent before there was a +perceptible lightening on their left; and as soon as he saw that, though +the mist was as thick as ever, Hickathrift rose and began to work with +the pole, for he knew his bearings now by the position of the rising +moon, and working away, in half an hour the little party emerged from +the mist as suddenly as they had dived in, but they were far wide of +their destination, and quite another hour elapsed before they reached +the old willow-stump, where the wheelwright made fast his boat, and +assuring his companions that there was nothing much wrong he went to his +cottage, while Mr Marston gladly accompanied Dick to the Toft, feeling +after the shock they had had that even if it had not been so late, a +walk down to the sea-beach that night would neither be pleasant nor one +to undertake. + +Dick was boiling over with impatience, and told his father the news the +moment they entered the room where supper was waiting. + +"A shot from close by!" cried the squire, excitedly. + +"Yes, Mr Winthorpe," said the engineer; "and I'm afraid, greatly +afraid, it was meant for me." + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +HICKY'S OPINIONS. + +"Nay, lads, I don't say as it weer the will-o'-the-wisps, only as it +might have been." + +"Now, Hicky," cried Dick, "who ever heard of a will-o'-the-wisp with a +gun?" + +"Can't say as ever I did," said the wheelwright; "but I don't see why +not." + +"What stuff! Do you hear what he says, Tom? He says it may have been +one of the will-o'-the-wisps that shot and broke his finger." + +"A will-o'-the-wisp with a gun!" cried Tom. "Ha! ha! ha!" + +"Why shouldn't a will hev a goon as well as a lanthorn?" said +Hickathrift, stolidly. + +"Why, where would he get his powder and shot?" said Dick. + +"Same place as he gets his candle for his lanthorn." + +"Oh, but what nonsense! The will-o'-the-wisp is a light that moves +about," cried Dick. "It is not anybody." + +"I don't know so much about that," said the wheelwright, lifting up his +bandaged hand. "All I know is that something shot at me, and broke my +finger just the same as something shot at Mester Marston. They don't +like it, lads. Mark my words, they don't like it." + +"Who don't like what?" said Tom. + +"Will-o'-the-wisps don't like people cootting big drains acrost the fen, +my lads. They don't mind you fishing or going after the eels with the +stong-gad; but they don't like the draining, and you see if it don't +come to harm!" + +"Nonsense!" cried Dick. "But I say, Hicky, you are so quiet about it +all, did you see who it was shot at you?" + +The big wheelwright looked cautiously round, as if in fear of being +overheard, and then said in a husky whisper: + +"Ay, lads, I seen him." + +"What was he like, Hicky?" said Tom, who suffered a peculiar kind of +thrill as the wheelwright spoke. + +"Somethin' between a big cloud, shape of a man, and a flash of lightning +with a bit o' thunder." + +"Get out!" roared Dick. "Why, he's laughing at us, Tom." + +"Nay, lads, I'm not laughing. It's just what I seemed to see, and it +'most knocked me over." + +"It's very queer," said Dick thoughtfully. "But I say, Hicky, what did +the doctor say to your hand? Will it soon get well?" + +"Didn't go to the doctor, lad." + +"Why, what did you do then?" + +"Went to old Mikey Dodbrooke, the bone-setter." + +"What did you go to him for?" + +"Because it's his trade. He knows how to mend bones better than any +doctor." + +"Father says he's an old sham, and doesn't understand anything about +it," said Dick. "You ought to have gone to the doctor, or had him, same +as Mr Marston did." + +"Tchah!" ejaculated Hickathrift. "Why, he had no bones broken. Doctors +don't understand bone-setting." + +"Who says so?" + +"The bone-setter." + +"Well, is it getting better, Hicky?" + +"Oh yes! It ar'n't very bad. Going down to the drain?" + +"Yes. Mr Marston's found a curious great piece of wood, and the men +are digging it out." + +"Don't stop late, my lads," said the wheelwright, anxiously. "I +wouldn't be coming back after dark when the will-o'-the-wisps is out." + +"I don't believe all that stuff, Hicky," said Dick. "Father says--" + +"Eh! What does he say?" cried the wheelwright, excitedly. + +"That he thinks it's one of Mr Marston's men who has a spite against +him, and that when there was that shot the other night, it was meant for +the engineer." + +"Hah! Yes! Maybe," said the wheelwright, drawing a long breath and +looking relieved. "But I wouldn't stop late, my lads." + +"We shall stop just as long as we like, sha'n't we, Tom?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I shall come and meet you, my lads. I sha'n't be happy till I see +you back safe." + +"I say, Hicky, you've got a gun, haven't you?" said Tom. + +"Eh! A goon!" cried the wheelwright, starting. + +"Yes; you've got one?" + +"An old one. She's roosty, and put awaya. I heven't hed her out for +years." + +"Clean it up, and bring it, Hicky," said Dick. "We may get a shot at +something. I say, you'd lend me that gun if I wanted it, wouldn't you?" + +"Nay, nay; thou'rt not big enew to handle a goon, lad. Wait a bit for +that." + +"Come along, Tom!" cried Dick. "And I say, Hicky, bring the +forge-bellows with you, so as we can blow out the will's light if he +comes after us." + +"Haw--haw--haw--haw!" rang out like the bray of a donkey with a bad +cold; and Jacob, Hickathrift's lad, threw back his head, and roared till +his master gave him a sounding slap on the back, and made him close his +mouth with a snap, look serious, and go on with his work. + +"Jacob laughs just like our old Solemn-un, sometimes," said Dick +merrily. "Come along!" + +The morning was hot, but there was a fine brisk breeze from off the sea, +and the lads trudged on, talking of the progress of the drain, and the +way in which people grumbled. + +"Father says that if he had known he wouldn't have joined the +adventure," said Tom. + +"And my father says, the more opposition there is, the more he shall go +on, for if people don't know what's good for them they've got to be +taught. There's a beauty!" + +Dick went off in chase of a swallow-tail butterfly--one of the beautiful +insects whose home was in the fens; but after letting him come very +close two or three times, the brightly-marked creature fluttered off +over the treacherous bog, a place of danger for followers, of safety for +the insect. + +"That's the way they always serve you," said Dick. + +"Well, you don't want it." + +"No, I don't want it. Yes I do. Mr Marston said he should like a few +more to put in his case. I say, they are getting on with the drain," +Dick continued, as he shaded his eyes and gazed at where, a mile away, +the engineer's men were wheeling peat up planks, and forming a long +embankment on either side of the cutting through the fen. + +"Can you see Mr Marston from here?" + +"Why, of course not! Come along! I say, Tom, you didn't think what old +Hicky said was true, did you?" + +"N-n-no. Of course not." + +"Why, you did. Ha--ha--ha! That's what father and Mr Marston call +superstition. I shall tell Mr Marston that you believe in +will-o'-the-wisps." + +"Well, so do you. Who can help believing in them, when you see them +going along over the fen on the soft dark nights!" + +"Oh, I believe in the lights," said Dick, "but that's all I don't +believe they shot Mr Marston and old Hicky; that's all stuff!" + +"Well, somebody shot them, and my father says it ought to be found out +and stopped." + +"So does mine; but how are you going to find it out? He thinks +sometimes it's one and sometimes another; and if we wait long enough, my +gentleman is sure to be caught." + +"Ah, but is it a man?" + +"Why, you don't think it's a woman, do you?" + +"No, of course not; but mightn't it be something--I mean one of the-- +well, you know what I mean." + +"Yes, I know what you mean," cried Dick--"a ghost--a big tall white +ghost, who goes out every night shooting, and has a will-o'-the-wisp on +each side with a lantern to show him a light." + +"Ah, it's all very well for you to laugh now out in the sunshine; but if +it was quite dark you wouldn't talk like that." + +"Oh yes, I should!" + +"I don't believe it," said Tom; "and I'll be bound you were awfully +frightened when Hicky was shot. Come, tell the truth now--weren't you?" + +"There goes a big hawk, Tom. Look!" cried Dick, suddenly becoming +interested in a broad-winged bird skimming along just over the surface +of the fen; and this bird sufficed to change the conversation, which was +getting unpleasant for Dick, till they came to the place where the men +were hard at work on the huge ditch, the boggy earth from which, piled +up as it was, serving to consolidate the sides and keep them from +flooding the fen when the drain was full, and the high-tide prevented +the water from coming out by the flood-gates at the end. + +Mr Marston welcomed the lads warmly. + +"I've got a surprise for you," he said. + +"What is it--anything good?" cried Dick. + +"That depends on taste, my boy. Come and see." + +He led the way along the black ridge of juicy peat, to where, in an +oblique cutting running out from the main drain, a dozen men were at +work, with their sharp spades cutting out great square bricks of peat, +and clearing away the accumulations of hundreds of years from the sides +of what at first appeared to be an enormous trunk of a tree, but which, +upon closer inspection, drew forth from Dick a loud ejaculation. + +"Why, it's an old boat!" cried Tom. + +"That it is, my lad." + +"But how did it come there?" cried Dick, gazing wonderingly at the black +timber of the ancient craft. + +"Who can tell, Dick? Perhaps it floated out of the river at some time +when there was a flood, and it was too big to move back again, and the +people in the days when it was used did not care to dig a canal from +here to the river." + +"Half a mile," said Dick. + +"No, no. Not more than a quarter." + +"But it doesn't look like a fishing-boat," said Dick. + +"No, my lad. As far as I can make out, it is the remains of an old war +galley." + +"Then it must have belonged to the Danes." + +"Danes or Saxons, Dick." + +"But the wood's sound," cried Tom. "It can't be so old as that." + +"Why not, Tom? Your people dig out pine-roots, don't they, perfectly +sound, and full of turpentine? This is pine wood, and full of +turpentine too." + +"But it's such a while since the Danes and Saxons were here, Mr +Marston," said Tom. + +"A mere yesterday, my lad, compared to the time when the country about +here was a great pine and birch forest, before this peat began to form." + +"Before the peat began to form!" + +"To be sure! Pine and birch don't grow in peaty swamps, but in sandy +ground with plenty of gravel. Look all about you at the scores of great +pine-roots my men have dug out. They are all pine, and there must have +been quite a large forest here once." + +"And was that farther back?" + +"Perhaps thousands of years before the Danes first landed. The peat +preserves the wood, Tom. Bog is not rotten mud, but the decayed masses +that have grown in the watery expanse. Well, Dick, what do you think of +it?" + +"I wish we could get it home to our place to keep as a curiosity?" + +"But it would want a shed over it, my lad, for the rain, wind, and sun +would soon make an end of it." + +"Then, what are you going to do?" + +"Get it out and up that slope they are cutting, along some planks if we +can, and then fill up the trench." + +The lads inspected the curious-looking old hull, whose aspect seemed to +bring up recollections of the history of early England, when +fierce-looking men, half sailors, half warriors, came over from the +Norland in boats like this, propelled by great oars, and carrying a +short thick mast and one sail. All the upper portions had rotted away, +but enough of the hull remained to show pretty well what its shape must +have been, and that it had had a curiously-projecting place that must +have curved out like the neck of a bird, the whole vessel having borne a +rough resemblance to an elongated duck or swan. + +The boys were, however, by no means so enthusiastic as the engineer; and +as a great figure came looming up behind them, Dick was ready enough to +welcome the incident of the man's reminder about the disturbance at the +Toft. + +"We're mates, we are," cried the great fellow, holding out his broad +hairy hand to take Dick's in his grasp, and shake it steadily up and +down. "I heven't forgot, I heven't forgot." + +"Are you all right again, Bargle?" said Dick, trying in vain to +extricate his hand. + +"Yeees. Knock o' the yead don't hot me. See here." + +He slowly drew out of his pocket a great piece of dark-yellow ivory, +evidently the point, and about a foot in length, of the tusk of some +animal, probably an elephant. + +"Theer's what I promised you, lad. That's a tush, that is. What yer +think o' that?" + +Dick did not seem to know what to think of it, but he expressed his +gratitude as well as he could, and had to shake hands again and again +with the great fellow, who seemed to take intense delight in smiling at +Dick and shaking his head at him. + +How long this scene would have lasted it is impossible to say; but at +last, as it was growing irksome, there came a shout from the end of the +drain. + +"They've found something else," said Mr Marston; and the lads needed no +telling to hasten their steps, for the finding of _something_ buried in +the peat could not fail to prove interesting; but in this case the +discovery was startling to the strongest nerves. + +As they neared the end of the drain where the men were slowly delving +out the peat, and a section of the bog was before them showing about +twelve feet of, the wet black soil, Mr Marston stepped eagerly forward, +and the group of men who were standing together opened out to let him +and his companions pass through. + +Dick shuddered at the object before him: the figure of a man clothed +apparently in some kind of leather garb, and partly uncovered from the +position it had occupied in the peat. + +"Some un been murdered and berrid," growled Bargle, who was close +behind. + +"No, my man," said Mr Marston, taking a spade and cutting down some +more of the turf, so as to lay bare the figure from the middle of the +thigh to the feet. + +"Lemme come," growled Bargle, striding forward and almost snatching the +sharp spade from his leader's hand. + +"Don't hurt it," cried Mr Marston, giving way. + +"Nay, no fear o' hotting him," growled Bargle, grinning, and, bending to +his work, he deftly cut away the black peat till the figure stood before +them upright in the bog as if fitted exactly in the face of the section +like some brownish-black fossil of a human being. + +It was the figure of a man in a leather garb, and wearing a kind of +gaiters bound to the legs by strips of hide which went across and across +from the instep to far above the knee. There was a leathern girdle +about the waist, and one hand was slightly raised, as if it had held a +staff or spear, but no remains of these were to be seen. Probably the +head had once been covered, but it was bare now, and a quantity of long +shaggy hair still clung to the dark-brown skin, the face being half +covered by a beard; and, in spite of the brown-black leathery aspect of +the face, and the contracted skin, it did not seem half so horrible as +might have been supposed. + +"Why, boys," said Mr Marston after a long examination, "this might be +the body of someone who lived as long back as the date when that old +galley was in use." + +"So long back as that!" cried Dick, looking curiously at the strange +figure, whose head was fully six feet below the surface of the bog. + +"Got a-walking across in the dark, and sinked in," said Bargle gruffly. + +That might or might not have been the case. At any rate there was the +body of a man in a wonderful state of preservation, kept from decay by +the action of the peat; and, judging from the clothing, the body must +have been in its position there for many hundred years. + +"What's got to be done now?" said Bargle. "We want to get on." + +Mr Marston gave prompt orders, which resulted in a shallow grave being +dug in the peat about fifty yards from where the drain was being cut, +and in this the strange figure was carefully laid, ready for exhumation +by any naturalist who should wish to investigate farther; and after this +was done, and a careful search made for remains of weapons or coins, the +cutting of the drain progressed; till, after an enjoyable day with the +engineer, the boys said good-bye, and tried to escape without having to +shake hands with Bargle. + +But this was not to be. The big fellow waylaid them, smiling and +holding out his hand to Dick for a farewell grip, and a declaration that +they were mates. + +About half-way back, and just as it was growing toward sundown, they +were met by Hickathrift, who came up smiling, and looking like a Bargle +carefully smoothed down. + +"Thought I'd see you safe back," said Hickathrift so seriously that a +feeling of nervousness which had not before existed made the boys glance +round and look suspiciously at a reed-bed on one side and a patch of +alders on the other. + +"What are you talking like that for?" cried Dick angrily; "just as if we +couldn't walk along here and be quite safe! What is there to mind?" + +The wheelwright shook his head and looked round uneasily, as if he too +felt the influence of coming danger; but no puff of smoke came from +clump of bushes or patch of reeds; no sharp report rose from the alders +that fringed part of the walk, and they reached the wheelwright's +cottage without adventure. + +Here Hickathrift began to smile in a peculiar way, and, having only one +hand at liberty, he made use of it to grip Dick by the arm, and use him +as if he were an instrument or tool for entrapping Tom, with the result +that he packed them both into his cottage, and into the presence of his +wife, who was also smiling, as she stood behind a cleanly-scrubbed +table, upon which was spread a tempting-looking supper. + +"Here, Hicky, don't! What do you mean?" cried Dick, whom the great +fellow's grip punished. + +"Wittles," said the wheelwright, indulging in a broad grin. + +"Oh, nonsense! We're off home. Tom Tallington's going to have supper +with me." + +"Nay, he's going to hev his supper here along o' uz," said Hickathrift. +"Didn't I say, missus, I'd bring 'em home?" + +"Yes, Mester Dick," cried Mrs Hickathrift; "and thank ye kindly, do +stop." + +"Oh, but we must get back!" cried Dick, who shrank from partaking of the +wheelwright's kindly hospitality. + +"Theer, I towd you so," cried Mrs Hickathrift to her husband, and +speaking in an ill-used tone. "They're used to table-cloths, and +squire's wife's got silver spoons." + +"Nay, nay, never mind the cloths and spoons, Mester Dick; stop and have +a bite." + +"But, Hicky--" + +"Nay, now," cried the wheelwright interrupting; "don't thee say thou'rt +not hungry." + +"I wasn't going to," said Dick, laughing, "because I am horribly hungry. +Aren't you, Tom?" + +Tom showed his teeth. It was meant for a smile, but bore a wonderful +resemblance to a declaration of war against the food upon the table. + +"Don't be proud, then, lad. Stop. Why, you nivver knew me say I +wouldn't when I've been at your place." + +That appeal removed the last objection, and the boys took off their +caps, sat down with the wheelwright, and Mrs Hickathrift, according to +the custom, waited upon them. + +It is unnecessary to state what there was for supper, and how many times +Dick and Tom had their plates replenished with--never mind what--and--it +does not signify. Suffice it to say that for the space of half an hour +the wheelwright's wife was exceedingly busy; and when at the end of an +hour the trio rose from the table, and Hickathrift filled his pipe, both +of his visitors seemed as if they had gone through a process of taming. +For though a boy--a hearty boy in his teens--living say anywhere, can, +as a rule, eat, in the exception of boys of the old fen-land, where the +eastern breezes blow right off the German Ocean, they were troubled with +an appetite which was startling, and might have been condemned but for +the fact that it resulted in their growing into magnificent specimens of +humanity, six feet high not being considered particularly tall. + +It was quite late when the boys reached the Toft, to find the squire +standing outside smoking his pipe and waiting for them. + +"Where have you been, lads?" he said; and on being told, he uttered a +good-humoured grunt, and laying his hand upon Tom's shoulder, "Here," he +said, "you'd better stop with Dick to-night. They won't be uneasy at +home?" + +"No, sir," said Tom naively; "I told father perhaps I should stay." + +"Oh, you did, eh!" said the squire. "Well, you're welcome. If you +don't want any supper, you'd better be off to bed." + +Both lads declared that they did not want any supper, but Mrs Winthorpe +had made certain preparations for them which they could not resist, and +something very like a second meal was eaten before they retired for the +night. + +As a rule, when one boy has a visitor for bed-fellow, it is some time +before there is peace in that room. Set aside unruly demonstrations +whose effects are broken pillowcase strings, ruptured bolsters, and +loose feathers about the carpet, if nothing worse has happened in the +way of broken jugs and basins, there is always something else to say at +the end of the long conversation upon the past day's occurrences or the +morrow's plans. + +But in this instance it was doubtful whether Dick fell asleep in the act +of getting into bed, or whether Tom was nodding as he undressed; suffice +it that the moment their heads touched pillows they were fast asleep, +and the big beetle which flew in at the open window and circled about +the room had it all to himself. Now he ground his head against the +ceiling, then he rasped his wings against the wall, then he buzzed in +one corner, burred in another, and banged himself up against the white +dimity curtains, till, seeing what appeared to be a gleam of light in +the looking-glass, he swept by the open window, out of which he could +easily have passed, and struck himself so heavily against the mirror +that he fell on the floor with a pat, and probably a dint in his steely +blue armour. + +Then came a huge moth, and almost simultaneously a bat, to whirr round +and round over the bed and along the ceiling, while from off the dark +waters of the fen came from time to time strange splashings and uncouth +cries, which would have startled a wakeful stranger to these parts. Now +and then a peculiar moan would be heard, then what sounded like a +dismal, distant roaring, followed by the cackling of ducks, and +plaintive whistlings of ox-birds, oyster-catchers, and sandpipers, all +of which seemed to be very busy hunting food in the soft stillness of +the dewy night. + +But neither splash nor cry awakened the sleepers, who were, like Barney +O'Reardon, after keeping awake for a week; when they went to sleep they +paid "attintion to it," and the night wore on till it must have been one +o'clock. + +The bat and the moth had managed to find their way out of the open +window at last, and perhaps out of malice had told another bat and +another moth that it was a delightful place in there. At all events +another couple were careering about, the moth noisily brushing its wings +against wall and ceiling, the bat silently on its fine soft leather +wings, but uttering a fine squeak now and then, so thin, and sharp, and +shrill that, compared to other squeaks, it was as the point of a fine +needle is to that of a tenpenny nail. + +The beetle had got over the stunning blow it had received, to some +extent, and had carefully folded up and put away its gauzy wings beneath +their hard horny cases, deeming that he would be better off and safer if +he walked for the rest of the night, and after a good deal of awkward +progression he came to the side of the bed. + +It was a hot night, and some of the clothes had been kicked off, so that +the counterpane on Tom's side touched the floor. In contact with this +piece of drapery the beetle came, and began to crawl up, taking his time +pretty well, and finally reaching the bed. + +Here he turned to the left and progressed slowly till he reached the +pillow, which he climbed, and in a few more moments found himself in +front of a cavern in a forest--a curiously designed cavern, with a cosy +hole in connection with certain labyrinths. + +This hole seemed just of a size to suit the beetle's purpose, and he +proceeded to enter for the purpose of snuggling up and taking a good +long nap to ease the dull aching he probably felt in his bruised head. + +But, soundly as Tom Tallington slept, the scriggly legs of a beetle were +rather too much when they began to work in his ear, and he started up +and brushed the creature away, the investigating insect falling on the +floor with a sharp rap. + +Tom sat listening to the sounds which came through the window and heard +the splashing of water in the distance, and the pipings and quackings of +the wild-fowl; but as he leaned forward intently and looked through the +open window at the starry sky, there were other noises he heard which +made him think of sundry occasions at home when he had been awakened by +similar sounds. + +After a few moments he lay down again, but started up directly, got out +of bed, and went to the window to listen. + +The next minute he was back at the bed-side. + +"Dick," he whispered, shaking him; "Dick!" + +"What is it?" + +"There's something wrong with the horses." + +"Nonsense!" + +"There is, I tell you. Sit up and listen." + +"Oh, I say, what a nuisance you are! I was having such a dream!" + +Dick sat up and listened, and certainly a sound came from the yard. + +He jumped out of bed and went with Tom to the open window, but all was +perfectly still round the house, and he was about to return to bed when +a dim shadowy-looking creature flew silently across the yard. + +Dick uttered a peculiar squeak which was so exactly like that of a mouse +that the bird curved round in its flight, came rapidly up toward the +window, and hovered there with extended claws, and its great eyes +staring from its full round face. + +The next moment it was flying silently away, but another shrill squeak +brought it back to hover before them, staring in wonder, till, +apparently divining that it was being imposed upon, it swooped away. + +"What a big owl!" said Tom in a whisper. "There! Hear that?" + +Dick did hear _that_! A low whinnying noise, and the blow given by a +horse's hoof, as if it had stamped impatiently while in pain. + +Directly after there was a mournful lowing from the direction of the +cow-house, followed by an angry bellow. + +"That's old Billy," said Dick. "What's the matter with the things! +It's a hot night, and some kind of flies are worrying them. Here, let's +get to bed." + +He was moving in the direction of the bed; but just then there was +another louder whinnying from the lodge where the cart-horses were kept, +and a series of angry stamps, followed by a bellow from the bull. + +"There is something wrong with the beasts," said Dick. "I'll call +father. No, I won't. Perhaps it's nothing. Let's go down and see." + +"But we should have to dress." + +"No; only slip on our trousers and boots. You'll go with me, won't +you?" + +"Yes, I'll go," said Tom; "but I don't want to." + +"What! after waking me up to listen!" + +"Oh, I'll go!" said Tom, following his companion's lead and beginning to +dress. + +"Tell you what," said Dick; "we'll get out of the window and drop down." + +"And how are we to get back?" + +"Short ladder," said Dick laconically. "Come along. Ready?" + +"Yes, I'm ready." + +The boys moved to the window, and, setting the example, Dick placed one +leg out, and was seated astride the sill, when the bed-room door was +suddenly thrown open, and the squire appeared. + +"Now, then! What does this mean?" he cried angrily. + +"We heard something wrong with the beasts, father, and we were going to +see," cried Dick. + +"Heard something wrong with the beasts, indeed! Yes, and I heard +something wrong with them. Now, then, both of you jump into bed, and if +I hear another sound, I'll--" + +The squire stopped short, for there was a piteous whinny from the stable +again. + +"There, father! and old Billy's got something the matter with him too," +cried Dick eagerly, the bull endorsing his statement with a melancholy +bellow. + +"Why, there is something wrong, then, my boys!" said the squire, angry +now with himself for suspecting them of playing some prank. "Here, +let's go down." + +He led the way directly, and lit a lantern in the kitchen before +throwing back the bolts and going out, armed with a big stick, the boys +following close behind, and feeling somewhat awe-stricken at the +strangeness of the proceedings. + +"Hullo, my lads, what is it then?" cried the squire, entering the rough +stable, where three horses were fastened up, and all half lying in the +straw. + +One of them turned to him with a piteous whinny, and then the great soft +eyes of all three of the patient beasts were turned toward them, the +light gleaming upon their eyes strangely. + +"Why, what's this?" cried the squire, holding down the lantern, whose +light fell upon the hocks of the poor beasts. "Oh, it's too cruel! what +savage has done this!" + +As he held down the light the boys hardly realised what had happened. +All they could make out was that the light gleamed horribly on the +horses' hind-legs, and Dick exclaimed: + +"Why, they must have been kicking, father, terribly!" + +"Kicking, my boy!" groaned the squire. "I wish they had kicked the +monster to death who has done this." + +"Done this! Has anybody done this?" faltered Dick, while Tom turned +quite white. + +"Yes; don't you understand?" + +"No, father," cried Dick, looking at him vacantly. + +"The poor beasts have been houghed--hamstrung by some cruel wretch. +Here, quick!" + +He hurried across to the lodge where a favourite cow and the bull were +tethered, and as he saw that these poor beasts had been treated in the +same barbarous way-- + +"Did you hear or see anyone, Dick?" he cried, turning sharply on his +son. + +"No, father. I was asleep till Tom woke me, and told me that the beasts +were uneasy." + +"It is too cruel, too cruel," groaned the squire huskily. "What is to +happen next? Here, go and call up the men. You, Tom Tallington, go and +rouse up Hickathrift. We may be in time to catch the wretches who have +done this. Quick, boys! quick! And if I do--" + +He did not finish his sentence; but as the boys ran off he walked into +the house, to return with his gun, and thus armed he made a hasty survey +of the place. + +By the time he had done, Dick was back with the men, and soon after, +Hickathrift came panting up, with Tom; but though a hot search was +carried on for hours, nothing more was found, and by breakfast-time five +reports had rung out on the bright morning air, as Squire Winthorpe +loaded his old flint-lock gun with a leaden bullet five times, and put +the poor helpless suffering brutes out of their misery. + +"Three good useful horses, and the best-bred bull and cow in the marsh, +squire," said Farmer Tallington, who had come over as soon as he heard +the news. "Any idea who it could be?" + +"No," said the squire; "thank goodness, no. I don't want to find out +the wretch's name, Tallington, for I'm a hot-tempered, passionate man." + +"It's the drain, neighbour, the drain," said the farmer, shaking his +head. "Let's be content with the money we've lost, and try to put a +stop to proceedings before we suffer more and worse. There's them about +as hev sworn the drain sha'n't be made, and it's the same hands that +fired my stacks and those shots, neighbour." + +"I daresay it is, farmer," said the squire sternly; "but do you know +what it says in the Book about the man who puts his hand to the plough?" + +"Ay, I think I know what you mean." + +"And so do you, Dick?" said the squire. + +"Yes, father." + +"Well, my boy, I've put my hand to the plough to do a good, honest, +sensible work, and, knowing as I do, that it's a man's duty to go on +with it, I shall stand fast, come what may." + +"And not leave me in the lurch, Mr Winthorpe?" said a voice. + +"No, Marston, not if they hamstring me in turn," cried the squire, +holding out his hand to the young engineer, who had hurried over. "I +suppose I shall get a bullet in me one of these days; but never mind, +we've begun the drain. And do you hear, all of you?" he shouted; +"spread it about that the fen will be drained, and that if they killed +me, and a hundred more who took my place, it would still be done." + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +THE MAN OF SUSPICION. + +There was a good deal of inquiry made about the houghing of Squire +Winthorpe's horses, and there was a great deal of excitement before the +poor beasts were skinned, for their hides to go to town to the tanyard +and their carcasses were carted away. + +People came from miles in all directions, including all the men who were +at work for Mr Marston--every one to stand and stare at the poor dead +beasts and say nothing. + +Small farmers, fen-men, people from the town, folk from the shore where +the cockle-beds lay, and the fisher-people who were supposed to live +upon very little fish and a great deal of smuggling. + +Even Dave and John Warren punted themselves over, both looking yellow +and thin, and so weak that they could hardly manage their poles; and +they too stared, the former frowning at the bull and shaking his head at +the horses, but wiping away a weak tear as he stood by the cow. + +"Many's the drop of good fresh milk the missus has given me from her, +Mester Dick," he said with a sigh; "and now theer's no cow, no milk, no +nothing for a poor sick man. Hey, bud the ager's a sad thing when you +hev it bad as this." + +There was a visit from a couple of magistrates, who asked a great many +questions, and left behind them a squinting constable, who took very bad +snuff, and annoyed Dick by looking at him suspiciously, as if he +believed him to be the cause of all the mischief. This man stopped in +the village at a cottage next to Hickathrift's, from which place he made +little journeys in all directions, evidently full of the belief that he +was going to discover the people who did all this mischief in the +neighbourhood. + +This constable's name was Thorpeley, and he did a great deal of business +with a brass box and a short black clay-pipe, in which he smoked short +black tobacco. + +"I don't know," said Dick one day as he stood with his arms folded, +leaning upon Solomon, talking to Tom Tallington and staring at Thorpeley +the constable, who was leaning against a post smoking and staring with +one eye at the fen, while with the other he watched the group of three +in the Toft farm-yard. + +"Well, I'm sure I don't," said Tom. "He never goes over to the town to +buy any." + +"And Hicky says nobody fetches any for him, but he always seems to have +plenty though he hasn't any luggage or box or anything." + +"No; I saw him come," said Tom. "He only had a small bundle in a red +handkerchief!" + +"And he keeps on smoking from morning till night." + +"And watching you!" + +"Yes. He's always watching me," cried Dick in an aggrieved tone. +"Stand still, will you? Yes, you'd better! You kick, and I'll kick +you!" + +This was to Solomon, who had hitched up his back in an arch, laid down +his ears, thrust his head between his fore-legs and his tail between his +hind, giving himself the aspect of being about to reach under and bite +the tip of the said tail. But that was not the case, and Dick knew by +experience that all this was preparatory to a display of kicking. + +Solomon may have understood plain English or he may not. This is a +matter which cannot be decided. At all events he slowly raised his head +and twisted his tail in a peculiar manner, stretched out his neck, and +cocking his ears he sighed loudly a sigh like the fag-end of a long +bray, all of which seemed to point to the fact that he felt himself to +be a slave in leathern chains, gagged with a rusty bit, and at the mercy +of his master. + +"Flies tease him," said Tom apologetically. "Poor old Sol!" + +"Don't touch him!" cried Dick, "or he'll kick you." + +"Poor old Sol!" said Tom again, and this time he approached the donkey's +head. + +"Don't touch him, I tell you! He'll bite if you do! He's in a nasty +temper because I would put on his bridle, and I was obliged to persuade +him to be quiet with a pitchfork handle." + +"What a shame!" said Tom. + +"Shame, eh! Just you look here," cried Dick, and down one of his coarse +worsted stockings, he displayed a great bruise on his white leg. "He +did that three days ago, and he tried to do it again this morning, only +I was too quick for him." + +"Haugh! haugh-h-haugh!" sighed Solomon in a most dismal tone. + +"Says he's sorry for it!" cried Tom, grinning. + +"Oh, very well then, I'm sorry I hit him with the pitchfork handle. I +say, Tom, I gave him such a whop!" + +"Where did you hit him?" + +"Where I could. You can't pick your place when you try to hit Solomon. +You must look sharp or you'll get it first." + +"But he wouldn't be so disagreeable if you were kind to him," said Tom. +"Poor old Sol, then!" + +There was a sharp twist of the donkey's neck, and, quick as lightning, +the fierce little animal made a grab at Tom. Fortunately he missed his +shoulder, but he got tightly hold of the sleeve of his coat, and held on +till Dick gave him a furious kick, when he let go. + +"Kick him again, Dick!" cried Tom, who looked very pale. "Ugh! the +treacherous beast!" + +"It's his nature," said Dick coolly, as he resumed his position and +leaned over the donkey's back. "He always was so from a foal! Father's +always kind to dumb beasts, and feeds them well, and nurses them when +they're ill; but he often gives Solomon a crack. I say, look at old +Thorpeley; he's watching you now." + +"He isn't; he's looking all round. I say, Dick, you can't tell where he +is looking. I wonder what makes any one squint like that!" + +"Had one of his eyes knocked out and put in again upside down," said +Dick. + +"Get out!" cried Tom. + +"Haugh, haugh, haugh, haugh, haugh, haugh!" cried Solomon. + +"There, he's laughing at you. I say, Dick, do you think he really does +watch us?" + +"Sure of it. He thinks I houghed the poor horses. I know he does, and +he expects to find out that I did it by following me about." + +"How do you know he suspects you?" + +"Because he is always asking questions about our window being open that +night, and about how I found out there was something the matter with the +poor beasts. I say, Tom, I hate that fellow." + +"So do I," said Tom in tones which indicated his loyalty to his friend. +"Let's serve him out!" + +"Oh, but you mustn't! A constable is sworn in." + +"What difference does that make?" + +"I don't know, but he is; and he has a little staff in his pocket with a +brass crown upon it, and he says, `In the king's name!'" + +"Well, let him if he likes. The king in London can't know what we do +down here in the fen. I say, let's serve him out!" + +"No," said Dick, "it might get father into trouble. I say, I know what +I'll do if you like." + +"What, take him out in a boat and upset it?" + +"No, lend him Solomon to ride!" + +As he spoke Dick looked at Tom and Tom looked at Dick before they both +burst into a hearty fit of laughter. + +"Here, let's get away. He's coming!" + +Dick turned to go, but Solomon objected. Possibly he understood what +had been said. At all events he stood fast, and refused to move till, +in obedience to a call from his friend, Tom took hold of the bridle and +dragged, while Dick made a sudden rush behind, as if to deliver a +tremendous kick. + +Solomon sighed and consented to move, and, evidently considering himself +mastered, he became amiable, made a playful attempt to bite, and then +started off at a canter. + +"Jump on, Tom!" cried Dick. + +The lad wanted no second invitation, but scuffled on to the donkey's +back as it went on, and the trio trotted along for about a hundred +yards. + +"Where shall we go?" cried Tom. + +"Straight on. Let's see how Mr Marston's getting along. Here, you +ride on to the alders' corner and tie up Sol, and then go on." + +"I say: here's the constable coming." Dick looked back and frowned. + +"There, I told you so!" he cried. "It doesn't matter what I do, that +man watches me." + +"He's only going for a walk." + +"Going for a walk!" cried Dick fiercely; "he's following me. You'll see +he'll keep to me all the time. I should like to serve him out." + +Tom was going to say something else, but his words were jerked out at +random, and the next died away, for, as if he approved of the smell of +the salt-sea air, Solomon suddenly whisked his tail, uttered a squeak, +and after a bound went off at a tremendous gallop, stretching out like a +greyhound, and showing what speed he possessed whenever he liked to put +it forth. + +The sudden spring he made produced such comical effects that Dick +Winthorpe stopped short in the rough track along the edge of the fen, to +laugh. For Tom Tallington had been seated carelessly on the donkey's +back right behind, and turned half round to talk to his companion. The +consequence was that he was jerked up in the air, and came down again as +if bound to slip off. But Tom and Dick had practised the art of riding +almost ever since they could run alone, and in their early lessons one +had ridden astride the top bar of a gate hundreds of times, while the +other swung it open and then threw it back, the great feat being to give +the gate a tremendous bang against the post, so as to nearly shake the +rider from his seat. + +The jerk was unpleasant, at times even painful; but it taught the lads +to hold on with their legs, and made them better able to display their +prowess in other mounts which were tested from time to time. + +They were not particular as to what they turned into a steed. Sometimes +it was Farmer Tallington's Hips, the brindled cow, when she was fetched +from the end of the home close to be milked. This would have been one +of the calmest of rides, and afforded plenty of room for both boys to +ride Knight-Templar fashion, after old Sam had helped them on, but it +was not a ride much sought for, because Hips was not a mollusc. Quite +the contrary: she was a vertebrate animal, very vertebrate indeed, and a +ride on her back represented a journey upon the edge of a Brobdingnagian +blunt saw, set up along a kind of broad lattice covered with a skin. + +There was a favourite old sow at the Toft which was often put in +requisition, but she only carried one. Still it was a comfortable seat, +only in the early days of the boys' life that pig's back was wont to +tickle; and then too she had a very bad habit. + +Of course these rides were not had in the sty, nor yet in the farm-yard, +but out along by the edge of the fen, and the enjoyment was nearly +perfect till it was brought to an end, always in the same way, as soon +as a nice convenient shallow pool was encountered, for here Lady +Winthorpe, as she was called, always lay down for a comfortable wallow, +when it was no use to wait for another ride, for the seat became too +wet. + +Tallington's ram was splendid when he could be caught, which was not +often; but upon the rare occasions when he did fall captive to the boys' +prowess, he had rather a trying time, considering how big he was, and +how thin his legs. But his back was beautiful. The wool formed a +magnificent cushion, and a couple of locks could be grasped for security +by the rider, while the attendant, who waited his turn drove with a +branch of furze or heather. + +A pole across a stone wall was another splendid aid to horsemanship, +see-saw fashion, or turned into a steed for one, by wedging the thick +end into a hole and riding the thin end, spring fashion; while, as the +years rolled by and the boys were back from school, an occasional mount +was had upon Saxon, Tallington's old grey horse, falsely said to be +nearly two hundred. But if he was not, he looked it. + +Of course it was pleasant to be seated on high upon his back, but the +ride was not exhilarating, for whether he was bound for the ploughed +fields, or to harrow, or to fetch home a load, it seemed to make no +difference to Saxon, who always seemed to be examining the ground before +him with his big dull eyes before he lifted a foot to set it down in +advance. He was a cautious beast, and this may have arisen from his +having been often bogged. These rides were, then, not much sought +after, and when Solomon was placed at Dick's disposal he was voted by +far the best, and the donkey was not long in finding that his young +master had learned how to ride; as, with his long head he debated how he +might best rid himself of such incubi as Dick and his friend. + +All this is explanatory of the reason why Tom Tallington did not slip +off at Solomon's first bout, but kept on when he came down by hooking +himself, as it were, with his leg and gripping a piece of the donkey's +skin with his hand. + +By these means he regained his perpendicular, but only for a moment, +Solomon having at command a perfect battery of ruses for ridding himself +of a rider. No sooner was Tom upright than the donkey gave the whole of +his skin and muscles a wrench sidewise, which felt as if the seat was +being dragged away. + +The consequence was that Tom nearly went off to the right. He was too +good an assman, though, and by a dexterous gymnastic feat he dragged +himself once more upright, when Solemn-un's back suddenly grew round and +began to treat Tom as if he were a ball. Now he was jerked up; now he +was jerked forward; now he was jerked back--bob--bob--bob--bob--till he +nearly went off over the tail. There was another bout of kicking, and +away went Tom again forward till he was a long way on toward the +donkey's neck, but only to shuffle himself back to the normal seat upon +the animal, after which, in token of defeat, Solomon went on out of +sight at a rapid canter, leaving Dick laughing till he had to wipe his +eyes. + +"He will be so sore and so cross!" cried Dick, as he walked swiftly on; +when, involuntarily turning his head, he saw that the constable was +following him. + +"The idiot!" cried the lad angrily. "Well, he shall have a run for it." + +Setting his teeth and doubling his fists, he bent his head, and started +off running as hard as he could go, with the result that as he was going +somewhat after the fashion of a hare making use of his eyes to watch his +pursuer, and not looking ahead, he suddenly went round a curve, right +into Hickathrift's chest, and was caught and held by the big +wheelwright. + +"Why, Mester Dick, what now?" + +"Don't stop me, Hicky. I was running because that stupid constable +fellow is after me." + +"Hey, and what should make you run away from constable, lad?" said +Hickathrift severely. "You've done nowt to be 'shamed on?" + +"No, of course not!" cried Dick, shaking himself free. "Did you meet +Tom Tallington?" + +"Ay, iver so far-off, trying to stop old Solomon, and he wouldn't stay." + +Dick nodded and glanced at him; and then, as he ran on again, the lad +ground his teeth. + +"It's a shame!" he cried. "Why, old Hicky thinks now that there's +something wrong. I'll serve that old stupid out for all this; see if I +don't!" + +He ran on, getting very hot, and beginning now to abuse Tom Tallington +for going so far before he tied up; and at last saw the donkey browsing +by the side of a tree, while Tom was well on along the track to the +drain, walking as fast as he could go. + +Solomon pointed one ear at Dick, as he came up, but took no further +notice, being engaged in picking nutriment out of some scraps of as +unlikely looking vegetation as could be found in the fen. Perhaps it +was the thistly food he ate which had an effect upon his temper and made +him the awkward creature he had grown. + +"My turn now," cried Dick, unfastening the rein, which was tightly tied +with string to the stout stem of an alder. + +Solomon had cocked one ear at his master as he came up. The animal now +laid both ears down and began to back so rapidly along the road, keeping +the reins at their full stretch, that it was impossible to mount him, +and it was evident that a long battle was beginning, in which the ass +might win. + +Dick, however, found an ally in the shape of Grip, Hickathrift's +lurcher, who had been evidently off on some expedition upon his own +account, and was now hastening to overtake his master. + +Solomon's attention was taken up by Dick, and he did not perceive Grip +coming up at full speed till, with a rush, the dog made a bound at him, +and sent him towards Dick, who was dragging at the reins. + +Grip seemed to enjoy the donkey's astonishment as it backed from him and +then wheeled sharply round to deliver a goodly kick; but before this +could be planted satisfactorily, Dick had mounted and began tugging at +the reins and drumming with his heels in a way there was no resisting, +so Solomon went off at a gallop and Grip followed his master. + +At the end of a mile Tom had been passed, and Dick drew up by the first +scrubby willow he reached, to tie up the donkey and leave it for his +friend; but a glance back showed him the constable returning toward the +Toft, so the boy stood leaning over Solomon's back, waiting. + +"I don't want to ride," he said to himself. "Tom can have the donkey, +and I'll walk." + +"Why didn't you go on?" cried Tom, as he came up with a very red face. + +"Don't want to be alone," replied Dick lazily, as he gazed away over the +wide-stretching fen-land with the moist air quivering in the glorious +sunshine. "I say, Tom, what a shame it seems!" + +"What seems a shame?" + +"Corn-fields and pastures and orchards are all very well, but the old +fen does look so lovely now!" + +"Yes, it does," said Tom; "and father's horribly sorry he joined in the +draining scheme. He says it's going to cost heaps of money, and then be +no good. But come along." + +"Where?" said Dick. + +"I don't know. Where we're going." + +"We're not going anywhere, are we?" + +"Well, you are a fellow! Come galloping off here into the fen, and then +say you don't know where we're going!" + +"I did it to get away from that Thorpeley. What shall we do?" + +"Pst! Look there! What's that?" + +"Snake!" + +"No; it's an adder. Look!" + +"'Tisn't," said Dick; "it's a snake. Adders aren't so long as that. +No, no; don't throw at it. Let's see what it's going to do." + +The reptile was crossing the track from a tuft of alders, and seemed to +be about three feet long and unusually thick, while, as it reached the +dense heath and rushes, interspersed with grey coral moss on that side, +it disappeared for a few moments, and they thought it had gone; but +directly after it reappeared, gliding over a rounded tuft of bog-moss, +and continued its way. + +"Why, it's going to that pool!" cried Dick. + +"To drink," said Tom. "No wonder. Oh, I am hot and thirsty! Here, I +could knock him over with a stone easily." + +"Let him alone," said Dick, who had become interested in the snake's +movements. "How would you like to be knocked over with a stone?" + +"I'm not a snake," said Tom, grinning. + +"Look!" cried Dick, as the reptile reached the edge of one of the many +deep fen pools, whose amber-coloured water was so clear that the +vegetation at the bottom could be seen plainly, and, lit up by the +sunshine, seemed to be of a deep-golden hue across which every now and +then some armoured beetle or tiny fish darted. + +To the surprise of both, instead of the snake beginning to drink, it +went right into the water, and, swimming easily and well, somewhat after +the fashion of an eel, sent the water rippling and gleaming toward the +sides. + +"Look!" cried Tom. "Oh, what a bait for a pike!" For just then one of +these fishes about a foot long rose slowly from where it had lain +concealed at the side, and so clear was the water that they could make +out its every movement. + +"Pooh! a pike could not swallow a snake," said Dick, as the reptile swam +on, and the pike slowly followed as if in doubt. + +"Oh, yes, he could!" said Tom, "a bit at a time." + +"Nonsense! Don't make a noise; let's watch. The snake's a yard long, +and the pike only a foot. I say, can't the snake swim!" + +It could unmistakably, and as easily as if it were quite at home, +gliding along over the surface and sending the water rippling away in +rings, while the little pike followed its movements a few inches from +the top so quietly that the movements of its fins could hardly be made +out. + +"Now he'll have him!" said Tom, as the snake reached the far side of the +pool, raised its head, darted out its tongue, and then turned and swam +back toward the middle, glistening in the sun and seeming to enjoy its +bath. + +But Tom was wrong; the pike followed closely, evidently watching its +strange visitor, but making no effort to seize it, and at last, quite +out of patience, the lads made a dash forward. + +The result was a swirl in the water, and the fish had gone to some +lurking-place among the water plants, while the snake made a dive, and +they traced its course right to the bottom, where it lay perfectly +still. + +They sat down to wait till it came up, but after a time, during which +Tom had lamented sorely that he had not killed the snake, which seemed +comfortable enough in its prolonged dive, they both grew tired, and +returned to where Solomon stood making good use of his time and browsing +upon everything which seemed to him good to eat. + +"Here, let's go and see how they're getting on with the drain," said +Dick. + +"But we're always going to see how they're getting on with the drain," +grumbled Tom. + +"Never mind! Mr Marston may have had something else dug up." + +"I don't want to see any more old boats; and as for that other thing-- +Ugh!" + +"Never mind! Come along! Perhaps they've found something else." + +"Don't believe it. Are you going to ride?" + +"No; you can ride," said Dick. "I'll walk." + +The heat of the day seemed to make the boys silent as they walked and +rode in turn, gazing longingly the while over the spreading pools +glistening in the sunshine, with the dragon-flies glancing here and +there upon their gauzy wings which rustled and thrilled as they darted +and turned in their wonderful flight, chasing their unfortunate winged +prey. Every now and then a beautiful swallow-tail butterfly, plentiful +once in these regions, flitted by, inviting pursuit where pursuit was +impossible; while from the waving beds of giant grass which rose from +the water and now began to show their empurpled heads, came the +chattering of the reed-birds, as if in answer to the chirping of the +crickets in the crisp dark heath. + +"Look at the bulrushes, Tom!" said Dick lazily. And he nodded in the +direction of a patch of the tall, brown, poker-like flowers and leaves +of the reed-mace. + +"Oh, yes, look at them!" said Tom sourly. "What a shame it is that we +weren't born with wings! Everything grows where you can't get at it. +If there's a good nest, it's surrounded by water." + +"Like an island," assented Dick. + +"The best butterflies are where you can't get them without you go in a +boat." + +"You can't catch butterflies out of a boat," said Dick contemptuously. + +"You could, if you poled it along fast enough. Here, you jump on now. +What a hot back old Solomon has got!" + +"I daresay he thinks you've got horribly hot legs," said Dick, laughing. +"Here, come along quick!" + +"What for?" + +"Can't you see!" cried Dick, starting off in the direction of where the +men were at work; "there's something the matter." + +Certainly something did seem to be wrong, for the men were hurrying +along the black embankment of the great drain in the direction of the +sea; and as the boys reached the spot where the digging had been going +on, the explanation was plain. + +The last time they were there, the men were at work in the bottom of the +oozy dike, where a little water lay, soaked out of the sides; but now, +right away to the flood-gates, there was a glistening lane of water, the +open ditch resembling a long canal in which a barge could have been +sailed. + +"There isn't anything the matter," said Tom. "They've let the water in +to try how it goes." + +But when at last they reached the sea end, it was to find Mr Marston +very busy with his men closing the great gates to keep out the tide, +which had risen high and threatened to flood a good deal of low-lying +ground. For probably by carelessness the sluice-gate down by the sea +had been left open, and the tide had come up and drowned the works. + +The two lads stood looking on for some time, until the gates were +closed, and then, as the men sauntered away to their lodgings, Mr +Marston joined them. + +"What did you fill the dike for, Mr Marston?" said Dick. + +"Yes: wasn't it to try how it would go?" + +"No," said the young engineer. "I did not want it filled. The gates +were left open." + +"And what are you going to do now?" + +"Wait till the tide's down, so that we can open them and let the water +run off." + +"You can't do anything till then?" + +"We could begin digging farther on," said Mr Marston; "but as the tide +will soon be going down I shall wait. It is a great nuisance, but I +suppose I must have some accidents." + +The lads stayed with him all the afternoon, waiting till the tide had +turned, and getting a good insight at last into how the drain would act. + +It was very simple, for as soon as the tide was low enough the water ran +rapidly from the drain; and that evening the gates were closed tightly +to keep out the next rise, the great dike being quite empty. + +The engineer walked back with the boys, for there was no riding. They +had left Solomon tethered where he could get a good feed of grass and +tender shoots; but upon reaching the spot when they were ready to return +there was the tethering line gnawed completely through, and the donkey +was out of sight. + +"Not taken away?" said Mr Marston. + +"No: he has gone home," said Dick. "That rope wasn't thick enough to +hold him. I thought he would get away." + +"Then why not have asked me for a thicker rope, Dick?" + +"What's the good! If I had tied him there with a thicker rope, he'd +have bitten through the bridle. He wanted to go back home, and when he +does, he will go somehow." + +"He seems a wonderful beast," said Mr Marston, smiling. + +"I don't know about being wonderful. He's a rum one, and as cunning as +a fox. Why, he'll unfasten any gate to get into a field, and he'll get +out too. He unhooks the doors and lifts the gates off the hinges, and +one day he was shut up in the big barn, and what do you think he did?" + +"I know," said Tom; "jumped out of the window." + +"Yes, that he did," said Dick. "He climbed up the straw till he got to +the window, and then squeezed himself through." + +That evening, after tea, the squire was seated in the orchard where the +stone table had been built up under the big gnarled apple-tree, and the +engineer was talking to him earnestly as Dick came up from going part of +the way home with his companion. + +"Shall I go away, father?" asked the lad, as he saw how serious his +father looked. + +"No, my boy, no. You are getting old enough now to think seriously; and +this draining business will be more for you than for myself--better for +your children than for you. Mr Marston has some more ugly news about +the work." + +"Ugly news, father?" + +"Yes, Dick," said Mr Marston; "that was no accident this afternoon, but +a wilful attempt made by some miserably prejudiced person to destroy our +work." + +"But it did no harm, Mr Marston." + +"No, my boy; but the ignorant person who thrust open that gate hoped it +would. If it had been a high-tide and a storm, instead of stopping our +work for a few hours he might have stopped it for a few weeks." + +"And who do you think it was?" asked Dick. + +"Someone who hates the idea of the drain being made. I have seen the +constable, Mr Winthorpe," continued Marston. + +"Well, and what does he say?" + +"That he thinks he knows who is at the bottom of all these attacks." + +"And whom does he suspect?" cried Dick excitedly. + +"He will not say," replied the engineer. "He only wants time, and then +he is going to lay his hand upon the offender." + +"Or offenders," said the squire drily. + +"Yes, of course," said the engineer; "but the mischief is doubtless +started by one brain; those who carry it out are only the tools." + +Mr Marston had come with the intention of staying for the night at the +Toft; and after a ramble round the old orchard and garden, and some talk +of a fishing expedition into the wilder parts of the fen "some day when +he was not so busy," supper was eaten, and in due time Dick went to bed, +to stand at his window listening to the sounds which floated off the +mere, and at last to throw himself upon his bed feeling hot and feverish +with his thoughts. + +"I wish Tom was here to talk to," he said to himself. "But if I did +talk to him about it he'd only laugh. That constable thinks I'm at the +bottom of it all, and that I set the people to do these things, and he's +trying to make Mr Marston believe it, and it's too bad!" + +He turned over upon one side, but it was no more comfortable than the +other; so he tried his back, but the bed, stuffed as it was with the +softest feathers from the geese grown at the farm, felt hard and thorny; +there was a singing and humming noise made by the gnats, and the animals +about the place were so uneasy that they suggested the idea of something +wrong once more. + +Then at last a drowsy sensation full of restfulness began to come over +the weary lad, and he was fast dropping off to sleep, +when--_Cock-a-doodle-doo_! + +A shrill and sonorous challenge came from one of the lodges, which made +Dick start and throw one leg out of bed, sit up, and throw himself down +again. + +"Ugh! you stupid!" he cried angrily. "I don't believe I've been asleep +yet." + +He seized his pillow, gave it a few savage punches, and lay down again, +but only to find himself more wakeful than ever, with the unpleasant +feeling that he was suspected of fighting against his father's plans; +and after turning the matter over and over, and asking himself whether +he should go straight to his father in the morning and tell him, or +whether he should make Mr Marston his confidant, he came to the +conclusion that he should not like to, for it might make them +suspicious, and think that he really was concerned in the case. + +Then he resolved to tell Hickathrift and ask his advice, or Dave, or +John Warren. + +Lastly, he resolved to tell his mother; and as he thought of how she +would take his hand and listen to him attentively, and give him the best +of counsel, he asked himself why he had not thought of her before. + +But he grew more hot and uncomfortable, thinking till his troubled brain +seemed to get everything in a knot, and he had just come to the +conclusion that he would say nothing to anybody, for the constable's +suspicions were not worth notice, when there was a sharp rap on the +floor as if something had fallen, and he lay listening with every sense +on the strain. + +He had not long to wait, for from beneath his window came a low familiar +whistle. + +"Why, it's Tom!" he thought, starting up in bed; and as he was in the +act of gliding out, a second thought troubled him--Tom there in the +middle of the night! And if the squire heard him he would believe they +were engaged in some scheme. + +"Tom!" he whispered, as he leaned out of the open window. + +"Yes. May I come up?" + +"No, don't. What do you want? Why have you come over?" + +"Nobody knows I've come. I got out of the bed-room window and ran +across." + +"What for?" + +"I can't tell you down here, Dick; I must come up." + +He ran away softly over the grass, and came back in a few minutes with +one of the short ladders, of whose whereabouts he knew as well as Dick, +and planting it against the window-sill, he ran up and thrust in his +head. + +"I say, Dick," he whispered, "I couldn't sleep to-night, and I went to +the window and looked out." + +"So did I. Well, what of that? Here, be quick and go, or father will +hear you, and we shall get into trouble." + +"There's going to be something done to-night." + +"What! the horses again, or a fire?" + +"I don't know, only I'm sure I saw two men creep along on their hands +and knees down to the water." + +"Pigs," said Dick, contemptuously. + +"They weren't. Think I can't tell a man from a pig!" + +"Not in the dark." + +"I tell you they were men." + +"Pigs!" + +"Men! and they went down to the water." + +"To drink, stupid! They were pigs! They look just like men crawling in +the dark!" + +"Pigs don't get in punts and pole themselves along the mere!" + +"You didn't see two men get in a punt and pole themselves along!" + +"No, but I heard them quite plain." + +"Well, and suppose you did, what then?" + +"I don't know. Only I couldn't sleep, and I was obliged to come over to +you." + +"And wake me out of a beautiful sleep! What was that you threw in?" + +"Stone!" + +"Then now go back, and don't come here in the night to get me into +trouble! What's the good of going and dreaming such stuff and then +coming along the dark road to tell me? What's that?" + +Tom was going to say _lightning_ as a brilliant flash made their faces +quite plain for a moment, but before he could give the word utterance +there was a heavy dull report as of a cannon, which seemed to run over +the surface of the mere, and murmur among the reeds and trees. + +"Why, it's out at sea," said Tom in a whisper. "It can't be a wreck!" + +"I know!" cried Dick excitedly. "Smugglers and a king's ship!" + +Just then a window was heard being opened, and the squire's voice +speaking to Mrs Winthorpe. + +"I don't know," he said; "sounded like a gun. That you, Marston?" he +cried aloud as another window was thrown open. + +"Yes. Did you hear a report?" + +"Yes. Like a gun out at sea." + +"I heard a slight noise a little while ago, and I was listening when I +saw a flash and heard the report. Mr Winthorpe, I'm afraid there's +something wrong again." + +"No, no, man!" + +"I'm afraid I must say, Yes, sir. That sound was not off the sea, but +much nearer the house. Who's that?" + +"Hallo! who's on that ladder?" cried the squire, turning sharply round +at the engineer's query. "Tom Tallington?" + +"Yes, sir," faltered Tom. + +"What are you doing here, sir? Is Dick there?" + +"Yes, father." + +"What's the meaning of this, sir?" + +"We saw a flash, father, and heard a report!" + +"Where?" cried Mr Marston. + +"I think it must have been close to the outfall of the big drain, +father." + +"There! you hear," said Mr Marston in a low voice. "There is something +wrong!" + +"Stop a moment," said the squire sternly. "You, Tom Tallington, why are +you there?" + +"Tell him, Tom," said Dick in a low voice. + +"Speak out, sir," cried the squire. "What are you whispering there, +Dick?" + +"I was asking him to tell you, father," faltered Dick; for their being +caught like this a second time, and the feeling that he was suspected, +troubled the lad sorely at that moment. + +"Once more, then, my lad," said the squire. "Why are you here?" + +"I came to tell Dick, sir, that I had seen two men come from the town +way past our place, and that I heard them get into a boat and go away +across the mere." + +"You saw that?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Well, what of it? Why did you come and tell Dick that?" + +"Because I thought there was something wrong, sir." + +"You hear?" said Mr Marston again. + +"Yes, I hear," muttered the squire, "but I don't like it. These boys +know more than they care to say." + +The squire's window was heard to shut, and his heavy footstep sounded +loudly on the floor in the silence of the night, while the two lads +stood listening. + +"What shall we do, Dick?" + +"I'm going to dress," was the reply; and the speaker began to hurry on +his things. "You had better go home." + +"No," said Tom sturdily; "if I've got you into a hobble I'll stand by +you. But I didn't mean any harm." + +Five minutes later all were standing down in the great stone porch, the +squire with a stout staff and Mr Marston similarly armed. + +The squire looked very hard at the two lads, but he did not speak. +Still there was something in his glance, dimly seen though it was in the +star-light, which made Dick wince. It was as if something had risen up +between father and son; and, rightly or wrongly the lad felt that his +father was looking upon him with doubt. + +At the end of a few moments Dick mastered his awkwardness, and spoke to +his father as the latter came down from saying a few parting words to +Mrs Winthorpe. + +"Shall I come with you, father--I mean, shall we?" + +"If you like," said the squire coldly. "Come, Marston." + +Dick made a movement to speak to the latter, but he was staring straight +out across the fen in the direction of the draining works, and fretting +with impatience at the delay. + +The next minute a start was made, and the boys were left behind. + +"Mr Marston might have said come," said Tom in a low sulky voice. + +"They both think we've been at some mischief," said Dick sadly. + +"Then don't let's go with them. I should have liked to go though." + +"And so we will," cried Dick angrily. "We'll go and show them that +we're not afraid to face anybody. I wish people wouldn't be so +suspicious." + +"So do I," cried Tom. "But I say, Dick, it does look suspicious when +you're found getting into anybody's house in the middle of the night +with a ladder." + +"Well, I suppose it does," replied Dick thoughtfully. + +"Why, my father would have shot at anybody he saw climbing in. I say, +are we going?" + +"Yes, come along," cried Dick; and the two lads started off at a rapid +pace, following in the tracks of the squire and the engineer, whose +voices could be heard in a low murmur now some way ahead. + +The night was glorious, and the stars were reflected in the face of the +mere, whose black smooth waters seemed to form an inverted curve to +complete the arch of spangled glory overhead. From far and near came +the many sounds peculiar to the wild fen, while every now and then there +was a solitary splash, or perhaps a loud flapping and beating of the +water following closely upon the whistling and whirring of wings. + +The lads had an hour's walk before them, and if they wished to keep up +with those in front, an arduous and sharp walk, for it soon became +evident that they were hurrying on at a great rate. + +"We shall have to run directly," said Dick, after they had been going on +for about twenty minutes. "Hist! what did Mr Marston say?" + +"That he must have been mad to stop away from his lodgings to-night," +whispered Tom, who had been a little in advance on the narrow path. +"Here, what's that?" + +"Somebody on the mere," cried Dick excitedly. "Hi! ho!" + +"Hi! ho!" came from out of the darkness where the splashing of water had +been heard, accompanied by the peculiar sliding sound made by drawing a +pole over the edge of a boat. + +"That you, Dave?" + +"Yes, Mester Dick. Hear a noise?" + +"Yes. Did you?" + +"Something like thunder, and it wakkened me. I think it weer a +fireball." + +These words were shouted as the man forced the punt along rapidly, till +it was abreast of the rough road track which ran along by the edge of +the mere. + +"Wheer are you going?" cried Dave as soon as he came close up. + +"Down to the drain-works," said Tom. + +"Think it fell theer?" asked Dave. + +"Yes: there was a flash of light went up." + +"Hey, bud I'll come wi' you," said Dave earnestly. "I'd best land here, +for I can't get much farther." + +For thereabouts the track went wide of the edge of the mere, and Dave +was just landing, talking volubly the while, as the squire and Mr +Marston pressed on, leaving them behind, when there came another hail +off the water. + +"Why, it's John Warren!" cried Tom. + +"What's matter?" + +"We dunno, lad," shouted back Dave. "Fireball come down, I think." + +"That all?" said the rabbit-catcher. "Any mischief? Don't see no +fire." + +"Nay, bud we don't know," replied Dave. "Squire and engineer chap's on +ahead, and we're going to see. Coming?" + +"Nay, I'm going back to bed again. Busy day wi' me to-morrow. I thowt +someone was killed." + +There was a faint glimpse of the man and his boat seen for a moment, and +the water flashed in the rays of the stars as he turned; then his voice +was heard muttering, and the splash of his pole came more faintly, while +Dave secured and stepped out of the boat, to burst out suddenly in his +grating unmusical laugh. + +"He, he, he! His, hec, hac! Seems straange and disappointed, lads. +Talks as if he wanted someone killed. Now, then, come on." + +By this time the squire and Mr Marston were a long way ahead, and Tom +proposed a run to overtake them. + +"Ay, run, lads. Keep up a trot. Dessay I shall be clost behind." + +"Come along!" cried Dick; and they started off along the track, with +Dave increasing his stride and seeming to skim without effort over the +ground, his long wiry legs and great strength enabling him to keep up +with the boys, who, whenever they looked back, found him close behind. + +"You needn't mind about me, lads," he said with a chuckle; "I sha'n't be +far." + +They were rapidly gaining upon those in front; knowing this fact from +the murmur of their voices as they kept up an animated discussion, when, +all at once, it seemed as if the squire had begun to talk much more +rapidly, and that Mr Marston was replying to him at a terrible rate, +their voices becoming blurred and confused, as it were, when Dick +realised what it meant. + +"There's a party of the drain-men coming. Let's run!" + +Dick was right, and five minutes after, he and his companions had joined +a group gathered round Mr Marston, while Bargle, the big labourer, was +talking. + +"Ay, mester, we _all_ tumbled out, and went away down to the gaats as +soon as we'd tumbled out, and they're all knocked down and the water +in." + +"Knocked down!" cried the squire. + +"Ay," cried another of the men, "far as we could see; one's smashed to +bits, and brickwork's all ploughed up." + +"Come along!" said the engineer. "Two of you run on first and get +lanthorns." + +The big labourer and another went off back with a heavy trot, and the +party were advancing again when a heavy step was heard behind. + +"Who's that?" said Tom. + +"Me, lad, me," came back in the thick hearty voice of the wheelwright. +"What's amiss?" + +They told him. + +"I was straange and fast asleep," he said, "and didn't hear nowt; but my +missus wakkened me, and I come on." + +"Ay, bud it wakkened me, neighbour," said Dave, who was busy +administering to himself a pill. "I've slep' badly since I had that +last touch of ager, and I thowt some un was broosting in the wall, and +as soon as I jumped up and looked out, the plaace seemed alive, for all +the birds in the fen were flying round and round, and you could hear +their wings whistling as they flew away. I was scarred." + +Half an hour later they were picking their way along the embankment at +the side of the great drain, now once more filled with salt water, while +when they reached the mouth, where a peculiar dank saline odour was +perceptible, the two men who had been flitting before them with +lanthorns like a couple of will-o'-the-wisps, went cautiously down the +crumbling bank, followed by the engineer, and the mischief done was at +once plain to see. + +Apparently a powerful blast of powder had been placed in the hollow of +the stone-work, where the mechanism for opening and closing the great +sluice-gates was fixed, and the result of the explosion was a huge chasm +in the stone, and one of the gates blown right off, leaving the way for +the water free. + +A dead silence fell upon the group as the engineer took one of the +lanthorns and carefully examined the damage, the squire holding the +other light, and peering forward in the darkness till the engineer +climbed back to his side. + +"They've managed it well," he said bitterly. + +"Well!" cried the squire angrily. "I'm not a harsh man, but I'd give a +hundred pounds down to see the wretch who did this lying dead in the +ruins." + +"Ay, mester," said Hickathrift in a low hoarse voice; "it be a shaame. +Will it spoil the dreern, and stop all the work?" + +"Ay," said Dave, as he stood leaning upon his pole, which he had brought +over his shoulder; "will it stop dreern?" + +The two lads leaned forward to hear the answer, and there was a peculiar +solemnity in the scene out there in the wild place in the darkness, +merely illumined by the two lanthorns. + +"Stop the drain!" exclaimed the squire hoarsely, and in a voice full of +rage. + +"No, my men," said the engineer coolly. "It will make a job for the +carpenters and the masons; but if the madman, or the man with the brains +of a mischievous monkey, thinks he is going to stop our great enterprise +by such an act as this, he is greatly mistaken. You, Bargle, be here to +meet me at daylight with a double gang. Get the piles up here at once, +and if we work hard we can have the piles in and an embankment up before +the next tide. A few days' hindrance, Mr Winthorpe, that's all." + +The men broke into a cheer, in which Dave and Hickathrift joined; and as +nothing more could be done, the little crowd separated, the men going +slowly back to their huts, while the squire and Marston made for the +track so as to return, talking earnestly the while. + +"You talked as if the thing were a trifle," said the squire angrily. +"It will cost us hundreds!" + +"Yes, but it might cost us thousands if we let the scoundrels know how +big a breach they have made in our works, and they would renew the +attack at once." + +"Hah, there's something in that!" said the squire, drawing his breath in +angrily through his teeth. "If I only knew who was at the bottom of it! +Marston, it must be the work of a gang among your men." + +"Think so?" said the engineer quietly. + +"I do." + +"But why should my men do such a dastardly act?" + +"To make the job last longer." + +"Nonsense, my dear sir! We have work before us that will last us for +years, for this drain is only the first of many." + +"Then who is it--who can it be?" + +"I think I've got an insight to-night," said Marston. "Tom Tallington +saw a couple of men coming along the road and creep to the edge of the +mere." + +"True! I had forgotten that," said the squire sharply. + +"And that shows us that our enemies belong to a party somewhere at a +distance, and that we should be wasting time in searching here. Hallo! +who's this?" + +The exclamation was caused by the appearance of a dark figure coming +towards them from the direction of the Toft. + +"Why, it's Thorpeley, the constable!" said Dick in a whisper to his +companion. + +"Oh, it's you!" said the squire gruffly. "Pity you weren't down here +sooner." + +"Has it been an explosion, sir?" said the constable in a smooth unctuous +voice. + +"Yes," said the squire abruptly, and he walked on with the engineer. + +"Ah, I was going on to see!" said the constable; "but as you're all +going back, I'll go back too." + +No one spoke, but all walked on in silence, for the man's coming seemed +to have damped the conversation; but the opportunity for making himself +heard and showing his importance was not to be ignored. + +"They're very clever," he said in a high voice, so that the squire and +Mr Marston, who were in front, could hear; "but I've got my hye upon +them." + +"Why didn't you ketch 'em, then, 'fore they did this here?" said Dave +with a little laugh. + +"Ay, why didst thou not stop this?" growled Hickathrift. + +"Because the thing was not quite ripe. I shall tak' 'em yet red-handed, +and then--" + +He paused and rubbed his hands. + +"What then?" asked Dave. + +"Transportation or hanging--one of them," said the constable with a +chuckle. + +"Ay, but you heven't found 'em yet," said Dave, shaking his head. + +"Nay, bud I can put my hand on 'em pretty well when I like." + +"Wheer are they, then?" said Hickathrift excitedly. + +"Ay, wheer are they?" said the constable. "Going about stealthily of a +night, creeping behind hedges, and carrying messages one to the other. +I know! They think no one suspects them, and that they're going to be +passed over, but I'm set here to find them out, and I've nearly got +things ready." + +"Look here, my man," said the engineer, stopping short; "can you say for +certain who's at the bottom of this mischief?" + +"Mebbe I can, sir." + +"Then who was it?" + +"Nay," said the constable with a little laugh; "if theer's going to be +any credit for takkin of 'em, I mean to hev it, and not give it over to +someone else." + +"Pish!" ejaculated the squire angrily; "come along! The man knows +nothing." + +"Mebbe not," said the constable with a sneer. "Mebbe if people treated +people proper, and asked them to their house, and gave 'em a lodging and +a bit of food, things might hev been found out sooner; but some people +thinks they know best." + +The squire understood the hint, but he scorned to notice it, and went on +talking sternly to the engineer; but Thorpeley was not to be put down +like that, for he continued: + +"Mebbe theer's people in it--old people and young people--as wouldn't +like to be exposed, but who hev got to be exposed, and--" + +"Look here," said Dick boldly, "if my father won't speak, I will. Do +you mean to say you believe Tom Tallington and I know anything about +these cowardly tricks?" + +"Nay, I'm not going to show my hand," said the man. "Wait a bit, and +you'll see." + +"No; you speak out now," cried Dick. "I won't be suspected by any man. +Do you mean to say Tom Tallington and I know?" + +"Nay, I shall na speak till proper time comes. I know what I know, and +I know what I've seen, and when time comes mebbe I shall speak, and not +before." + +"He don't know anything," cried Tom, laughing. "He's a regular sham." + +"Nay, I don't know as boys steals out o' windows at nights, and goes +creeping along in the dark, and playing their games as other people gets +the credit on. I don't know nothing. Oh, no!" + +"Why, you cowardly--" + +Dick did not finish his speech, for at that moment Hickathrift stretched +out one of his great arms, and his big hand closed with a mighty grip on +the constable's shoulder, making the man utter a sharp ejaculation. + +"That'll do," he growled. "Yow shoot thee neb. Man as says owt again +Mester Dick here's saying things agen me." + +"What do you mean?" cried the constable. "Are you going to resist the +law?" + +"Nay, not I," said Hickathrift. "I am a good subject o' the king's. +God bless him! But if yow says owt more again Mester Dick, I'll take +thee by the scruff and pitch thee right out yonder into the bog." + +"Ay," snarled Dave, spitting in his hands and giving his staff a twist; +"and I'll howd him down till he says he's sorry." + +How the constable was to beg Dick's pardon when held down under the +black ooze and water of the mere was not very evident; but the threat +had a good effect, for the man stared from one of the speakers to the +other, and held his peace till they reached the Toft. + +The explosion proved to have done more mischief than was at first +supposed, and necessitated the taking down of all one side of the gowt +and the making of a new sluice door. It was all plain enough, as the +engineer had surmised upon the first inspection: a heavy charge of +powder had been lowered down by the miscreants who were fighting against +the project, and they had probably used a long fuse sufficient to enable +them to get far enough away before the explosion. + +What followed was, however, quite enough to daunt the most determined +foe, for in place of disheartening the engineer, the mishap seemed to +spur him on to renewed exertions. He was on the spot by daybreak, and +before long a strong dam was made across, to prevent the entrance of the +sea-water; the drain was emptied, and while one gang was engaged in +taking down the ruined side of the gowt, the rest of the men went on +with the delving, as if nothing had happened, and the dike increased. + +Dick and Tom were down at the works directly after breakfast, but Mr +Marston took very little notice of them, and it seemed to Dick that the +engineer shared the squire's doubts. + +The consequence was, that, being a very natural boy, who, save when at +school, had led rather a solitary life, finding companionship in Tom +Tallington and the grown-up denizens of the fen, Dick, who was by no +means a model, turned sulky, and shrank within his metaphorical shell. + +"I sha'n't go begging him to talk to me if he doesn't like," he said to +Tom; "and if my father likes to believe I would do such things I shall +go." + +"Go where?" said Tom, looking at him wonderingly. + +"I don't know--anywhere. I say, let's find an island and build a hut, +and go there whenever we like." + +"But where?--out in the sea somewhere?" + +"No, no, I mean such a place as Dave's and John Warren's. You and I +could retreat there whenever we liked." + +Tom stared, and did not seem to grasp the idea for a few minutes; then +his eyes brightened. + +"Why, Dick," he cried, "that would be glorious! We could catch and +shoot birds, and have our own fire, and no one could get to us." + +"Without a boat," said Dick slowly. + +"I'd forgotten that," said Tom thoughtfully. "How could we get there, +then?" + +"We'd borrow Hicky's punt till we had built one for ourselves." + +"But could we build one?" + +"Of course we could, or make one of skins, or a raft of reeds. There +are lots of ways." + +"But what will your father say?" + +"I don't know," said Dick dolefully; "he thinks I'm fighting against +him, so I suppose he'll be glad I've gone." + +"But how about your mother?" + +Dick paused a few moments before answering. + +"I should tell her as a secret, and she'd help me, and lend me things we +should want. I don't care to be at home now, with everybody looking at +one as if there was something wrong." + +"I don't think my father would let me go," said Tom thoughtfully, "and +I'm sure my mother wouldn't; and I say, Dick, isn't it all nonsense?" + +"I don't think it's nonsense," said Dick, who was taking a very morbid +view of matters, consequent upon a mistaken notion of his father's ideas +and thoughts at that time, and matters were not improved by a +conversation which ensued in the course of the next day. + +Dick was in the garden with Tom, paying court to the gooseberry trees, +for though fruit by no means abounded there, the garden always supplied +a fair amount of the commoner kinds, consequent upon the shelter +afforded from the north and bitter easterly sea-winds by the old +buildings which intervened. + +"Here, I want to talk to you two," said the squire; and he led the way +into the house, where Mrs Winthorpe was seated at work, and, probably +by a preconcerted arrangement, to Dick's great disgust she rose and left +the room. + +"Now," said the squire, "I don't like for there to be anything between +us, Dick; and as for you, Tom Tallington, I should be sorry to think +anything about you but that you were a frank, straightforward companion +for my son." + +"I'm sure, sir--" blundered out Tom. + +"Wait a minute, my lad. I have not done. Now, I'm going to ask you a +plain question, both of you, and I want a frank, manly answer. But +before I ask it, I'm going to say a few words." + +He drew his tobacco-jar towards him, and took down his pipe, carefully +filled it, and laid it down again. + +"Now, look here," he said. "I'm a great believer in keeping faith and +being true to one another, and looking down with contempt upon a +tale-bearer, or one who betrays a secret. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sir," said Tom, for Dick felt that he could not speak. "You mean, +sir, that you don't like a sneak." + +"That's it," said the squire; "but I should have liked to hear you say +that, Dick. However, that is what I mean. There are times, though, +when lads have been led into connections where things are done of which +they are heartily ashamed. They have joined in them from the idea that +it was a good bit of fun, or that there was some injustice being +perpetrated, and they have, as they think, joined the weaker side. But +I want you both to see that in such cases as we have had lately it would +be weak and criminal to keep silence from the mistaken notion that it +would be cowardly to speak, and betraying friends." + +Dick's face was scarlet, and his bosom swelled with emotion as he felt +choked with indignation at his father suspecting him, while he changed +countenance the more as he saw his father watching him keenly. In fact +the more innocent Dick strove to look the worse he succeeded, and the +squire seemed troubled as he went on. + +"Now, my lads, as you are well aware, there are some cowardly outrages +being perpetrated from time to time; and I want you to answer me at +once--do you either of you know anything whatever about the persons who +have done these things?" + +"No," said Tom at once; and the squire turned to Dick. + +"Now, my boy," he said, "why don't you speak?" + +Dick felt as if he would choke, and with his morbid feeling increasing, +he said in a husky voice: + +"No, father, I do not know anything either." + +"On your honour, Dick?" said his father, gazing at him searchingly. + +"On my honour, father." + +"That will do," said the squire in a short decisive tone. "I must own +that I thought you two knew something of the matter. I suspected you +before that meddling, chattering idiot shared my ideas. But now there's +an end to it, and I shall go to work to find out who is fighting against +us, since I am sure that you two boys are quite innocent. That will +do." + +"Father doesn't believe me," said Dick bitterly as soon as they were +alone. + +"Nonsense!" cried Tom. "Why, he said he did." + +"Yes, but I could see it in his eyes that he did not I know his looks so +well, and it does seem so hard." + +As if to endorse Dick's fancy, the squire passed them an hour afterwards +in the garden and there was a heavy frown upon his countenance as he +glanced for a moment at his son, who was, of course, perfectly ignorant +of the fact that his father was so intent upon the troubles connected +with the drain, and the heavy loss which would ensue if the scheme +failed, that he did not even realise the presence of his boy. + +It was enough, though, for Dick; and he turned to his companion. + +"There," he said, "what did I tell you? Father doesn't believe me. But +I know what I'll do." + +"What will you do--run away from home?" said Tom. + +"Like a coward, and make him feel sure that I knew all this and told a +lie. No, I won't. I'll just show him." + +"Show him what?" + +"That I'm innocent." + +"Yes, that's all very well; but how are you going to do it?" + +"Find out the people and let him see." + +"Yes, but how?" cried Tom eagerly, as he knocked an apple off one of the +trees and tried to take a bite, but it was so hard and green that he +jerked it away. + +"I don't know yet; but someone does all these cowardly things, and I +mean to find it out before I've done." + +"Oh, I am disappointed!" said Tom dolefully. + +"Disappointed! Why? Won't you help me?" + +"Yes, I will. But I thought we were going to find an island of our own +somewhere out in the mere, where no one ever goes, and have no end of +fun." + +"And so we will," said Dick eagerly. "We could keep it secret, and +there would be the sort of place to be and watch." + +"What, out there?" + +"To be sure! Whoever does all this mischief comes in a boat, I'm sure +of that, and he wouldn't suspect us of watching, and so we could catch +him." + +Tom screwed up his face in doubt, but the idea of starting a sort of +home out there in the middle of the wild fen-land had its fascinations, +and the plan was discussed for long enough before they parted that day. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +ANOTHER TRIP. + +The two lads had left the grammar-school in the county town about a year +before in consequence of a terrible outbreak of fever; and, Mrs +Winthorpe declaring against their going back, they had been kept at +home. But though several plans had been proposed of sending them for +another year's education somewhere, the time had glided by, the business +of the draining had cropped up, and as the lads proved useful at times, +the school business kept on being deferred, to the delight of both, the +elongated holiday growing greatly to their taste. Even though they were +backward from a more modern point of view, they were not losing much, +for they were acquiring knowledge which would be useful to them in their +future careers, and in addition growing bone and muscle such as would +make them strong men. + +Hence it was that the time glided pleasantly on, with the two lads +finding plenty of opportunities for the various amusements which +gratified them when not occupied in some way about the farms. + +It was a few days after the conversation with the squire that Tom +proposed a turn after the fish in Hickathrift's boat. + +"We could pole ourselves without Dave; and let's ask Mr Marston to +come. It's a long time since he has had a holiday." + +Dick's brow was overcast, and he wore generally the aspect of a boy who +had partaken of baking pears for a week, but his face cleared at this, +and he eagerly joined in the plan. + +"We'll get Hicky to lend us his boat, and pole down as far as we can, +and then run across to Mr Marston." + +Their preparations did not take long, and though they were made before +they knew whether they could have the punt, they did not anticipate any +objections, and they were right. + +Hickathrift was busy sawing, but he looked up with a broad grin, and +leaving his work went down with them to the water side. + +"Course I'll lend it to you, lads," he said. "Wish I could come wi' +you." + +"Do, then, Hicky. It's a long time since we've had a fish." + +"Nay; don't ask me," was the reply. "I wean't leave the work. Ay, bud +it's nice to be a boy," he added, with a smile. + +"Couldn't you do your work afterward?" cried Tom. + +"Nay, nay, don't tempt a poor weak fellow," he cried. "I'm going to do +that bit o' sawing 'fore I leave it. Now, theer, in wi' you!" + +The boys made another appeal to the great fellow to come; but he was +staunch. Still he uttered a sigh of relief as he gave the punt a +tremendous thrust from the bank into deep water, where it went rustling +by the willow boughs and over the wild growth where the pink-blossomed +persicaria sent up its pretty heads. + +"If we had pressed Hicky a little more, I believe he would have come," +said Dick. + +"No, he wouldn't. He never will when he says he won't." + +Just at that moment Hickathrift was muttering to himself on the bank, as +he watched the boat. + +"Straange thing," he said, "that a girt big man like I am should allus +feel like a boy. I wanted to go wi' they two straange and badly. I +will go next time." + +Taking it in turns, the boys sent the punt quickly over the amber water, +the exercise in the bright sunshine chasing the clouds from Dick's +countenance, so that before they reached their intended landing-place on +the edge of the mere, as near as they could go to the spot where Mr +Marston's men were at work, he was once more his old self, laughing, +reckoning on the fish they would catch with the trimmers that lay ready, +and forgetting for the time all about the plots to injure the drain and +its projectors. + +There was a low patch of alders at the spot where they intended to land, +and Dick was just about to run the punt close in, when he suddenly +ceased poling and stood motionless staring before him. + +"What's the matter?" cried Tom. + +There was no answer, in fact none was needed, for at that moment Tom's +eyes fell upon the object which had arrested his companion's action, to +wit, the flabby, unpleasant-looking face of Thorpeley, the constable, +that individual being seated by the low bushes smoking his pipe in a +position where he must have been watching the lads ever since they +started. + +Dick's teeth gave forth a peculiar gritting sound, and then, thrusting +down the pole, he ran in the punt, leaped on to the quivering shore with +the rope, fastened it to a bush, and signed to Tom to follow. + +The man said nothing, but there was a curiously aggravating leering grin +upon his countenance as he sat taking in every movement on the part of +the boys, who walked away rapidly with the full knowledge that they were +followed. + +"Don't look back, Tom," said Dick between his teeth. "Oh, how I should +have liked to give him a topper with the pole!" + +"I wish old Dave was here to pitch him in the water," growled Tom. + +"Did you ever see anything so aggravating? He's following us. I can +hear his boots. Don't take any notice. Let's go on fast as if he +wasn't there." + +"I don't know that I can," grumbled Tom. "I feel alloverish like." + +"Feel how?" + +"As if I couldn't do as I liked. My head wants to turn round and look +at him, my tongue wants to call him names, and my toes itch, and my +fists want to feel as if it would be like punching a sack of corn to hit +him in the nose." + +"Come along!" cried Dick, who was too angry to laugh at his companion's +remarks. "Let's make haste to Mr Marston." + +As they reached the works the first man they encountered was big Bargle, +who stuck his spade into the soft peat and came slowly up the +embankment, to stand wiping his fist on his side, before opening it and +holding it out, smiling broadly the while. + +He shook hands with both lads, and then went back to his work smiling; +and as they walked on they could hear him say confidentially to all +around him: + +"We're mates, we are, lads; we're mates." + +The engineer was coming towards them; and as they met, Dick unfolded his +plan, but before he had half-finished his words trailed off, and he +stopped short. For the severe countenance before him checked his +utterance. + +"No," said Mr Marston, shortly. "I am too busy. Good day!" + +He went on to speak to his men, and Dick looked at Tom with a dismal +expression of countenance which spoke volumes. + +"Come along back!" he said. + +Tom obeyed without a word, and glancing neither to the right nor left, +the two boys walked heavily back over the dry surface of the quaking +bog, so as to reach their boat. + +Before they had travelled half-way they met Thorpeley, who leered at +them in a sinister way, and, as they passed on, turned and followed at a +distance. + +"Look here, Dick," whispered Tom, "let's give him something to think +about. Come along!" + +Tom started running as if in a great state of excitement, and Dick +followed involuntarily, while after a momentary hesitation the constable +also began to run. + +"I say, don't go that way," said Dick, as his companion struck off to +the left. "Bog's soft there." + +"I know: come along! Keep on the tufts." + +Dick understood Tom's low chuckling laugh, which was just like that of a +cuckoo in a bush, and divining that the object was to reach the boat by +a detour, he did not slacken his speed. + +Long familiarity with the worst parts of the fen enabled the lads to +pick their way exactly, and they went on bounding from tuft to tuft, +finding fairly firm ground for their feet as if by instinct, though very +often they were going gingerly over patches of bog which undulated and +sprang beneath their tread, while now and then they only saved +themselves from going through the dry coat of moss by making a +tremendous leap. + +They had pretty well half a mile to run to reach the boat by the alder +bush, and the constable soon began to go heavily; but he was so +satisfied that the boys had some sinister design in view, and were +trying to throw him off their scent, that he put forth all his energies, +and as Dick glanced back once, it was to see him, hat in hand, toiling +along in the hot sun right in their wake. + +"You'd better not go round there, Tom," said Dick as they approached a +patch of rushes. "It's very soft." + +"I don't care if I go in; do you?" was the reply. + +"No, I don't mind," said Dick sadly. "I don't seem to mind anything +now." + +"Come along then," cried Tom; "and as we get round let's both look back +and then try to keep out of sight--pretend, you know." + +They reached the patch of tall rushes and reeds, which was high enough +to hide them, and giving a frightened look back at their pursuer, +plunged out of sight. + +"Oh, I say, isn't it soft?" cried Dick. + +"Never mind: some people like it soft," said Tom. "Follow me." + +He had arranged his plan so deftly that while keeping the patch of reeds +between them and their pursuer, Tom managed, with no little risk of +going through, to reach a second patch of the marsh growth, behind which +he dodged, and threw himself down, Dick following closely; and they were +well hidden and lay panting as the constable came round the first patch, +glanced round, and then made for a third patch still more to the left, +and beyond which was quite a copse of scrubby firs. + +"Ho--ho--ho!" laughed Tom in a low voice, as he nearly choked with +mirth, for all at once there was a splash, a shout, a strange wallowing +noise, and as the lads parted and peered through the rushes they could +see that the constable was down and floundering in the bog. + +"Oh, Tom," cried Dick, struggling up, "he'll be smothered!" + +"Sit down; he won't. It'll be a lesson to him." + +"But suppose--" + +"No, don't suppose anything. He'll get out right enough." + +The constable had a hard struggle for a few minutes, and doubtless would +have got out sooner if he had worked a little more with his brains; but +finally he crawled to firmer ground, just as a scuffle began between +Dick and Tom, the former being determined to go to his enemy's help, the +latter clinging to him with all his might to keep him back. + +"Now, come along down to the boat. We can get nearly there before he +sees us," whispered Tom. + +"But do you think he will get back safe?" + +"Of course he will. He won't try to run any more." + +Dick took a long look at the constable to see that he was really out of +danger, and feeling satisfied at last that there was nothing to mind, he +followed Tom once more, the two managing so well that after losing sight +of them altogether for some time, their inquisitive pursuer had the +mortification of seeing them enter the punt and push off, leaving him to +make a long and tedious circuit, crawling part of the way, and when he +stood erect, wanting as he was in the boys' experience, making very slow +progress to the regular track. + +As soon as the excitement was over, and the boat reached once more, +Dick's gloomy feelings came back, and but for his companion's efforts he +would have relapsed into a mournfully depressed condition, which would +have done little towards making their trip agreeable. + +Tom, however, worked hard, and using the pole with vigour he drove the +punt along, till Dick roused up from a fit of musing on his father's +severe looks and Mr Marston's distant manner, to find that they were +close to Dave's home. + +"Why have you come here?" he cried. + +"To see how he is," replied Tom; and, thrusting down his pole, he soon +had the punt ashore. + +"Why, he isn't at home!" said Dick. + +His words proved correct, for the punt was missing, and unless it lay on +the other side of an alder patch or was drawn out to be repaired, the +master must have it far away somewhere on the mere. + +It need not be supposed that the two lads were troubled with more +curiosity than is the property of most boys of their age, because they +landed and looked round, ending by going up to the fen-man's hut and +entering. + +It was not a particularly cleanly place, but everything there, dealing +as it did with Dave's pursuits, had its attraction, from the gun hanging +upon a couple of wooden pegs to the nets and lines above the rough +bed-place, with its sheep-skins and dingy-looking blanket. + +"I should like to take the gun and have a turn by ourselves," said Dick, +gazing at the long rusty piece longingly. + +But it remained untouched, and, returning to the boat, the boys pushed +off and made for the more remote portion of the fen, passing from one +open lake to another as they followed the long meandering lanes of +water, in and out among reed-beds and alder patches, islands of +bog-plants, islets of sedge, and others where the gravel and sand +enabled the purple heather and lavender ling to blow profusely, in +company with here and there a little gorgeous orange-yellow furze. + +The hours went by, and the sun was declining fast as they neared at +length a spot which had attracted them for some time past. It was +either a little promontory or an isthmus, where the ground was strong +enough for fir-trees to flourish, and this promised dry ground, wood, +and a good site for a little hut if they set one up. + +Dick brightened at the sight, for there was a cheering notion in his +mind that he was going to find rest, peace, and happiness here in a +little home of his own making, to which he could retire from the world +to fish, shoot, and eat the fruits he would be able to gather in the +season. + +In short, Dick Winthorpe, being in a marsh, was suffering from a sharp +fit of goose, such as attacks many boys who, because matters do not go +exactly as they like at home, consider that they are ill-used, and long +for what they call their freedom--a freedom which is really slavery, +inasmuch as they make themselves the bond-servants of their silly +fancies, and it takes some time to win them back. + +The clump of firs here, which they had before seen at a distance, +surpassed their expectations, for it was a good-sized island, far from +the shore, and promised fishing, fowling, and security from +interruption, for it was not likely that any one would venture there. + +But the evening was rapidly coming on, and the punt's head was turned +homewards, the distance they had come proving startling, as they began +now to feel that they were very hungry, and that they had hours of work +before them before they could reach the Toft. + +"Not many fish to land," said Dick rather dismally. + +"Why, you wouldn't fish!" replied Tom. "Never mind, we've found the +island. Shall we build a place?" + +Dick's reply was in the affirmative, and for the next two hours they +debated on the subject of what they should take over, and how soon, and +so passed the time away till after dark, when, being still quite a mile +from home, there came the sharp report of a gun, and then they fancied +that they heard a cry. + +"Why, who can be shooting now?" said Dick in an awe-stricken whisper. +"Is anything wrong?" + +"I don't know. Look! look!" + +Tom whispered these words, and pointed in the opposite direction, to a +lambent light which seemed to be moving slowly over the marshy edge of +the mere. + +The light was in a portion of the shore where the mere narrowed; and the +two lads let the boat drift as they sat and watched, each thinking of +the place in the light of experience. + +"Why, Tom, that can't be a boat," whispered Dick. + +"Boat! No, it's land there." + +"Land! It's soft bog that nobody could walk on!" + +"Then it couldn't be a boat. Why, it's a will-o'-the-wisp." + +"Yes," said Dick, after a sceptical pause, during which he watched the +lambent light as it played about in a slow fantastic way, just as if it +were a softly-glowing lantern carried by a short-winged moth, which used +it to inspect the flowering plants as it sought for a meal. "Let's go +over and look at it." + +"No, no! no, no!" whispered Tom excitedly. + +"Why not? Are you afraid?" + +"No, not a bit; but I don't want to go. I'm tired and hungry. I don't +believe you want to go either." + +"Yes, I do," said Dick eagerly. "I feel as if I wanted to go, but my +body didn't." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Tom, but very softly, as he kept his eyes fixed on +the distant light. "That's a nice way of backing out of it. Why, +you're as much afraid as I am, only I'm honest and you're not." + +"Yes, I am," whispered Dick. "I'm as honest as you are, and I'll show +you that I am. There, I should feel afraid to go by myself." + +"Will you go if I go with you?" + +Before Dick could answer there was a long, low, piteous cry from the +other direction, that from whence they had heard the shot. + +"I say, what's that?" whispered Tom in an awe-stricken tone. + +"I don't know. It sounds very queer. There it is again." + +"Is it a bird?" whispered Tom. + +"No. I never heard a bird cry like that." + +"What is it then--a fox trapped?" + +"Nobody would trap the foxes, and it can't be a rabbit, because that +would be a squeal." + +The cry came again over the dark water of the mere, and sounded so +strange and weird that Dick shivered. + +"It's something queer," said Tom huskily. "Take the pole and let's get +away. Don't make a noise." + +"But--" + +"No, no; don't stop. We don't know what it is. Perhaps it's one of +those things Hicky talks about that he has heard sometimes." + +"Father says it's all nonsense, and there are no such things in the +fens." + +"He'd better say there are no will-o'-the-wisps to lead people astray," +whispered Tom. + +"He doesn't say that. He says there are jack-o'-lanterns, but they +don't lead people astray--people go astray to try and catch them." + +"Hist! there it is again!" said Tom, gripping his companion's arm, as +the long piteous cry came faintly over the water. "It is something +horrible!" + +"It isn't," said Dick. "It's someone in distress." + +"People in distress never cry out like that." + +"Why, Tom, it's that Thorpeley stuck in the mud somewhere; and it's our +doing." + +"It's his own if he is stuck there. But I don't believe it is. Why, +it's two miles nearer home than where we left him." + +"Then it's somebody else in trouble," said Dick excitedly. + +"It isn't. Let's go home." + +Tom was, as a rule, no coward; but he was faint and tired, and the very +fact of being seated out on the dark waters with the gloom so thick that +they could see but a short distance, and with an unnatural-looking light +on one side and a strange marrow-thrilling cry coming on the other, was +enough to startle stouter-hearted lads than he, and he held more tightly +to his companion as Dick seized the pole. + +"Let's get back home," he said again. + +"You said I was afraid to go to the will o' the wisp," said Dick +stoutly. "You're afraid to go now and see what it is makes that noise." + +"Well, I can't help it," said Tom appealingly; "but if you go I shall go +with you. There, listen! Isn't it horrible!" + +He spoke as the cry came again faintly but piteous in the extreme. + +Dick drove the pole down into the soft bottom of the mere and sent the +punt surging through the water, determined now to go straight to the +spot whence the cry seemed to come; and, guided by the sound, he toiled +away for about ten minutes before giving way to Tom, who worked hard to +reach the place. + +For, once the two lads had taken action, they seemed to forget their +nervous dread, while what was more encouraging to them to proceed was +the fact that as they reduced the distance the cries gradually seemed to +be more human, and were evidently those of some person in peril or great +distress. + +It was a weird strange journey over the water now, the excitement lent +by their mission seeming to change the aspect of all around. The reeds +whispered, the patches of growth looked black, and every now and then +they disturbed some water-fowl, whose hurried flight seemed suddenly to +have become mysterious and awe-inspiring, as if it were a creature of +the darkness which had been watching their coming and had risen to hover +round. + +But there was the cry again and again, sometimes faint and distant, +sometimes sounding as if close at hand, and, as is often the case, +apparently varying in position to right or left as it was borne by the +soft night wind. + +"We cannot go any farther," cried Dick at last as he drove the boat in +amongst the broad belt of reeds which fringed the edge of the mere. + +"Yes, we can. There's a way here," cried Tom excitedly, pointing +through the gloom to his left where there was an opening. "Coming!" he +yelled as the cry rose once more. + +Dick backed the boat out, with the reeds whistling and rustling +strangely, and the next minute he had it right in the gloomy opening, +which proved to be quite a little bay, where, at the end of a few good +thrusts of the pole, the prow of the punt bumped up against the +quivering moss. + +The two boys got out cautiously; the pole was driven down into the peat, +and the boat made fast; and then they paused and listened for the next +cry. + +Everything now was perfectly silent, not so much as the whisper of a +reed or the whir of the wing of a nightbird fell upon their ears; and at +last, in an awe-stricken whisper, Tom said: + +"Hicky is right. It was something strange from out of the marsh. Let's +get away." + +Dick was stouter-hearted than his companion, and lifting his voice he +shouted, and then stood silent. + +"Help! help!" came faintly in reply. + +"There!" cried Dick turning sharply. "It's a man." + +"Think so?" + +"Why, of course! Come along! Here, I can see where we are now." + +"Yes, I think I know where we are," whispered Tom. "But is it safe to +go after it?" + +"You mean after _him_," said Dick. "Yes, it's pretty firm here--yes, +it's all right. We're amongst heath and bilberry as soon as we get by +this bit of bog. Hoy! shout again," he cried as he plodded on +cautiously, with his feet sometimes sinking in the bog, sometimes +finding it pretty firm. + +But there was no answer; and though as far as was possible Dick walked +in the direction of the sound, the guidance was of the most +unsatisfactory nature, and at the end of a minute or two they listened +again. + +"It must be that Thorpeley regularly bogged," said Dick at last, and a +curious shiver ran through him. "I hope he hasn't sunk in." + +"He couldn't," said Tom. "I know this part. It's all firm ground +between the water and the track to the sea." + +"I can't quite make out where we are," said Dick, staring about him. + +"I can. There's the big alder clump, and beyond it there's the river +wall." [Mud embankment.] + +"So it is. Yes, I know now. Why, it is all firm about here, and nobody +could be bogged unless he got into a hole. Ahoy!" + +He shouted once more, but there was no answer; and when he raised his +voice again it was only for the sound to seem to come back, just as if +they were shut up in some large room. + +"He must be hereabout," said Dick. + +"Shall we find our way back to the boat?" said Tom in a doubting tone. + +"I don't know, but if we don't we could walk home in half an hour. Come +along. Ahoy!" + +Still no answer; and in spite of his companion's suggestions and strange +doubts Dick kept on hunting about in the darkness among the patches of +alders and the heath that here grew freely. For, save in places, the +ground was sandy and firm, and, dark as it was, they had no difficulty +in making out the watery spots by their faint gleam or the different +character of the growth. + +They shouted in turns and together, listening, going in different +directions, and all to no purpose. Not a sound could they get in reply; +and at last, with a curious feeling of horror stealing over him, +compounded of equal parts of superstition and dread lest the person +whose cry they had heard had sunk in the mire of some hole, Dick +reluctantly gave way to Tom's suggestion that they should go back to the +boat. + +"I knew it was something queer," whispered Tom. "If we had gone on, we +should have been led into some dangerous hole and lost." + +"Don't believe it," said Dick, as they trudged slowly back, utterly +worn-out and hoarse with shouting. + +"You're such a doubting fellow!" grumbled Tom. "If it had been anybody +in distress we should have found him." + +"Perhaps," said Dick sadly. "It's so dark, though, that we might have +passed him over." + +"Nonsense!" cried Tom; "we were sure to find him. There wasn't anybody. +It was a marsh cry, and--oh!" + +Tom uttered a yell and went headlong down, with the effect of so +startling his companion that he ran a few steps before he could recover +his nerve, when he returned to extend his hand to Tom, who rose +trembling, while Dick stood staring aghast at the dark figure lying +extended among the heath, and over which his friend had stumbled. + +"Why, Tom, it's Thorpeley!" cried Dick, as he went down on one knee and +peered into the upturned face. "Mr Thorpeley, Mr Thorpeley!" he +cried; "what's the matter?" + +There was no reply. + +"It must have been him," whispered Dick. "He had lost his way." + +"Then let him find it again," grumbled Tom, "instead of watching us." + +"But perhaps there is something the matter. Mr Thorpeley, Mr +Thorpeley!" + +Dick laid his hand upon the man's shoulder and shook him, but there was +no response. + +"Is he dead?" said Tom in an awe-stricken whisper. + +"Dead!" cried Dick, leaping up and shrinking away at the suggestion. +"No, he can't be. He's quite warm," he added, going down on his knee +again to shake the recumbent man, who now uttered a low groan. + +"What shall we do, Dick?" said Tom huskily. "I hate him, but we can't +leave him here." + +"Well," said Dick, "I'm not very fond of him, but it would be like +leaving anybody to die to go away now. We must carry him down to the +boat." + +"Come on then, quick!" + +Dick placed his hands beneath the constable's arms and locked his +fingers across his breast, while Tom turned his back as he got between +the man's legs, stooped in turn, and proceeded to lift them as if they +were the handles of a wheel-barrow. + +"Ready?" + +"Yes." + +"Then both together." + +The two lads lifted the constable, staggered along a few yards, and set +him down again. + +"Oh, I say!" groaned Tom. "Isn't he heavy?" + +"Come and try this end," retorted Dick. "He's an awful weight. We must +go a few yards at a time, and we shall do it yet. Now then." + +"Stop a minute," said Tom, who had picked up a handful of moss, and was +rubbing one hand. "I--it's warm and sticky, and--oh, Dick, he's +bleeding." + +Dick lowered the insensible man down again, and, shuddering with horror, +stepped to his companion's side. + +Then kneeling down he tried to examine the spot pointed out by Tom, to +find out as well as was possible in the dim light that the constable was +bleeding freely from one leg. + +"Dick, what shall we do?" cried Tom piteously. + +"Why, what would anybody do if he had cut his finger?" cried Dick +manfully, as he undid his neckcloth and doubled it afresh. + +"I don't know," cried Tom, who was sadly scared. + +"You don't know! Suppose you had cut your finger, wouldn't you tie it +up?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," faltered Tom, whom the situation had completely +unnerved. + +"Take off his neckerchief while I tie this on," said Dick, whom the +emergency had rendered more helpful. "How can he have hurt himself like +this?" + +As he spoke he busied himself in tightly bandaging the man's leg, and +added to the bandage the cotton cloth that Tom handed to him. + +"I think that has stopped it," said Dick. "Now then, we must carry him +down." + +"But we shall sink into the bog with him," faltered Tom. + +"No, we sha'n't if we are careful. Now, then, are you ready?" + +"I don't like to try and lift him now," said Tom. "It's so horrible. +The man's bleeding to death." + +"More shame for you to stand still and not try to help him," said Dick +hotly. "Here, you come and carry this end." + +Tom hastened to obey, heedless of the fact that the task would be the +harder; and setting to with a will, the lads carried their load a few +yards before setting it down again to rest. + +This time, in spite of Tom's appeal not to be left alone, Dick went on +for a bit so as to explore and make sure of the best way to get back to +the boat, and not without avail, for he was able, in spite of the +darkness, to pick out the firmest ground, his knowledge of the growth of +the fen and its choice of soil helping him. + +But it was a long and painful task. The lads were faint and terribly +hungry. They had been working hard for several hours propelling the +punt, and the load they were carrying would not have been an easy one +for a couple of stout men. Still, by means of that wonderful aid to +success, perseverance, they at last got past bog and water-pool, patch +of sphagnum, bed of reed, and slimy hollow, where the cotton rushes +nourished, and reached the belt of waving reeds which separated them +from the water. + +It was not done without tremendous effort and a constant succession of +rests; but they stood there at last bathed in perspiration, and waiting +for a few minutes before lifting the sufferer into the boat. + +Up to this time they had been so busy and excited that they had not +paused to ask the question: How was it that the man had been wounded? +but as they lifted him carefully into the boat, Tom being in and Dick +ashore, they both burst out with the query, as if moved by the same +spring. + +"I know," said Dick, as the truth seemed to flash upon him. "Some one +must have shot him." + +Tom had taken up the pole and was just about to force the boat along +when this announcement seemed to paralyse him, and he stood there +thinking of what had taken place before. + +"Why, Dick," he whispered, "isn't it very horrible?" + +"Don't talk," cried his companion, entering the boat; "let's get home." + +The pole plashed in the water, which rippled against the bows, and once +more they glided over the surface, just as the injured man uttered a low +groan. + +"We sha'n't be very long," said Dick, kneeling down and carefully +feeling whether the kerchiefs he had bound round the leg were fulfilling +their purpose. "Are you in much pain?" + +"Pain!" groaned the man. "Hah! Give me some water." + +There was no vessel of any kind in the punt, and Dick had to scoop up +some water in the hollow of his hand, and pour it between the injured +man's lips, with the result that he became sufficiently refreshed to sit +up a little and begin muttering. + +Dick now took the pole, and it was Tom's turn to try and administer a +little comfort in the shape of words as to the time that would elapse +before they could reach the Toft; but the only result was to produce an +angry snarl from their patient. + +"How does he seem?" Dick asked, as Tom went to his relief. + +"Better not ask him." + +"Why not?" + +"Perhaps he'll bite you. He nearly did me. I say, how much farther is +it?" + +"Take another quarter of an hour. Oh, I shall be glad, Tom! Work +hard." + +Tom looked in his companion's face, and uttered a low laugh, as he +toiled away at the poling, and that laugh seemed to say more than a +dozen long speeches. Then there was nothing heard for some time but the +regular plash and ripple of the water, as it was disturbed by pole and +punt, while the darkness seemed to increase. At the same time, though, +the hopes of the two lads rose high, for, standing as it were alone in +the midst of the black darkness, there was a soft yellow light. At +first it was so dull and lambent that it suggested thoughts of the +will-o'-the-wisp. But this was no dancing flame, being a steady glow in +one fixed spot, and Tom expressed his companion's thoughts exactly as he +exclaimed: + +"There's Hicky's old horn lanthorn!" + +A few minutes more and the big bluff voice of the wheelwright was heard +in a loud hail. + +This was answered, and the sounds roused the wounded man. + +"Nearly there?" he said hoarsely. + +"Very close now," replied Dick; and snatching the pole from Tom he drove +it down vigorously, making a tremendous spurt to reach the patch of old +pollard willows by the landing-place, on one of whose old posts the +lanthorn had been hung, and beyond which could now be seen the light in +the Hickathrifts' cot. + +"Why, I was a-coming swimming after you, lads," shouted Hickathrift. +"You scarred me. Squire's been down twiced to see if you'd got back, +and the missus is in a fine way." + +"Don't talk, Hicky," shouted back Dick. "Is Jacob there?" + +"Ay, lad. Why?" + +"You'll want help. Look here, send for the doctor." + +"Doctor, lad?" + +"Yes; I know. Let Jacob go and tell my father, and he'll send down the +old cob. Thorpeley's hurt badly." + +They heard a low whistle, then the wheelwright's orders given sharply to +his apprentice, followed by the dull _thud, thud_ of his boots as he ran +off; and directly after the punt glided in and its bow was seized by the +big strong hand upon which the soft glowing light of the horn lanthorn +shone. + +"Hey, but what's the matter with the man?" cried Hickathrift. "We've +been wondering why he didn't come back." + +"I don't know, only we heard a shot," said Dick excitedly; "and then we +heard someone calling for help, and found him lying ashore." + +"Let me get a good howd on him," said the wheelwright; and with one foot +in the boat he passed his great arm under the constable and lifted him +out as tenderly as if he had been a child. + +But, gentle as was the wheelwright's act, it roused the injured man, who +seemed to be driven into a fit of fury by the pain he suffered, and he +burst into a torrent of bad language against Hickathrift and the two +boys, which he kept up till he had been carried into his lodging and +laid upon his bed. + +"Hey, lads," said the wheelwright with a low chuckle, as he walked down +with the boys to where the lanthorn still hung upon the willow-stump, +the care of the constable having been left to the women; "he don't seem +to hev lost his tongue." + +"But he's very bad, isn't he?" said Dick anxiously. + +"I should say no," replied Hickathrift. "Man who's very badly don't +call people." + +"But his leg?" + +"Ay, that's badly. I give the hankycher a good tighten up, and that hot +him, so that he had to howd his tongue." + +"That made him hold his tongue, Hicky?" + +"Ay, lad. I med him feel that if he didn't shoot his neb, I'd pull +tighter, and so he quieted down. Now, tell us all about it." + +"Give us some bread and butter first, Hicky; we're nearly starved." + +"Hey, lads," cried the wheelwright. "Here, coom in to missus and--" + +Hickathrift's speech was cut short by the coming of the squire, who +hurried up. + +"Here, boys," he cried; "what's all this?" + +Dick told all he knew, and the squire drew a long breath and turned by +the light of the lanthorn to gaze first in the lads' faces, and then to +speak to the wheelwright. + +"This is bad, Hickathrift," he said hoarsely. + +As he spoke he gazed searchingly at the great workman. + +"Ay, squire; it is a straange awkard thing." + +Mr Winthorpe gazed in his great frank face again; and then, with his +lips compressed, he went to the bed-side of the injured man. + +"Bad business," said Hickathrift; "but lads mustn't starve because a +constable's shot. Coom along. Here, missus, let's hev bit o'--Nay, +she's gone to see the neighbours, and hev a bit o' ruckatongue." [A +gossip.] + +That did not much matter, for Hickathrift knew the ways of his own +house; and in a very short time had placed a loaf and a piece of cold +bacon before the hungry boys. + +This they attacked furiously, for now that they were relieved of the +responsibility of the injured man, their hunger had asserted itself. +But they had not partaken of many mouthfuls before they heard the +squire's voice outside, in hurried conversation with Hickathrift. + +"Yes, I sent him off directly on the cob," the squire said; "but it must +be some hours before the doctor can get here." + +"Think he's very badly, squire?" came next, in Hickathrift's deep bass. + +"No, not very bad as to his wound, my lad; but this is a terrible +business." + +"Ay, mester, it is trubble. Straange thing to hev first one man shot +and then another. Say, squire, hope it wean't be our turn next." + +"Go on eating, Tom," whispered Dick, setting the example, and cutting a +slice for his companion, while Tom hacked the bread. + +"I'm hard at work," said Tom thickly. "I shall eat as much as ever I +can, and make mother give Hicky a piece o' chine." + +"So will I," said Dick; "and a couple o' chickens." + +The hungry lad had taken a piece of pink-fleshed bacon upon his fork, +and was about to transfer it to his mouth, when he stopped short with +his lips apart and eyes staring, while Tom let fall his knife and thrust +his chair back over the stone floor. + +They had been eating and listening to the conversation outside, till it +reached its climax in the following words: + +"What, man? You don't know what he says." + +"What he says!" chuckled the wheelwright. "Ay, I heerd what he said; a +whole heap o' bad words till I checked him, and let him feel he'd best +howd his tongue." + +"But you know what he says about who shot at him?" + +"Nay, but if he says as it were me, I'll go and pitch him into the +watter." + +"You did not hear, then?" cried the squire, huskily. "Hickathrift, he +says it was done by those boys!" + +"What!" roared the wheelwright. + +"It's a lie, father!" shouted Dick, recovering himself and running out. +"Here, ask Tom." + +"Why, of course it's a lie," cried Tom. + +"But that man says--" cried the squire. + +"Yah!" shouted Hickathrift angrily, "they never shot him; they heven't +got no goon." + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +UNDER CLOUDS. + +Thorpeley was not badly hurt, so the doctor said when he came; but, as +usual, he added, "If it had been an inch or two more to the right an +important vessel would have been divided, and he would have bled to +death." + +But if the constable was not badly wounded, though the injury caused by +a bullet passing through his leg was an ugly one, the reputations of +Dick Winthorpe and Tom Tallington had received such ugly wounds that +their fathers found it difficult to get them cured. + +For Thorpeley stuck to his first story, that he suspected the two boys +to be engaged in some nefarious trick, and he had watched them from the +time they borrowed the wheelwright's punt. He went on to describe how +he had offended them by keeping his eye upon their movements, and told +how they had tried to smother him by leading him into a dangerous +morass, while just at dusk, as he was watching their boat, he saw them +start towards him, and evidently believing that they were unseen from +where they had tied their punt, they had deliberately taken aim at him +and shot him. + +The squire questioned him very sharply, but he adhered to everything. +He swore that he saw them thrust the punt away, and go into the misty +darkness; and then when they had heard his cries, they came back and +landed, evidently repentant and frightened, and then helped him down to +the boat. + +"But," said the squire, "it might have been two other people in a punt +who shot at you." + +"Two others!" shouted the man; "it weer they, and I heered 'em laughing +and bragging about it as I lay theer in the bottom o' the boat nearly in +a swownd, bud I could hear what they said." + +This charge was so serious that, as a matter of course, there was a +magisterial inquiry, which was repeated as soon as the constable was +sufficiently well to limp into the justice-room in the little town where +he had been removed as soon as the doctor gave permission, the +neighbourhood of the Toft and Hickathrift having grown uncomfortably +warm. + +At that last examination the magistrates shook their heads, and, after +hearing a great deal of speaking, decided that Thorpeley must have been +deceived in the darkness, and the charge was dismissed. + +In those days the law had two qualities in an out-of-the-way place that +have pretty well died out now. These qualities were laxity and +severity--the disposition to go to extremes; and in this case some idea +of the way in which the work of petty sessions was carried on will be +grasped when it is told that after the examination the chairman of the +bench of magistrates, an old landholder of the neighbourhood, shook +hands with the squire, and then less freely with Farmer Tallington. + +"Look here, you two," he said; "we've let off these two young scamps; +but you had better send them to sea, or at all events away from here." + +"I don't understand you, sir," said the squire hotly. + +"I can't help that," was the gruff reply. "You take my advice. Send +'em away before there's more mischief done. I sha'n't let 'em off next +time." + +Hickathrift, who had watched all the proceedings, heard these words; and +as the two lads trudged home beside him, with the squire and Farmer +Tallington in front, he told them all that had been said. + +Dick said nothing, but Tom fired up and exclaimed angrily, while the +wheelwright kept on talking quietly to the former. + +"Niver yow mind, lad; we don't think you shot at him. It's some o' they +lads t'other side o' the fen. They comes acrost and waits their chance, +and then goes back, and nobody's none the wiser. Niver you mind what +owd magistrit said. Magistrit indeed! Why, I'd mak' a better magistrit +out of owd Solomon any day o' the week." + +It was kindly spoken; but if there is a difficult thing to do it is to +"never mind" when the heart is sore through some accusation that rankles +from its injustice. + +"Yes, Tom," said Dick, when they were about half-way home; "they'd +better send us away." + +He looked longingly across the fen with its gleaming waters, waving +reeds, and many-tinted flowers; and as he gazed in the bright afternoon +sunshine it seemed as if it had never looked so beautiful before. To an +agricultural-minded man it was a watery waste; but to a boy who had +passed his life there, and found it the home of bird, insect, fish, and +flower, and an ever-changing scene of pleasure, it was all that could be +called attractive and bright. + +"I'm ready to go," said Tom sturdily; "only I don't know which to do." + +"Which to do!" cried Dick, with his face growing red, and his eyes +flashing. "Why, what do you mean?" + +"Whether to go for a soldier or a sailor." + +"Haw! haw!" + +Hickathrift's was a curious laugh. At a distance it might have been +taken for a hail; but a fine heron standing heel-deep in the shallow +water took it to be a cry to scare him, so spreading his great flap +wings, and stooping so as to get a spring, he flew slowly off with +outstretched legs, while the squire and Farmer Tallington looked back to +see if they had been called. + +"What are you laughing at?" said Tom angrily. + +"Yow, lad, yow. Why, you arn't big enew to carry a goon; and as for +sailing, do you think a ship's like a punt, and shoved along wi' a +pole!" + +"Never mind," grumbled Tom. "I'm not going to stop here and be +suspected for nothing." + +"Nay, nay, don't you lads talk nonsense." + +"It's no nonsense, Hicky," said Dick bitterly. "I've made up my mind to +go." + +"Nay, nay, I tell thee. Thou wean't goo, lads." + +"Indeed but we will," cried Dick energetically. + +"What, goo?" + +"Yes." + +"Height awayer?" + +"Yes, right away." + +"Then what's to become of me?" cried the wheelwright excitedly. + +"Become of you! Why, what's it got to do with you?" cried Tom surlily. + +"Do wi' me! Why, iverything. What's the good o' my punt? what's the +good o' me laying up a couple o' good ash-poles for you, and putting a +bit o' wood up chimney to season, so as to hev it ready for new soles +for your pattens [skates] next winter. Good, indeed! What call hev you +to talk that clat?" + +"You're a good old chap, Hicky," said Dick, smiling up at the big +fellow; "but you can't understand what I feel over this." + +"Hey, bud I can," cried the wheelwright quickly; "you feel just the same +as I did when Farmer Tallington--Tom's father here--said I'd sent him in +his bill after he'd sattled it; and as I did when my missus said I'd +took half a guinea outer money-box to spend i' town. I know, lads. +Yes, I know." + +"Well, I suppose it is something like that, Hicky," said Dick sadly. + +"Ay, joost the same; bud I didn't tell Farmer Tallington as I should go +for a soldier, and I didn't turn on my wife and tell her I should go to +sea." + +Dick was silent the rest of the way home, but he shook hands very +solemnly with Tom, and Tom pressed his hand hard as they parted at the +farm. Then Dick went on beside the wheelwright, while the squire walked +swiftly ahead, evidently thinking deeply. + +There was a meaning in that grip of the hand which Hickathrift did not +understand; but he kept on talking cheerily to the lad till they were +close up to the Toft, when, just as the squire turned in and stopped for +Dick to join him, the wheelwright shook hands with the lad. + +"Good day, Mester Dick!" he said aloud; and then in a whisper: + +"Don't you go away, lad, for if you do they'll be sure to say it was yow +as fired the shot." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT. + +The squire was very quiet over the evening meal, but he looked across at +Dick very sternly two or three times, and the lad did not meet his eye. + +For certain plans which he had been concerting with Tom wore so strange +an aspect in his eyes that he felt quite guilty, and the old frank light +in his face seemed to have died out as he bent down over his supper, and +listened to his father's answers to his mother about the proceedings of +the past day. + +Bed-time at last, and for the first time since he had returned Dick was +alone with his mother, the squire having gone to take his customary look +round the house. + +"Good-night, mother!" said Dick in a low sombre manner, very different +to his usual way. + +Mrs Winthorpe did not answer for a moment or two, but gazed full at her +son. + +"And so the magistrate thought you guilty, Dick?" she said. + +"Yes, mother," he flashed out, "and--" + +"Ah!" exclaimed Mrs Winthorpe, flinging her arms about his neck. +"That's my boy who spoke out then. Dick, if you had spoken out like +that to your father and everyone they would not have suspected you for a +moment. There, good-night! It will all come right at last." + +Dick said "good-night" to his father, who gave him a short nod, and then +the lad went slowly up to his room, to sit on the edge of the bed and +think of the possibility of building a hut out there in the island they +had found in the fen, and then of how it would be if he and Tom did so, +and went there to live; and when he had debated it well, he asked +himself what would be the use, and confessed that it would be all +nonsense, and that he had been thinking like a child. + +"No," he said; "I'm no baby now. All this has made a man of me, and Tom +Tallington is right; we must go and begin life somewhere else--where the +world will not be so hard." + +"He will not be here for an hour yet," he thought; so he employed +himself very busily in putting together the few things he meant to take +on his journey into that little-known place beyond the fen, where there +were big towns, and people different to themselves; and as Dick packed +his bundle he tried to keep back a weak tear or two which would gather +as if to drop on the lavender-scented linen, that reminded him of her +who had that night called him her boy. + +But there was a stubborn feeling upon him which made him viciously knot +together the handkerchief ends of his bundle, and then go and stand at +the window and watch and listen for the coming of Tom. + +For he had made up his mind to go with Tom if he came, without him if he +failed, for he told himself the world elsewhere would not be so hard. + +One hour--two hours passed. He heard them strike on the old eight-day +clock below. But no Tom. + +Could he have repented and made up his mind not to keep faith, or was +there some reason? + +Never mind, he would go alone and fight the world, and some day people +would be sorry for having suspected him as they did now. + +He laughed bitterly, and stepped to the open window bundle in hand. He +had but to swing himself out and drop to the ground, and trudge away +into that romantic land--the unknown. Yes, he would go. "Good-bye, +dear mother; father, good-bye!" he whispered softly; and the next moment +one foot was over the window-sill, and he was about to drop, when a +miserably absurd sound rose on the midnight air, a sound which made him +dart back into his room like some guilty creature, as there rang out the +strange cry: + +"He--haw, he--haw!" as dismal a bray as Solomon had ever uttered in his +life; and for no reason whatever, as it seemed, Dick Winthorpe went back +and sat upon his bed thinking of the wheelwright's words: + +That if he went away people would declare he fired the shot. + +"I can't help it," cried Dick at last, after an hour's bitter struggle +there in the darkness of the night; and once more he ran to the window, +meaning to drop out, when, as if he saw what was about to take place, +Solomon roused the echoes about the old buildings with another dismal +bray. + +"Who can run away with a donkey crying out at him like that!" said Dick +to himself; and in spite of his misery, he once more seated himself upon +the bed-side and laughed. + +It was more a hysterical than a natural laugh; but it relieved Dick +Winthorpe's feelings, and just then the clock struck two. + +Dick sat on the bed-side and thought. He was not afraid to go--far from +it. A reckless spirit of determination had come over him, and he was +ready to do anything, dare anything; but all the same the wheelwright's +words troubled him, and he could not master the feeling that it would be +painful for the constant repetition to come to his mother's knowledge, +till even she began to think that there must be some truth in the +matter, and he would not be there to defend himself. + +That was a painful thought, one which made Dick Winthorpe rise and go +and seat himself on the window-sill and gaze out over the fen. + +From where he was seated his eyes ranged over the portion where the +drain was being cut; and as he looked, it seemed to him that all his +troubles had dated from the commencement of the venture by his father, +and those who had joined in the experiment. + +Then he thought of the evening when Mr Marston had been brought in +wounded, and the other cases which had evidently been the work of those +opposed to the draining--the fire at Tallington's, the houghing of the +horses, the shots fired, the blowing up of the sluice-gate. + +"And they think I did it all," he said to himself with a bitter laugh; +"a boy like me!" + +Then he began considering as to who possibly could be the culprit, and +thought and thought till his head ached, and he rose sadly and replaced +the articles in his bundle in the drawer. + +"I can't go," he said softly. "I'll face it out like a man, and they +may say what they like." + +He stood looking at his bed, with its white pillow just showing in the +faint light which came through the open window, but it did not tempt him +to undress. + +"I can't sleep," he said; "and perhaps, if I lie down, I may not hear +Tom coming, if he comes. Why is one so miserable? What have I done?" + +There was no mental answer to his question, and he once more went softly +across the room, and sat in the window-sill to gaze out across the fen. + +How long he had been watching he could not tell, for his brain felt +dazed, and he was in a half-dreamy state, when all of a sudden he grew +wakeful and alert, for right away out over the mere he saw a faint gleam +of light which flashed upon the water and then expired. + +For a moment he thought that it might have been the reflection of a +star, but it flashed out again, and then was gone. + +The marsh lights always had a strange fascination for him, and this +appearance completely changed the current of his thoughts. A few +moments before and they were dull and sluggish, now they were all +excitement; and he sat there longing for the next appearance when, as of +old, he expected to see the faint light go dancing along, as a moth +dances over the moist herbage, disappearing from time to time. + +He strained his eyes, but there was no light, and he was beginning to +think that it was fancy, when he heard a faint rustling apparently +outside his door; and as he listened, he felt that someone must be going +down stairs. + +Then there was complete silence for a few minutes, and he was ready to +think that both the light and the sound were fancy, when all doubts were +set at rest, for the door below opened and someone passed out. + +It was still very dark, in spite of a faint sign of dawn in the +north-east; but the watcher had no difficulty in making out the figure +which passed silently along in the shadow of the house, and close +beneath him, to be that of his father. + +What did it mean? Dick asked himself as he sat there holding his +breath, while he watched intently, and saw his father steal from place +to place in the most secretive manner, taking advantage of bush, wall, +and outbuilding, and every now and then pausing as if gazing out across +the fen. + +"I know," thought Dick, as a flash of comprehension came across his +brain. "He saw that light, and he is watching too." + +The thought was quite exciting. + +The reaction as depressing, for directly after he very naturally said to +himself: "My father would not get out of bed to watch a +will-o'-the-wisp." + +But suppose it was not a will-o'-the-wisp, but a light! + +He sat thinking and trying to trace which way his father had gone; and +as far as he could make out, he had gone right down to the nearest spot +to the water, where, about a hundred yards away, there was fair landing, +by one of the many clumps of alder. + +Dick had just come to the conclusion that he ought not to watch his +father, who was angry enough with him as it was, and who would be more +suspicious still if he again caught him at the window dressed, and he +was about to close it, after wondering whether anyone would be on the +water with a light--Dave, for instance--and if so, what form of fowling +or netting it would be, when there was a low hiss--such a sound as is +made by a snake--just beneath his window. + +"Dick!" + +"Hallo!" + +"Couldn't come before. Ready?" + +"No," said Dick shortly, for the plan to run away seemed now to belong +to some project of the past. + +"I couldn't come before," whispered Tom. "I was all ready, but father +did not go to bed for ever so long; and when at last I thought it was +all right, and was ready to start, I heard him go down and open the +back-door." + +"And go out?" whispered Dick. + +"Yes. How did you know?" + +"I didn't know, but my father has done just the same." + +"Oh!" + +"Did yours come back?" + +"No," said Tom; "and I daren't start for ever so long. But I've come +now, so let's start off quick." + +"Which way did your father go?" + +"I don't know, but we're wasting time." + +"Did he take the boat?" + +"How should I know? I didn't see him go. I only heard. Come, are you +ready?" + +"No," said Dick hoarsely, and not prepared to tell his companion that he +had repented. "How can we go now with them both somewhere about? They +would be sure to catch us and bring us back." + +It was a subterfuge, and Dick's face turned scarlet, as he knew by the +burning sensation. The next instant he had felt so ashamed of his +paltry excuse that he blurted out: + +"I sha'n't go. I'm sorry I said I would. It's cowardly, but I don't +mean to go--there!" + +The hot tears of vexation and misery stood in his eyes as he made this +confession, and rose up prepared to resent his companion's reproaches +with angry words; but he was disarmed, for Tom whispered hastily: + +"Oh, Dick, I am so glad! I wouldn't show the white feather and play +sneak, but I didn't want to go. It seemed too bad to mother and father. +But you mean it?" + +"Yes, I mean it!" said Dick, with a load off his breast. "I felt that +it would be like running away because we were afraid to face a charge." + +"Hooray!" cried Tom in a whisper. "I say, Dick, don't think me a +coward, but I am so glad! I say, shall I go back now?" + +"No; stop a bit," whispered Dick, with his heart beating, and a strange +suspicion making its way into his breast. For in an incoherent vague +manner he found himself thinking of Farmer Tallington stealing out of +his house in the middle of the night. He had a boat, as most of the fen +farmers had, for gunning, fishing, and cutting reeds. What was he doing +on the water at night? For it must have been he with a light. + +Then a terrible suspicion flashed across him, and the vague ideas began +to shape themselves and grow solid. Suppose it was Farmer Tallington +who had been guilty of-- + +Dick made a strong effort at this point to master his wandering +imagination, and forced himself to think only of what he really knew to +be the fact, namely, that Farmer Tallington was out somewhere, and that +the squire was out too. + +"My father must have come to meet yours, Dick," whispered Tom at that +point. "I know they suspect there's something wrong, and they have gone +down to watch the drain, or to meet Mr Marston." + +"Yes," said Dick, in a tone which did not carry conviction with it. +"That must be it." + +"What shall we do? Go back to bed?" + +"Ye-es, we had better," said Dick thoughtfully. "I say, Tom, we have +done quite right. We couldn't have gone away." + +"Hist! did you hear that?" + +For answer Dick strained out of the window. He had heard that--a sudden +splashing in the water, a shout--and the next moment there was a flash +which cut the darkness apparently a couple of hundred yards away, and +then came a dull report, and silence. + +The boys remained listening for some moments, but they could not hear a +sound. The signs of the coming morning were growing plainer; there was +a faint twittering in some bushes at a distance, followed by the sharp +metallic _chink chink_ of a blackbird; and then all at once, loud and +clear from the farm-yard, rang out the morning challenge of a cock. + +Then once more all was still. There was no footstep, no splash of pole +in the water. + +For a few minutes neither spoke, but listened intently with every nerve +upon the strain; and then with a catching of the breath as he realised +what had gone before, and that he had seen his father steal carefully +down in the direction of the mere, Dick sprang from the window and +gripped his companion by the arm. + +"Tom," he gasped, "quick! come on! Some one else has been--" + +He would have said _shot_, but his voice failed, and with a cold chill +of horror stealing over him he remained for a few moments as if +paralysed. + +Then, with Tom Tallington close behind, he ran swiftly down towards the +mere. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +THE NEW HORROR. + +They did not know exactly where to go, for the guidance afforded by a +sound is very deceptive, but there had been the splash of water, so that +the shot must have been from somewhere at the foot of the Toft, down +where the meadow land gave place to rough marsh, bog, and reedy water. + +Dick listened as he ran; but there was no splash now--no sound of +footstep. + +As the lads advanced the dawning light increased, and a startled bird +flew out from the bushes, another from a tuft of dry grass; and once +more there was the _chink_--_chink_ of a blackbird. The day was +awakening, and Dick Winthorpe asked himself what the dawn was to show. + +It was still dark enough to necessitate care, and over the mere as they +neared it a low mist hung, completely screening its waters as they +vainly attempted to pierce the gloom. + +Plash, plash through the boggy parts of the mere fringe, for Dick had +not paused to follow any track, stumbling among tufts of grass and marsh +growth, they hurried on with eager eyes, longing to shout, but afraid, +for there was a growing horror upon both the lads of having to be +shortly in presence of some terrible scene. + +They neither of them spoke, but mutually clung together for support, +though all the time there was a strange repugnance in Dick's breast as +he now began to realise the strength of the suspicion he entertained. + +But if they dared not shout, there was some one near at hand ready to +utter a lusty cry, which startled them as it rang out of the gloom from +away down by the labourers' cottages and the wheelwright's. + +"Ahoy! Hillo!" rang out. + +"Hillo, Hicky!" yelled Tom. "Here!" + +"Where away, lads?" came back; and then there was the dull low beat of +feet, and they heard the wheelwright shout to his apprentice to follow +him. + +The two little parties joined directly, to stand in the mist all panting +and excited, the wheelwright half-dressed, and his bare head rough from +contact with the pillow. + +"Hey, lads," he cried, "was that you two shouting?" + +Dick tried to speak, but he could not frame a word. + +"No; we heard it from somewhere down here," panted Tom. + +"I heered it too," cried Jacob, "and wackened the mester." + +"Ay, that's a true word," cried Hickathrift. "What does it mean?" + +"Hicky," panted Dick in piteous tones, "I don't know--I'm afraid I--my +father's out here somewhere." + +"Hey! The squire?" cried Hickathrift with a curious stare at first one +and then the other. "Yow don't think--" + +He paused, and Dick replied in a whisper: + +"Yes, Hicky, I do." + +"Here, let's search about; it's getting light fast. Now, then," cried +the wheelwright, "yow go that way, Jacob; I'll go this; and you two +lads--" + +"No, no," said Dick. "It must be somewhere close by here, near the +water. Let's keep together, please." + +"Aw reight!" muttered the wheelwright; and following Dick they went as +close to the water's edge as they could go, and crept along, with the +bushes and trees growing more plain to view, and the sky showing one +dull orange fleck as the advance guard of the coming glory of the morn. + +They went along for a couple of hundred yards in one direction, but +there was nothing to be seen; then a couple of hundred yards in the +other direction, but there was nothing visible there. And as the light +grew stronger they sought about them, seeing clearly now that the +ghastly figure Dick dreaded to find was nowhere as far as they could +make out inshore. + +"Hillo!" shouted Hickathrift again and again; "squire!" + +There was no reply, and the chill of horror increased as the feeling +that they were searching in vain out and in pressed itself upon all, and +they knew that the man they sought must be in the water. + +"Here, howd hard," cried Hickathrift. "What a moodle head I am! You, +Jacob, run back and let loose owd Grip." + +The apprentice ran back as hard as he could, and the group remained in +silence till they saw him disappear behind the shed. Then there was a +loud burst of barking. + +Hickathrift whistled, and the great long-legged lurcher came bounding +over the rough boggy land, to leap at his master and then stand panting, +open-mouthed, eager, and ready to dart anywhere his owner bade. + +"Here, Grip, lad, find him, then--find him, boy!" + +The dog uttered one low, growling bark, and then bounded off, hurrying +here and there in the wildest way, while the boys watched intently. + +"Will he find him, Hicky?" said Dick huskily. + +"Ay, or anyone else," said the wheelwright, who alternately watched the +dog, and swept the surface of the mere wherever the mist allowed. + +"There! Look at that!" he cried, as, after a minute, the dog settled +down to a steady hunt, with his nose close to the ground, and rapidly +followed the track lately taken by someone who had passed. + +"But perhaps he is following our steps!" said Dick excitedly. + +"Nay, not he. Theer, what did I tell you?" cried Hickathrift as the dog +suddenly stopped by the water, opposite to a thick bed of reeds a dozen +yards or so from the bank. + +Dick turned pale; the wheelwright ran down to the edge of the mere; and +as the dog stood by the water barking loudly, Hickathrift waded in +without hesitation, the boys following, with Grip swimming and snorting +at their side, and taking up the chase again as soon as he reached the +reeds. + +It was only a matter of minutes now before the dog had rushed on before +them, disappeared in the long growth, and then they heard him barking +furiously. + +"Let me go first, Mester Dick," said Hickathrift hoarsely. "Nay, don't, +lad." + +There was a kindly tone of sympathy in the great fellow's voice, but +Dick did not give way. He splashed on through the reeds, his position +having placed him in advance of his companions, and parting the tall +growth he uttered a cry of pain. + +The others joined him directly, and stood for a moment gazing down at +where, standing on the very edge of the mere, Dick was holding up his +father's head from where he lay insensible among the reeds, his face +white and drawn, his eyes nearly closed, and his hands clenched and +stretched out before him. + +Hickathrift said not a word, but, as in similar cases before, he raised +the inanimate form, hung it over his shoulder, and waded back to firm +ground. + +"Hey, Mester Dick," he said huskily, as he hurried towards his cottage, +"I nivver thowt to hev seen a sight like this." + +"No, no," cried Dick; "not there." + +"Yes, I'll tak' him home to my place," whispered Hickathrift. "You'd +scare your mother to dead. Here, Jacob, lad, don't stop to knock or ask +questions, but go and tak' squire's cob, and ride him hard to town for +doctor." + +"Tell my father as you go by, Jacob," cried Tom excitedly; and as the +apprentice dashed off, Tom's eyes met those of Dick. + +"Don't look so wild and strange, Dick, old chap," whispered the lad +kindly; and he laid a hand upon Dick's shoulder, but the boy shrank from +him with a shudder which the other could not comprehend. + +Hickathrift shouted to his wife, who had risen and dressed in his +absence, and in a short time the squire was lying upon a mattress with +Hickathrift eagerly searching for the injury which had laid him low; but +when he found it, the wound seemed so small and trifling that he looked +wondering up at Dick. + +"That couldn't have done it," he said in a whisper. + +The wheelwright was wrong. That tiny blue wound in the strong man's +chest had been sufficient to lay him there helpless, and so near death +that a feeling of awe fell upon those who watched and waited, and tried +to revive the victim of this last outrage. + +It was a terrible feeling of helplessness that which pervaded the place. +There was nothing to do save bathe the wounded man's brow and moisten +his lips with a little of the smuggled spirit with which most of the +coast cottages were provided in those distant days. There was no blood +to staunch, nothing to excite, nothing to do but wait, wait for the +doctor's coming. + +Before very long Farmer Tallington arrived, and as he encountered Dick's +eyes fixed upon him he turned very pale, and directly after, when he +bent over the squire's couch and took his hand, the lad saw that he +trembled violently. + +"It's straange and horrible--it's straange and horrible," he said: "only +yesterday he was like I am: as strong and well as a man can be; while +now--Hickathrift, my lad, do you think he'll die?" + +The wheelwright shook his head--he could not trust himself to speak; and +Dick stood with a sensation of rage gathering in his breast, which made +him feel ready to spring at Farmer Tallington's throat, and accuse him +of being his father's murderer. + +"The hypocrite--the cowardly hypocrite!" he said to himself; "but we +know now, and he shall be punished." + +The boy's anger was fast growing so ungovernable that he was about to +fly out and denounce his school-fellow's father, but just then a hasty +step was heard outside, and a familiar voice exclaimed: + +"Where is my husband?" + +The next minute Mrs Winthorpe was in the room, wild-eyed and pale, but +perfectly collected in her manner and acts. + +"How long will it be before the doctor can get here?" she said hoarsely, +as she passed her arm under the injured man's neck, and pressed her lips +to his white brow. + +"Hickathrift's lad went off at a hard gallop," said Farmer Tallington in +a voice full of sympathy. "Please God, Mrs Winthorpe, we'll save him +yet." + +Dick uttered a hoarse cry and staggered out of the room, for the man's +hypocrisy maddened him, and he knew that if he stayed he should speak +out and say all he knew. + +As he reached the little garden there was a step behind him, a hand was +laid upon his shoulder, another grasped his arm. + +"I can't talk and say things, Dicky," said Tom in a low half-choking +voice; "but I want to comfort you. Don't break down, old fellow. The +doctor will save his life." + +This from the son of the man whom he believed to have shot his father! +and the rage Dick felt against the one seemed to be ready to fall upon +the other. But as his eyes met those of his old school-fellow and +companion full of sorrowful sympathy, Dick could only grasp Tom's hands, +feeling that he was a true friend, and in no wise answerable for his +father's sins. + +"Ay, that's right," said a low, rough voice. "Nowt like sticking +together and helping each other in trouble. Bud don't you fret, Mester +Dick. Squire's a fine stark man, and the missus has happed him up +waarm, and you see the doctor will set him right." + +"Thank you, Hicky," said Dick, calming down; and then he stood thinking +and asking himself how he could denounce the father of his old friend +and companion as the man who, for some hidden reason of his own, was the +plotter and executor of all these outrages. + +At one moment he felt that he could not do this. At another there was +the blank suffering face of his father before his eyes, seeming to ask +him to revenge his injuries and to bring a scoundrel to justice. + +For a time Dick was quite determined; but directly after there came +before him the face of poor, kind-hearted Mrs Tallington, who had +always treated him with the greatest hospitality, while, as he seemed to +look at her eyes pleading upon her husband's behalf, Tom took his hand +and wrung it. + +"I'm going to stick by you, Dick," he said; "and you and I are going to +find out who did this, and when we do we'll show him what it is to shoot +at people, and burn people's homesteads, and hough their beasts." + +Dick gazed at him wildly. Tom going to help him run his own father down +and condemn him by giving evidence when it was all found out! +Impossible! Those words of his old companion completely disarmed him +for the moment, and to finish his discomfiture, just then Farmer +Tallington came out of the cottage looking whiter and more haggard than +before. + +He came to where the wheelwright was standing, and spoke huskily. + +"I can't bear it," he said. "It is too horrible. Might hev been me, +and what would my poor lass do? Hickathrift, mun, the villain who does +all this must be found out." + +"Ay, farmer, but how?" + +"I don't know how," said the farmer, gazing from one to the other. "I +on'y know it must be done. If I'd gone on this morning I might have +found out something, but I went back." + +Dick gazed at him searchingly, but the farmer did not meet his eyes. + +"I've been straange and fidgety ever since my fire," continued the +farmer; "and it's med me get out o' bed o' nights and look round for +fear of another. I was out o' bed towards morning last night, and as I +looked I could see yonder on the mere what seemed to be a lanthorn." + +"You saw that?" said Dick involuntarily. + +"Ay, lad, I saw that," said the farmer, rubbing his hands together +softly; "and first of all I thowt it was a will-o'-the-wisp, but it +didn't go about like one o' they, and as it went out directly and came +again, I thought it was some one wi' a light." + +"What, out on the watter?" said Hickathrift. + +"Yes, my lad; out on the watter," said the farmer; "and that med me say +to mysen: What's any one doing wi' a light out on the watter at this +time? and I could on'y think as they wanted it to set fire to some one's +plaace, and I couldn't stop abed and think that. So I got up, and went +down to the shore, got into my owd punt, and loosed her, and went out +torst wheer I'd seen the light." + +"And did you see it, mester?" said Hickathrift. + +"Nay, my lad. I went on and on as quietly as I could go, and round the +reed-bed, but all was as quiet as could be." + +"Didn't you see the poont?" said the wheelwright. + +"What punt?" said Tom sharply. + +Hickathrift looked confused. + +"Poont o' him as hed the light, I meant," he said hurriedly. + +"Nay, not a sign of it," said Farmer Tallington; "and at last I turned +back and poled gently home, keeping a sharp look-out and listening all +the way, but I niver see nowt nor heered nowt. But if I'd kept out on +the waiter I should p'raps have seen and saved my poor owd neighbour." + +"You might, mebbe," said the wheelwright thoughtfully; while, after +gazing in the faces of the two men and trying to read the truth, Dick +turned away with his suspicions somewhat blunted, to go to his mother's +side, and watch with her till the sound of hoofs on the rough track told +that the messenger had returned. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +THE DOCTOR'S DICTUM. + +Dick leaped up and came to the window as soon as he heard the beating of +the horse's hoofs; and to his great joy, as the mounted man turned the +corner he saw that it was the doctor, whom he ran down to meet. + +"Hah, my lad! here is a bad business!" exclaimed the doctor as he +dismounted. "Well, come, they cannot say this was your doing. You +wouldn't shoot your own father, eh?" + +"Oh, pray, come up, sir, and don't talk," cried Dick excitedly. "Poor +father is dying!" + +"Oh, no," said the doctor; "we must not let him die." + +"But be quick, sir! You are so long!" cried Dick. + +"Don't be impatient, my lad," said the doctor smiling. "We folks have +to be calm and quiet in all we do. Now show me the way." + +Dick led him to the room, the doctor beckoning Hickathrift to follow; +and as soon as he reached the injured man's side he quietly sent Mrs +Winthorpe and Dick to wait in the next room, retaining the great +wheelwright to help him move his patient. + +The time seemed interminable, and as mother and son sat waiting, every +word spoken in the next room sounded like a moan from the injured man. +Mrs Winthorpe's face appeared to be that of a woman ten years older, +and her agony was supreme; but like a true wife and tender mother--ah, +how little we think of what a mother's patience and self-denial are when +we are young!--she devoted her whole energies to administering comfort +to her sorely-tried son. + +A dozen times over Dick felt that he could not keep the secret that +troubled him--that he must tell his mother his suspicions and ask her +advice; but so sure as he made up his mind to speak, the fear that he +might be wrong troubled him, and he forebore. + +Then began the whole struggle again, and at last he was nearer than ever +to confiding his horrible belief in their neighbour's treachery, when +the doctor suddenly appeared. + +Dick rose from where he had been kneeling by his mother's side, and she +started from her seat to grasp the doctor's hand. + +She did not speak, but her eyes asked the one great question of her +heart, and then, as the doctor's hard sour face softened and he smiled, +Mrs Winthorpe uttered a piteous sigh and clasped her hands together in +thankfulness to Heaven. + +"Then he is not very bad, doctor?" cried Dick joyfully. + +"Yes, my boy, he is very bad indeed, and dangerously wounded," replied +the doctor; "but, please God, I think I can pull him through." + +"Tell me--tell me!" faltered Mrs Winthorpe piteously. + +"It is a painful thing to tell a lady," said the doctor kindly; "but I +will explain. Mrs Winthorpe, he has a terrible wound. The bullet has +passed obliquely through his chest; it was just within the skin at the +back, and I have successfully extracted it. As far as I can tell there +is no important organ injured, but at present I am not quite sure. +Still I think I may say he is in no immediate danger." + +Mrs Winthorpe could not trust herself to speak, but she looked her +thanks and glided toward the other room. + +"Do not speak to him and do not let him speak," whispered the doctor. +"Everything depends upon keeping him perfectly still, so that nature may +not be interrupted in doing her portion of the work." + +Mrs Winthorpe bowed her head in acquiescence, and with a promise that +he would return later in the day the doctor departed. + +Dick found, a short time after, that the news had been carried to the +works at the drain, where Mr Marston was busy; and no sooner did that +gentleman hear of the state of affairs than he hurried over to offer his +sympathy to Mrs Winthorpe and Dick. + +"I little thought that your father was to be a victim," he said to the +latter as soon as they were alone. "I have been trying my hand to fix +the guilt upon somebody, but so far I have failed. Come, Dick, you and +I have not been very good friends lately, and I must confess that I have +been disposed to think you knew something about these outrages." + +"Yes, I knew you suspected me, Mr Marston." + +"Not suspected you, but that you knew something about them; but I beg +your pardon: I am sorry I ever thought such things; and I am sure you +will forgive me, for indeed I do not think you know anything of the kind +now." + +Dick quite started as he gazed in Mr Marston's face, so strangely that +the engineer wondered, and then felt chilled once more and stood without +speaking. + +Mr Marston took a step up and down for a few moments and then turned to +Dick again. + +"Look here, my lad," he said. "I don't like for there to be anything +between us. I want to be friends with you, for I like you, Richard +Winthorpe; but you keep on making yourself appear so guilty that you +repel me. Speak to me, Dick, and say out downright, like a man, that +you know nothing about this last affair." + +Dick looked at him wildly, but remained silent. + +"Come!" said Mr Marston sternly, and he fixed the lad with his eye; +"there has been a dastardly outrage committed and your father nearly +murdered. Tell me plainly whether you know whose hand fired the shot." + +No answer. + +"Dick, my good lad, I tell you once more that I do not suspect you--only +that you know who was the guilty party." + +Still no answer. + +"It is your duty to speak, boy," cried Mr Marston angrily. "You are +not afraid to speak out?" + +"I--I don't know," said Dick. + +"Then you confess that you do know who fired at your father?" + +"I did not confess," said Dick slowly. "I cannot say. I only think I +know." + +"Then who was it?" + +No answer. + +"Dick, I command you to speak," cried Mr Marston, catching his arm and +holding him tightly. + +"I don't know," said Dick. + +"You do know, cried Mr Marston angrily, and I will have an answer. No +man's life is safe, and these proceedings must be stopped." + +For answer Dick wrested himself free. + +"I don't know for certain," he said determinedly, "and I'm not going to +say who it is I suspect, when I may be wrong." + +"But if the person suspected is innocent, he can very well prove it. +Ah, here is Tom Tallington! Come, Tom, my lad, you can help me here +with your old companion." + +"No," cried Dick angrily, "don't ask him." + +"I shall ask him," said Mr Marston firmly. "Look here, Tom; our friend +Dick here either knows or suspects who it was that fired that shot; and +if he knows that, he can tell who fired the other shots, and perhaps did +all the other mischief." + +"Do you know, Dick?" cried Tom excitedly. + +"I don't know for certain, I only suspect," said Dick sadly. + +"And I want him to speak out, my lad, while he persists in trying to +hide it." + +"He won't," said Tom. "He thinks it is being a bit of a coward to tell +tales; but he knows it is right to tell, don't you, Dick?" + +"No," said the latter sternly. + +"You do, now," said Tom. "Come, I say, let's know who it was. Here, +shall I call father?" + +"No, no," cried Dick excitedly, "and I won't say a word. I cannot. It +is impossible." + +"You are a strange lad, Dick Winthorpe," said the engineer, looking at +them curiously. + +"Oh, but he will speak, Mr Marston! I can get him to," cried Tom. +"Come, Dick, say who it was." + +Dick stared at him wildly, for there was something so horrible to him in +this boy trying now to make him state what would result in his father's +imprisonment and death, that Tom seemed for the moment in his eyes quite +an unnatural young monster at whose presence he was ready to shudder. + +"How can you be so obstinate!" cried Tom. "You shall tell. Who was +it?" + +Dick turned from him in horror, and would have hurried away, but Mr +Marston caught his arm. + +"Stop a moment, Dick Winthorpe," he said. "I must have a few words with +you before we part. It is plain enough that all these outrages are +directed against the persons who are connected with the drainage scheme, +and that their lives are in danger. Now I am one of these persons, and +to gratify the petty revenge of a set of ignorant prejudiced people who +cannot see the good of the work upon which we are engaged, I decline to +have myself made a target. I ask you, then, who this was. Will you +speak?" + +Dick shook his head. + +"Well, then, I am afraid you will be forced to speak. I consider it to +be my duty to have these outrages investigated, and to do this I shall +write up to town. The man or men who will be sent down will be of a +different class to the unfortunate constable who was watching here. +Now, come, why not speak?" + +"Mr Marston!" cried Dick hoarsely. + +"Yes! Ah, that is better! Now, come, Dick; we began by being friends. +Let us be greater friends than ever, as we shall be, I am sure." + +"No, no," cried Dick passionately. "I want to be good friends, but I +cannot speak to you. I don't know anything for certain, I only +suspect." + +"Then whom do you suspect?" + +"Yes; who is it?" cried Tom angrily. + +"Hold your tongue!" said Dick so fiercely that Tom shrank away. + +"I say you shall speak out," retorted the lad, recovering himself. + +"For your father's sake speak out, my lad," said Mr Marston. + +Dick shook his head and turned away, to go back into the wheelwright's +cottage, where, suffering from a pain and anguish of mind to which he +had before been a stranger, he sought refuge at his mother's side, and +shared her toil of watching his father as he lay there between life and +death. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +TROUBLE GROWS. + +The next fortnight was passed in a state of misery, which made Dick +Winthorpe feel as if he had ceased to be a boy, and had suddenly become +a grown-up man. + +He wanted to do what was right. He wished for the man who had shot his +father in this cowardly way to be brought to justice; but he was not +sure that Farmer Tallington was the guilty man, and he shrank from +denouncing the parent of his companion from childhood, and his father's +old friend. + +Mr Marston came over again and tried him sorely. But the more Dick +Winthorpe thought, the more he grew determined that he would not speak +unless he felt quite sure. + +It was one day at the end of the fortnight that Mr Marston tried him +again, and Dick told him that his father would soon be able to speak for +himself, and till then he would not say a word. + +Mr Marston left him angrily, feeling bitterly annoyed with the lad, +but, in spite of himself, admiring his firmness. + +Dick stood in the road gazing after him sadly, and was about to retrace +his steps to the old house, to which his father had been carefully +borne, when, happening to glance in the direction of the track leading +to the town, he caught sight of Tom coming along slowly. + +Dick turned sullenly away, but Tom ran before him. + +"Stop a minute," he cried; "let you and me have a talk. I don't want to +be bad friends, Dick." + +"Neither do I," said the latter sadly. + +"But you keep trying to be." + +"No, I do not. You try to make me angry with you every time we meet." + +"That's not true. I want to have you do your duty and tell all you +know. Father says you ought, as you know who it was." + +"Have you told your father, then?" + +"Yes, I told him to-day, and he said you ought to do your duty and +speak." + +"Your father said that?" + +"Yes: and why don't you--like a man." + +Dick's brow grew all corrugated as if Black Care were sitting upon the +roof of his head and squeezing the skin down into wrinkles. + +"Come, speak out, and don't be such a miserable coward. Father says you +don't speak because you are afraid that whoever did it may shoot you." + +Dick's brow grew more puckered than ever. + +"Now, then, let you and me go over and see Mr Marston and tell him +everything at once." + +Dick looked at the speaker with a feeling of anger against him for his +obstinate perseverance that was almost vicious. + +"Now, are you coming?" + +"No, I am not." + +"Then I've done with you," cried Tom angrily. "Father says that a lad +who knows who attacked his parent in that way, and will not speak out, +is a coward and a cur, and that's what you are, Dick Winthorpe." + +"Tom Tallington," cried Dick, with his eyes flashing, "you are a fool." + +"Say that again," said Tom menacingly. + +"You are a fool and an idiot, and not worth speaking to again." + +_Whack_! + +That is the nearest way of spelling the back-handed blow which Tom +Tallington delivered in his old school-fellow's face, while the +straightforward blow which was the result of Dick Winthorpe's fist +darting out to the full stretch of his arm sounded like an echo; and the +next moment Tom was lying upon the ground. + +There was no cowardice in Tom Tallington's nature. Springing up he made +at Dick, and the former friends were directly after engaged in +delivering furious blows, whose result must have been rather serious for +both; but before they had had time to do much mischief, each of the lads +was gripped on the shoulder by a giant hand, and they were forced apart, +and held beyond striking distance quivering with rage, and each seeing +nothing but the adversary at whom he longed to get. + +"Hey, lads, and I thowt you two was such friends!" cried the herald of +peace, who had sung truce in so forcible and convincing a way. + +"Let go, Hicky! He struck me." + +"Yes; let me get at him," cried Tom. "He knocked me down." + +"And I'll do it again a dozen times," panted Dick. "Let go, Hicky, I +tell you!" + +"Nay, nay, nay, lads, I wean't let go, and you sha'n't neither of you +fight any more. I'm ashamed of you, Mester Dick, with your poor father +lying theer 'most dead, and the missus a-nigh wherritted to death wi' +trouble." + +"But he struck me," panted Dick. + +"And I'll do it again," cried Tom. + +"If you do, young Tom Tallington, I'll just pick you up by the scruff +and the breeches and pitch you into the mere, to get out as you may; so +now then." + +Tom uttered a low growl which was more like that of a dog than a human +being; and after an ineffectual attempt to get at Dick, he dragged +himself away to kneel down at the first clear pool to bathe his bleeding +nose. + +"Theer, now, I'll let you go," said Hickathrift, "and I'm straange and +glad I was i' time to stop you. Think o' you two mates falling out and +fighting like a couple o' dogs! Why, I should as soon hev expected to +see me and my missus fight. Mester Dick, I'm 'bout 'shamed o' yow." + +"I'm ashamed of myself, Hicky, and I feel as if I was never going to be +happy again," cried Dick. + +"Nay, nay, lad, don't talk like that," said the big wheelwright. "Why, +doctor says he's sewer that he can bring squire reight again, and what +more do you want?" + +"To see the man punished who shot him, Hicky," cried Dick passionately. + +"Ay, I'd like to see that, or hev the punishing of him," said +Hickathrift, stretching out a great fist. "It's one o' they big shacks +[idle scoundrels, from Irish _shaughraun_] yonder up at the dree-ern. +I'm going to find him out yet, and when I do--Theer, go and wesh thy +faace." + +Dick was going sadly away when a word from Hickathrift arrested him; and +turning, it was to see that the big fellow was looking at him +reproachfully, and holding out a hand for him to grasp. + +"Ay, that's better, lad," said the wheelwright smiling. "Good-bye, lad, +and don't feight again!" + +The result of this encounter was that Dick found himself without a +companion, and he went day by day bitterly about thinking how hard it +was that he should be suspected and ill-treated for trying to spare Tom +the agony of having his father denounced and dragged off to jail. + +Constables came and made investigations in the loose way of the time; +but they discovered nothing, and after a while they departed to do duty +elsewhere; but only to come back at the end of a week to re-investigate +the state of affairs, for a large low building occupied by about twenty +of the drainers was, one windy night, set on fire, and its drowsy +occupants had a narrow escape from death. + +But there was no discovery made, the constables setting it down to +accident, saying that the men must have been smoking; and once more the +fen was left to its own resources. + +Mr Winthorpe grew rapidly better after the first fortnight, and Dick +watched his convalescence with no little anxiety, for he expected to +hear him accuse Farmer Tallington of being his attempted murderer. But +Dick had no cause for fear. The squire told Mr Marston that he had +seen a light on the mere, and dreading that it might mean an attempt to +burn down some barn, he had gone out to watch, and he had just made out +the shape of a punt on the water when he saw a flash, felt the shock, +and fell helpless and insensible among the reeds. + +This was as near an account as he could give of the affair, for the +injury seemed to have confused him, and he knew little of what had taken +place before, nothing of what had since occurred. + +"But your life has been spared, Mr Winthorpe," said Marston; "and some +day I hope we shall know that your assailant and mine has received his +due." + +"Ay," said the squire; "we must find him out, for fear he should spoil +our plans, for we are not beaten yet." + +"Beaten! no, squire," said the engineer; "we are getting on faster than +ever, and the success of the project is assured." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +AFTER A SPACE. + +The time rolled on. The drain-making progressed, and for a while there +was no further trouble. Mr Winthorpe improved in health, but always +seemed to avoid any allusion to the outrage; and after the constables +had been a few times and found out nothing, and the magistrates of the +neighbourhood had held consultation, the trouble once more dropped. + +Dick Winthorpe always lived in apprehension of being examined, and +pressed to tell all he knew, but his father never said a word, to his +great relief, and the matter died out. + +"I can't take any steps about it," Dick said to himself, "if my father +doesn't;" and there were times when he longed to speak, others when he +wished that he could forget everything about the past. + +"Yow two med it up yet?" Hickathrift used to ask every time he saw +Dick; but the answer was always the same--"No." + +"Ah, well, you will some day, my lad. It arn't good for boys to make +quarrels last." + +There was no more warm friendship with Mr Marston, who, whenever he +came over to the Toft, was studiously polite to Dick, treating him as if +he were not one whose friendship was worth cultivating, to the lad's +great disgust, though he was too proud to show it; and the result was +that Dick's life at the Toft grew very lonely, and he was driven to seek +the companionship of John Warren and his rabbits, and of Dave with his +boat, gun, and fishing-tackle. + +Then all at once there was a change. The outrages, which had ceased for +a time, broke out again furiously; and all through the winter there were +fires here and there, the very fact of a person, whether farmer or +labourer, seeming to favour the making of the drain, being enough to +make him receive an unwelcome visit from the party or parties who +opposed the scheme. + +So bad did matters grow that at last people armed and prepared +themselves for the struggle which was daily growing more desperate; and +at the same time a feeling of suspicion increased so strongly that +throughout the fen every man looked upon his neighbour as an enemy. + +But still the drain grew steadily in spite of the fact that Mr Marston +had been shot at twice again, and never went anywhere now without a +brace of pistols in his pocket. + +One bright wintry morning John Warren came in with a long tale of woe, +and his arm in a sling. + +It was the old story. He had been out with his gun to try and get a +wild-goose which he had marked down, when, just in the dusk, about +half-past four, he was suddenly startled by a shot, and received the +contents of a gun in his arm. + +"But you'd got a gun," said Hickathrift, who was listening with Dick, +while Tom Tallington, who had business at the wheelwright's that +morning, stood hearing all. "Why didst na let him hev it again?" + +"What's the use o' shuting at a sperrit?" grumbled John Warren. +"'Sides, I couldn't see him." + +"Tchah! it warn't a sperrit," said Hickathrift contemptuously. + +"Well, I don't know so much about that," grumbled John Warren. "If it +weern't a sperrit what was to mak my little dog, Snig, creep down in the +bottom of the boat and howl? Yow mark my words: it's sperrits, that's +what it is; and it's because o' that theer dreern; but they needn't +shute at me, for I don't want dreern made." + +"Going over to town to see the doctor, John?" said Dick. + +"Nay, lad, not I. It's only a hole in my arm. There arn't nowt the +matter wi' me. I've tied it oop wi' some wet 'bacco, and it'll all grow +oop again, same as a cooten finger do." + +"But someone ought to see it." + +"Well, someun has sin it. I showed it to owd Dave, and he said it weer +all right. Tchah! what's the good o' doctors? Did they cure my ager?" + +"Well, go up and ask mother to give you some clean linen rag for it." + +"Ay," said the rabbit-trapper with a grim smile, "I'll do that." + +So John Warren went to the Toft, obtained the clean linen rag, but +refused to have his wound dressed, and went off again; while the squire +knit his brow when he returned soon after, and, taking Dick with him, +poled across in the punt to see Dave and make him promise to keep a +sharp look-out. + +A week passed away, and the frost had come in so keenly that the ice +promised to bear, and consequent upon this Dick was at the wheelwright's +one evening superintending the finishing up of his pattens, as they +called their skates. Hickathrift had ground the blades until they were +perfectly sharp at the edges, and had made a new pair of ashen soles for +them, into which he had just finished fitting the steel. + +"There, Mester Dick," said the bluff fellow with a grin; "that's a pair +o' pattens as you ought 'most to fly in. Going out in the morning?" + +"Yes, Hicky, I shall go directly after breakfast." + +"Ay, she'll bear splendid to-morrow, and the ice is as hard and black as +it can be. Hello, who's this? Haw-haw! I thowt you'd want yours +done," he added, as he heard steps coming over the frozen ground, and +the jingle of skates knocking together. "It's young Tom Tallington, +Mester Dick. Come, you two ought to mak friends now, and go and hev a +good skate to-morrow." + +"I'm never going to be friends with Tom Tallington again," said Dick +sternly; but he sighed as he said it. + +Just then Tom rushed into the workshop. "Here," he cried, "Dick +Winthorpe, come along. I've been to the house." + +"What do you want?" said Dick coldly. + +"What do I want! Why, they don't know!" cried Tom. "Look here!" + +He caught Dick by the collar, dragged him to the door, and pointed. + +"Fire!" he cried. + +"Hey!" cried the wheelwright. "Fire! So it is. But there's no house +or stack out theer." + +"Only old Dave's. Father said he thought it must be his place. Come +on, Dick." + +"But how are we to get there?" cried Dick, forgetting the feud in the +excitement. + +"How are we to get there! Why, skate." + +"Will it be strong enough, Hicky?" + +"Mebbe for you, lads; but it wouldn't bear me, and I couldn't get along +the boat nor yet a sled." + +Tom had already seated himself, and was putting on his skates, while +Dick immediately began to follow suit, with the result that in five +minutes both were ready and all past troubles forgotten. The memory of +the terrible night when his father was shot did come for a moment to +Dick, but the trouble had grown dull, and the excitement of Dave's place +being on fire carried everything before it. + +"Poor owd Dave!" said Hickathrift, as he gazed over the mere at the glow +in the black frosty night. "He's got off so far. Mebbe it'll be my +turn next. Come back and tell me, lads." + +"Yes, yes," they shouted, as they walked clumsily to the ice edge, Dick +first, and as he glided on there was an ominous ringing crack which +seemed to run right out with a continuous splitting noise. + +"Will it bear, Hicky?" + +"Ay, she'll bear you, lad, only keep well out, and away from the reeds." + +Tom dashed on, and as the wheelwright stood with the group of labourers, +who were just beginning to comprehend the new alarm, the two lads went +off stroke for stroke over the ringing ice, which cracked now and again +but did not yield, save to undulate beneath them, as they kept gathering +speed and glided away. + +Far ahead there was the ruddy glow, showing like a golden patch upon the +dark sky, which overhead was almost black, and glittering with the +brilliant stars. The ice gleamed, little puffs of white powder rose at +every stroke of the skates, and on and on they went, gathering speed +till they were gliding over the ringing metallic surface like arrows +from a bow, while as soon as the first timidity had passed away they +began to feel their feet, and in a few minutes were skating nearly as +well as when the ice broke up last. + +The feud was forgotten, and it had lasted long enough. With a buoyant +feeling of excitement, and a sensation of joy increased by the brisk +beat of the freezing wind upon their cheeks, the two lads joined hands +in a firm grip, kept time together, and sped on as Lincoln and Cambridge +boys alone can speed over the ice. + +Not that they are more clever with their legs than the boys of other +counties; but from the fact that skating has always been a favourite +pastime with them, and that when others were longing for a bit of +bearing ice, and getting it sometimes in a crowded place, the marsh and +fen lads had miles of clear bright surface, over which they could career +as a swallow flies. + +Away and away over the open ice, unmarked before by skate-iron and +looking black as hardened unpolished steel, stroke for stroke, stroke +for stroke, the wind whistling by them, and the ominous cracking +forgotten as they dashed on past reed-bed and bog-clump, keeping to the +open water where they had so often been by punt. + +"His reed-stack must be on fire," panted Dick as they dashed on. + +"Ay, and his peat-stack and cottage too," shouted Tom so as to be heard +above the ringing of their skates. "Oh, Dick, if I only knew who it was +did these things I think I could kill him!" + +Dick was silent for a minute, for his companion's words jarred upon him. + +"How much farther is it?" he said at last. + +"Good mile and a half," said Tom; "but it's fine going. I say, look at +the golden smoke. It must be at Dave's, eh?" + +"Yes, it's there, sure enough. Oh, Tom, suppose some one were to burn +down the duck 'coy!" + +"It wouldn't burn so as to do much harm. Look, there goes a flock of +plovers." + +They could just catch the gleam of the wings in the dark night, as the +great flock, evidently startled by the strange glare, swept by. + +"I say!" cried Dick, as they dashed on as rapidly as the birds +themselves. + +"What is it?" + +"Suppose poor Dave--" + +"Oh, don't think things like that!" cried Tom with a shudder. "He'd be +clever enough to get out. Come along. Look at the sparks." + +What Tom called sparks were glowing flakes of fire which floated on, +glittering against the black sky, and so furiously was the fire burning +that it seemed as if something far more than the hut and stacks of the +decoy-man must be ablaze. + +And now they had to curve off some distance to the right, for they came +upon an embayment of the mere, so well sheltered from the icy blast that +to have persevered in skating over the very thin ice must have meant +serious accident to one, probably to both. + +For a long time past the ice had been blushing, as it were, with the +warm glow from the sky; but now, as they drew nearer and passed a little +copse of willows, they glided full into the view of the burning hut and +stacks, and found that a bed of dry reeds was burning too. At this +point of their journey the cold black ice was lit up, and as they +advanced it seemed as if they were about to skim over red-hot glowing +steel. + +"Now, then," cried Dick excitedly, "a rush--as fast as we can go!" + +But they could get on at no greater speed, and rather slackened than +increased as they drew near to the fire; while a feeling of thankfulness +came over both as all at once they were aware of the fact that a tall +thin figure was standing apparently with its back to them staring at the +glowing fire, against which it stood out like a black silhouette. + +"Dave, ho!" shouted Dick. + +The figure turned slowly, and one hand was raised as if to shade the +eyes. + +"Dave, ho!" shouted Tom. + +"Ay, ay!" shouted back the man; and the next minute the boys glided up +to the firm earth and leaped ashore, as their old fishing and trapping +friend came slowly to meet them. + +"How was it, Dave?" cried Dick. + +"Was it an accident?" cried Tom. + +"Accident! Just such an accident as folks hev as shoves a burning +candle in a corn stack. Just you two slither out yonder straight away, +and see if you can see anyone." + +"But there can't be anyone," said Dick, looking in the direction +indicated. + +"Ice wouldn't bear, and they couldn't come in a punt." + +"Nay, they coom i' pattens," said Dave sharply. "I joost caught a blink +of 'em as they went off, and I let 'em hev the whole charge o' my goon." + +"A bullet?" said Tom huskily. + +"Nay, lad; swan-shot. I'd been out after the wild-geese at the end of +the bit o' reed-bed here, when I see a light wheer there couldn't be no +light, and I roon back and see what they'd done, and let fly at 'em." + +"And hit them, Dave?" said Dick. + +"Nay, lad, I can't say. I fired and I heered a squeal. Ice wouldn't +bear for me to go and see." + +"Come along, Tom," cried Dick; and they skated away once more, to curve +here and there in all directions, till a hail from the island took them +back. + +"Can't you find 'em?" + +"No." + +"Then they must have got away; but they've took some swan-shot wi' 'em, +whoever they be." + +"But, Dave, were there two?" + +"Don't know, lad. I only see one, and fired sharp. Look ye here," he +continued, pointing to the glowing remains of his hut, "I nivver made no +dreerns. They might have left me alone. Now they'll come back some day +and pay me back for that shot. All comes o' your father makkin dreerns, +Mester Dick, just as if we weren't reight before." + +"It's very, very sad, Dave." + +"Ay, bairn, and I feel sadly. Theer's a whole pound o' powder gone, and +if I'd happened to be happed up i' my bed instead of out after they +geese, I should hev gone wi' it, or been bont to dead. Why did they +want to go meddling wi' me?" + +"They've been meddling with every one, Dave," said Tom. + +"'Cept you two," grumbled Dave. "Theer was my sheepskin coat and a pair +o' leggin's and my new boots." + +"Were the nets there, Dave?" asked Dick. + +"Course they weer. Look, dessay that's them burning now. All my shot +too melted down, and my tatoes, and everything I have." + +"Where was the dog?" + +"Over at John Warren's. Wasn't well. Nice sort o' neighbour he is to +stop away!" + +"But he couldn't come, Dave," said Tom in remonstrant tones. "The ice +wouldn't bear anyone but us boys." + +"Why, I'd ha' swimmed to him," growled Dave, "if his place had been +afire." + +"No you wouldn't, Dave. You couldn't when it's frozen. I say, couldn't +we put anything out?" + +"Nay, lads. It must bon right away, and then there'll be a clear place +to build again." + +"But," cried Dick, "a bucket or two, and we could do a good deal." + +"Boocket's bont," said Dave sadly, "and everything else. They might hev +left me alone, for I hates the dreerns." + +The trio stood watching the fire, which was rapidly going down now for +want of something to burn; but as they stood near, their faces scorched, +while the cold wind drawn by the rising heat cut by their ears and +threatened to stiffen their backs. The reeds and young trees which had +been burning were now smoking feebly, and the only place which made any +show was the peat-stack, which glowed warmly and kept crumbling down in +cream-coloured ash. But when a fire begins to sink it ceases to be +exciting, and as the two lads stood there upon their skates, with their +faces burning, the tightness of their straps stopped the circulation, +and their feet grew cold. + +"I say, Dave," said Dick just then, "what's to be done?" + +"Build 'em up again. I builded this, and I can build another, lad." + +"Yes, but I mean about you. What's to be done? The ice won't bear you, +and you've got no shelter." + +The rough fellow shook his head. + +"Nay, but it wean't rain, and I can sit close to the fire and keep mysen +warm." + +"But you ought to have some cover." + +"Ay, I ought to hev some cover, and I'll get my punt ashore, and turn +her up, and sit under her." + +"And no wraps! Look here, I shall be warm enough skating back. I'll +lend you my coat." + +"Nay, nay, lad," said Dave, with his eyes twinkling, and his face +looking less grim. "Keep on thy coat, lad, I wean't hev it. Thankye, +though, all the same, and thou shalt hev a good bit o' sport for that, +Mester Dick. But, theer, you two had best go back." + +"But we don't like leaving you," said Tom. + +"Thankye, lads, thankye. Bud nivver yow mind about me. Look at the +times I've wetched all night in my poont for the wild-geese, and wi'out +a fire, eh? Yow both get back home. Wouldn't bear me to walk wi' ye to +sleep in one of the barns at the Toft, would it?" + +"I don't think it would, Dave." + +"Nay, it wouldn't, lad; and I don't want to get wet, so off with you." + +The boys hesitated; but Dave was determined. + +"Here, give me a hand wi' my poont," he said; and going to where it was +moored, he took hold of the boat, drew it close in, and then, he on one +side, the two lads on the other, they ran it right up ashore, and close +to the glowing peat-stack, where, with a good deal of laughter at their +clumsiness in skates ashore, the punt was turned over, and Dave propped +one side up with a couple of short pieces of wood. + +"Theer," he said. "Looks like setting a trap to ketch a big bird. I'm +the big bird, and I shall be warm enew faacing the fire. When it goes +out I can tak' away the sticks and let the poont down and go to sleep. +Come and see me again, lads, and bring me a moothful o' something. +Mebbe the ice'll bear to-morrow." + +"We'll come, Dave, never fear," said Dick, taking out his knife as he +reached the ice, and cleaning the mud off his skates, for the ground was +soft near the fire, though hard as iron everywhere else. + +"I don't fear, lads," said Dave smiling, and letting off his +watchman-rattle laugh. "It's a bad job, but not so bad as Farmer +Tallington's stables burning, or squire's beasts heving theer legs +cooten. I'll soon get oop another house when I've been and seen +neighbour Hickathrift for some wood. Now, then, off you go, and see +who's best man over the ice." + +"One moment, Dave," cried Dick, checking himself in the act of starting. +"It was easy enough to come here with the fire to guide us, but we must +know which way to go back." + +"Ay, to be sure, lad," cried Dave eagerly. "You mak' straight for yon +star and yow'll be right. That star's reight over the Toft. Now, +then--off!" + +There was a momentary hesitation, and then the boys struck the ice +almost at the same time. There was a ringing hissing sound, mingled +with a peculiar splitting as if the ice were parting from where they +started across the mere to the Toft, and then they were going at a +rapidly increasing speed straight for home. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE QUESTION. + +There are many pleasures in life, and plenty of people to sing the +praises of the sport most to their taste; but it is doubtful whether +there is any manly pursuit which gives so much satisfaction to an adept +in the art as skating. + +I don't mean skating upon the ornamental water of a park, elbowed here, +run against there, crowded into a narrow limit, and abortively trying to +cut figures upon a few square feet of dirty, trampled ice, full of +holes, dotted with stones thrown on by mischievous urchins to try +whether it will bear, and being so much unlike ice that it is hardly to +be distinguished from the trampled banks; but skating over miles of +clear black crystal, on open water, with the stars twinkling above like +diamonds, the air perfectly still around, but roaring far on high, as +Jack Frost and his satellites go hurrying on to mow down vegetation and +fetter streams; when there is so much vitality in the air you breathe +that fatigue is hardly felt, and when, though the glass registers so +many degrees of frost, your pulses beat, your cheeks glow, and a faint +dew upon your forehead beneath your cap tells you that you are +thoroughly warm. How the blood dances through the veins! How the eyes +sparkle! How tense is every nerve! How strong each muscle! The ice +looks like steel. Your skates are steel, and your legs feel the same as +stroke, _whish_! stroke, _whish_! stroke! stroke! stroke! stroke! away +you go, gathering power, velocity, confidence, delight, at the unwonted +exercise, till you feel as if you could go on for ever, and begin +wishing that the whole world was ice, and human beings had been born +with skates to their toes instead of nails. + +Some such feelings as these pervaded the breasts of Dick Winthorpe and +Tom Tallington as they glided along homeward on that night. Every now +and then there was a sharp report, and a hissing splitting sound. Then +another and another, for the ice was really too thin to bear them +properly, and it undulated beneath their weight like the soft swell of +the Atlantic in a calm. + +"Sha'n't go through, shall we?" said Tom, as there was a crack as loud +as a pistol-shot. + +"We should if we stopped," said Dick. "Keep on and we shall be on fresh +ice before it breaks." + +And so it seemed. Crack! crack! crack! But at every report and its +following splitting the lads redoubled their exertions, and skimmed at a +tremendous rate over the treacherous surface. + +At times it was quite startling; but they were growing so inured to the +peril that they laughed loudly--a joyous hearty laugh--which rang out to +the music made by their skates. + +They were in the highest of glee, for though they did not revert to it +in words, each boy kept thinking of the past quarrel, and rejoicing at +its end, while he looked forward to days of enjoyment in companionship +such as had gone before. + +The star--one of those in the Great Bear--did them good stead, for it +was easy to follow; and saving that they were always within an ace of +going through, they skimmed on in safety. + +From time to time they glanced back to see the glare of the fire dying +out to such an extent that when they were well in sight of the light at +the landing-place which they felt convinced Hickathrift was showing, the +last sign had died out, and just then a loud crack made them forget it. + +"Don't seem to be freezing so hard, does it?" said Tom. + +"Oh, yes, I think so; only we must be going over ice we cracked before. +Now, then, let's put on all the speed we can, and go right in to where +the light is with a rush." + +Tom answered to his companion's call by taking stroke for stroke, and +away they went quicker than ever. The ice bent and swayed and cracked, +and literally hissed as they sped on, with the white powder flying as it +was struck off. The metallic ring sounded louder, and the splitting +more intense; but still they passed on in safety till they were within +one hundred yards of where the wheelwright was waiting, when there was a +sharp report as loud as that of a gun, a crack, and there were no +skaters on the surface, only a quantity of broken ice in so much black +water, and directly after a loud yell rose from the shore. + +"Now, Jacob, out with it!" came in stentorian tones; and then there was +a cracking sound, a great deal of splashing, and the punt was partly +slid along the ice, partly used to break it up, by the two men who waded +by its side, and finally got it right upon the ice and thrust along till +it was close to the place where the lads had broken in. + +"Now, then, where are you?" shouted Hickathrift as he peered around. + +"Here we are, all right, only so precious cold!" cried Dick. "It isn't +very deep here; only up to your chest." + +"It's up to my chin," cried Tom with a shiver, "and I'm holding on by +the ice." + +Hickathrift did not hesitate, but waded towards him, breaking opposing +sheets of ice with a thump of his fist, and at last, with some little +difficulty, all got ashore. + +"Theer, both of you, run for it to the Toft and get to bed. The missus +knows what to do better than I can tell her. Nivver mind your pattens." + +If they had stopped to get them off it would have been a terribly long +job with their rapidly-numbing hands, so they did not pause, but +scuffled over the ground in the best way they could to the house, where +hot beds and a peculiar decoction Mrs Winthorpe prepared had a double +property, for it sent them into a perspiration and off to sleep, one of +the labourers bearing the news to Grimsey that the heir to the house of +Tallington would not return that night, consequent upon having become +"straange and wet." + +The next morning the boys came down to breakfast none the worse for +their wetting, to find that Mr Marston was already there looking very +serious. + +He had been told of the burning-out of poor Dave, and he had other news +of his own, that three of the cottages had been fired during the past +night. + +"And the peculiar part of the business is," said Mr Marston, "that big +Bargle saw the person who fired the last of the houses." + +The engineer looked at Dick as he spoke. + +"Why didn't he catch him then?" said Dick sharply, for Mr Marston's +look annoyed him; "he is big enough." + +"Don't speak pertly, Dick!" said his father sternly. + +"It was because he is so big that he did not catch him, Richard +Winthorpe," said the engineer coldly. "The ice bore the person who +fired the places, because he was skating." + +"Skating!" cried Dick, flushing up. + +"Yes, skating!" said Mr Marston. "Bargle says that the man hobbled +over the ground in his skates, but as soon as he reached the ice he went +off like a bird. The ice cracked and splintered, but it seemed to bear +him, and in less than a minute he was out of sight, but Bargle could +hear him for a long time." + +"Well, it wasn't me, Mr Marston," said Tom, laughing. "I was skating +along with Dick, but it was neither of us. We went to another fire." + +"Breakfast is getting cold," said Mrs Winthorpe, who looked troubled, +for the squire was frowning, and Dick turning pale and red by turns. + +"Look here," said the squire suddenly; "I cannot, and I will not, have +unpleasantness of this kind in my house. I must speak plainly, Marston. +You suspect my boy of firing your men's huts last night?" + +"I am very sorry, Mr Winthorpe, and I do it unwillingly, but +appearances are very much against him." + +"They are," said the squire gravely. + +"I like Dick; I always did like Dick," said the engineer; "and it seems +to me horrible to have to suspect such a lad as he is; but put yourself +in my place, Mr Winthorpe. Can you be surprised?" + +"I am not surprised, Mr Marston," said Mrs Winthorpe, rising and going +to her son's side. "Dick was out last night skating with Tom here over +the thin ice, and of course it must have been a very light person to +cross last night in skates; but you are mistaken. My boy would not +commit such a cowardly crime." + +The moment before, Dick, who was half-stunned by the accusation, and +ready to give up in despair, leaped to his feet and flung his arms about +his mother's waist. His eyes flashed and the colour flushed right up +into his brows as he kissed her passionately again and again. + +"You are right," said the squire. "But speak out, Dick. You did not do +this dastardly thing?" + +"No, father," said Dick, meeting his eyes boldly. "I couldn't." + +"There, Marston," said the squire; "and I will not insult Tom Tallington +by accusing him." + +"Oh, no, father! we were together all the time." + +"But I say," cried Tom, "old Dave said it was a chap in skates who set +fire to his place, and he couldn't follow him over the ice." + +"Yes; I'd forgotten," cried Dick, "and he shot at him." + +"Then I am wrong once more, Dick," said Mr Marston. "I beg your +pardon. Will you forgive me?" + +"Of course I will, Mr Marston," said Dick huskily, as he took the +extended hand; "but I don't think you ought to be so ready to think ill +of me." + +"And I say the same, Mr Marston," said Mrs Winthorpe. "My boy is +wilful, and he may have been a bit mischievous, but he could not be +guilty of such cowardly tricks as these." + +"No," said Tom, with his mouth full of pork-pie; "of course he could +not. Dick isn't a coward!" + +"I humbly apologise, Mrs Winthorpe," said Marston, smiling, "and you +must forgive me. A man who has been shot at has his temper spoiled." + +"Say no more, Marston, my lad," said the squire warmly; "we all forgive +you, and--breakfast waits." + +The subject was hurriedly changed, Dick being after all able to make a +good meal, during which he thought of the past, and of how glad he was +to be friends with Tom Tallington again; and then, as he had his second +help of pie to Tom's third, it seemed to him that the same person must +be guilty of all these outrages, and if so it could not by any +possibility be Farmer Tallington, for he never skated, and even if he +could, he weighed at least sixteen stone, and the ice had broken under +the weight of Tom's seven or eight. + +"We shall find him yet, Marston; never fear," said the squire; "and when +we do--well, I shall be sorry for the man." + +"Why?" said Mrs Winthorpe. + +"Because," said the squire gravely, "I have been so near death myself +that--there, this is not a pleasant subject to talk about. We will +wait." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +PREPARING FOR ACTION. + +Hickathrift shook his head; Mrs Hickathrift screwed up her lips, shut +her eyes, and shuddered; and the former doubled up his hard fist and +shook it in the air, as if he were going to hit nothing, as he gave out +his opinion--this being also the opinion of all the labouring people +near. + +"Ay, yow may laugh, Mester Dick, but they'll nivver find out nowt. It's +sperrits, that's what it is--sperrits of the owd fen, them as makes the +ager, and sends will-o'-the-wisps to lead folkses into the bog. They +don't like the drain being med, and they shutes and bons, and does all +they can to stop it." + +"You're a great goose, Hicky," said Dick sharply. "Who ever heard of a +ghost--" + +"I didn't say ghost, my lad. I said sperrits!" + +"Well, they're all the same." + +"Nay, nay, ghosts is ghosts, and sperrits is sperrits." + +"Well, then, who ever heard of a spirit going out skating with a +lantern, or poling about with a punt, or shooting people, or blowing up +sluice-gates, or cutting beasts' legs, or setting fire to their houses? +Did you?" + +"I nivver did till now, Mester Dick." + +"It's all nonsense about spirits; isn't it, Tom?" + +"Of course it is," was the reply. "We're going to catch the spirit some +day, and we'll bring him here." + +"Ay, do," said Hickathrift, nodding his head softly. "Well, I'm glad +you two hev made it up." + +"Never mind about that. Has Dave been over?" + +"Ay, lad. Soon as the ice went away and he could get his punt along he +come to me and asked me to get him some wood sawn out; and we done it +already. Ice is gone and to-morrow I'm going to pole across and help +him knock up a frame, and he'll do the rest hissen." + +The damage was far more severe at the drainage works; but even here the +traces of the fire soon disappeared, and fresh huts were run up nearer +to where the men were at work. + +One thing, however, was noticeable, and that was the action of the +squire, the engineer, and Farmer Tallington--the engineer, after hanging +away for a time, becoming again more friendly, though Dick never seemed +at ease in his presence now. + +These three leaders on the north side of the fen held a meeting with +dwellers on the west and south, and after long consultation the results +were seen in a quiet way which must have been rather startling to +wrong-doer? and those who were secretly fighting to maintain the fen +undrained. + +Tom was the first to begin talking about these precautions as he and +Dick started to go down to the drain one morning early in spring, after +a long spell of bitter miserable weather, succeeded by a continuance of +fierce squalls off the sea. + +"I say," he said, "father's got such a splendid new pair of pistols." + +"Has he? So has my father," said Dick staring. "Are yours mounted with +brass and with brass pans?" + +"Yes, and got lions' heads on the handles just at the end." + +"Ours are just the same," said Dick. "I say, Tom, it won't be very +pleasant for the spirits if they come now. Hullo, what does Hicky +want?" + +The big wheelwright was signalling to them to come, and they turned in +to his work-shed. + +"Thowt you lads 'd like to see," he said. "What d'yer think o' them?" + +He pointed to a couple of muskets lying on the bench. + +"Are these yours?" said Tom. + +"Yes and no, lads. They're for me and Jacob, and we've got orders to be +ready at any time to join in and help run down them as does all the +mischief; but it's a sorry business, lads. Powther and shot's no use. +Yow can't get shut of sperrits that ways. Good goons, aren't they?" + +The pieces were inspected and the boys soon afterwards started. + +"I don't see much use in our going down here," said Tom, "for if there +is anything stupid it's the cutting of a drain. It's all alike, just +the same as the first bit they cut." + +"Only we don't have to go so far to see the men at work. I suppose one +of these days we shall have Mr Marston setting up huts for the men +about the Toft. Hist! look out! What's that?" + +"Whittrick!" said Tom, running in pursuit of the little animal which +crossed their path. "There must be rabbits about here." + +"Yes. Do you know what they call whittricks down south?" + +"No." + +"Stoats." + +"How stupid!" said Tom after a vain chase after the snaky-looking little +creature. "They must be very silly people down south. Do they call +them stoats in London?" + +"Haven't got any in London--only rats." + +The engineer greeted the lads warmly and went up to the temporary hut he +occupied to fetch his gun, when, in the corner of the room Dick saw +something which made him glance at Tom. + +"Yes," said the engineer, who saw the glance; "we're going to show your +fen-men, Master Dick, that we do not mean to be trifled with. I've got +muskets; and as the law does not help us, we shall help ourselves. So +if anyone intends to come shooting us, blowing up our works, or setting +fire to our huts, he had better look out for bullets." + +"But you wouldn't shoot anyone, Mr Marston?" said Tom. + +"Indeed but we would, or any two, sir. It's a case of self-defence. +There, Dick, don't look at me as if I were a bloodthirsty savage. I +have got all these muskets down and shown my men how to use them, and I +am letting it be known that we are prepared." + +"Seems rather horrible," said Dick. + +"More horrible for your father to be shot, Dick, and for people to be +burned in their beds, eh!" + +"Ever so much," cried Tom. "You shoot 'em all, Mr Marston." + +"Precaution is better than cure, Tom," said the engineer smiling. "Now +that we are prepared, you will see that we shall not be interfered with, +and my arming the men will save bloodshed instead of causing it." + +"Think so, sir?" + +"I am sure of it, my lad. Besides, if I had not done something, my men +would not have stayed. Even Bargle said it was getting too warm. He +said he was not afraid, but he would not stay. So here we are ready for +the worst: self-defence, my lads. And now let's go and get a few ducks +for dinner. They are pretty plentiful, and my men like them as well as +I." + +The result was a long walk round the edge of the fen and the bringing +back of a fairly miscellaneous bag of wild-fowl, the engineer having +become a skilful gunner during his stay in the wild coast land. + +Mr Marston was right; the preparations made by him and all the farmers +round who had an interest in the draining of the fen had the effect of +putting a stop to the outrages. The work went on as the weeks glided +by, and spring passed, and summer came to beautify the wild expanse of +bog and water. There had been storm and flood, but people had slept in +peace, and the troubles of the past were beginning to be forgotten. + +There were plenty of fishing and fowling expeditions, visits to the +decoy with good results, and journeys to John Warren's home for the +hunting out of rabbits; but life was beginning seriously for the two +lads, who found occupation with Mr Marston and began to acquire the +rudiments of knowledge necessary for learning to be draining engineers. +Sometimes they were making drawings, sometimes overlooking, and at +others studying works under their teacher's guidance. + +But it was a pleasant time, for Marston readily broke off work to join +them in some expedition. + +One day, as they were poling along, Tom gave Dick a queer look, and +nodded in the direction of a fir-crowned gravelly island lying about a +mile away. + +"When's the Robinson Crusoe business going to begin, Dick?" he said. + +Dick laughed, but it was not a merry laugh, for the memory was a painful +one, and mingled with recollections of times when everyone was +suspicious of him, or seemed to be; and he was fast relapsing into an +unhappy morbid state. + +"What was the Robinson Crusoe business?" said Marston; and on being +told, he laughingly proposed going on. + +"Let's have a look at the place, boys," he said. "Why shouldn't we have +a summer-house out here to come and stay at sometimes, shooting, +fishing, or collecting. We cannot always work." + +The pole was vigorously plied, and at the end of half an hour they had +landed, to find the place just as they remembered it to have been the +year before. There were the bushes, the heath, and heather in the +gravelly soil, and the fir-trees flourishing. + +"A capital place!" said the engineer. "I tell you what, boys, we'll +bring Big Bargle over, and a couple of men; the wheelwright shall cut us +some posts, rafters, and a door, and we'll make a great hut, and--" + +He stopped short at that point and stared, as they all stood in the +depths of the little fir-wood, with the water and reed-beds hidden from +sight. For there, just before them, as if raised by magic, was the very +building Mr Marston had described, and upon examination they found it +very dry and warm, with a bed of heath in one corner. + +"Some sportsman has forestalled us," said the engineer. "One of the +farmers, I suppose, from the other side of the fen." + +They came away, with the lads sharing the same feeling of +disappointment, for the little island was robbed of all its romance. It +was no longer uninhabited, and the temptation to have a hut there was +gone. + +"Plenty more such places, boys," said Mr Marston, "so never mind. +We'll hunt one out and make much of it before my drain turns all this +waste into fertile fields. Now let's get back, for I have a lot to chat +over with the wheelwright." + +The next morning Hickathrift was beaming, and he came up to the Toft to +catch Dick, who was feeding Solomon and avoiding his friendly kicks, +while he waited for Tom to go over with him to the works. + +"Say, Mester Dick, on'y think of it! Leave that owd ass alone, lad, and +listen to me." + +"What is it, Hicky?" + +"Why, lad, I'm a man full o'--what do you call that when a chap wants to +get on in the world?" + +"Ambition, Hicky." + +"That's it, Mester Dick. I'm full on it, bud I've nivver hed a chance. +You see I've had to mend gates, and owd carts, and put up fences. I did +nearly get the job to build a new barn, bud I lost it, and all my life's +been jobs." + +"And what now?" said Dick warmly. + +"What now, lad! Why, Mester Marston's set me to mak three sets o' small +watter gates for sides o' the dreern, and I'm to hev money in advance +for the wood and iron work, and my fortune's about made." + +"Hooray, Hicky! I am glad," cried Dick; and Tom, coming up, was +initiated into the great new step in advance, and added his +congratulations. + +"Why, you're carpenter and joiner to the works now, Hicky!" said Dick, +laughing. + +"Ay, lad, that's it, and I don't fear for nowt." + +It was less than a fortnight after, that Dick lay asleep one night and +dreaming of being in a boat on the mere, or one of its many additional +pools, when he started into wakefulness with the impression that the +house was coming down. + +"Eh? What is it?" he cried, as there was a heavy thumping on the wall +close to his bed's head. + +"Get up--fire!" came in muffled tones; and bounding out of bed he saw +that there was a lurid light on the water, evidently reflected from +something burning pretty near at hand, while there was the distant hum +of voices, mingled with shrieks and the barking of a dog. + +Dick began hurriedly dressing, and threw open the window, to find that +the dog was Grip, who was out in the yard barking frantically, as if to +alarm the house. + +"What is it, father? Where?" cried Dick. + +"Don't know; not here. Labourers' cottages, I think," replied the +squire, who was still dressing. Then, as a burst of flame seemed to +rush up skyward, and a cloud of brilliant sparks floated away, he added, +"Dick, my lad, it is poor Hickathrift's turn now." + +He was quite right, for as they ran the few hundred yards which +separated them from the burning place, it was to find that the poor +fellow's house, work-shed, stock of wood, peat-stack, and out-buildings +were in a blaze; even his punt, which had been brought up for its annual +repair and pitching, blazing furiously. + +Hickathrift, Jacob, Mrs Hickathrift, and the farm people were all at +work with buckets, which they handed along from the dipping place by the +old willows; but at the first glance the squire saw that it was in vain, +and that the fire had taken such hold that nothing could be saved. Both +he and Dick, however, joined in the efforts, saying nothing but working +with all their might, the squire taking Jacob's place and dipping the +water, while the apprentice and Dick helped to pass the full buckets +along and the empty back, for they were not enough to form a double +line. + +For about a quarter of an hour this was kept up, the wheelwright +throwing the water where he thought it would do most good; but the +flames only roared the louder, and, fanned by a pleasant breeze, +fluttered and sent up sparks of orange and gold, till a cask of pitch +got well alight, and then the smoke arose in one dense cloud. + +It was a glorious sight in spite of its horror, for the wood in the shed +and the pile without burned brilliantly, lighting up the mere, gilding +the reeds, and spreading a glow around that was at times dazzling. + +"Pass it along quick! pass it along!" Jacob kept saying, probably to +incite people to work harder; but it was not necessary, for everyone was +doing his or her best, when, just as they were toiling their hardest, +the wheelwright took a bucket of water, hurled it as far as he could, +and then dashed on the empty vessel and turned away. + +"No good," he said bitterly, as he wiped his face. "Fire joost spits at +me when I throw in the watter. It must bon down, squire, eh?" + +"Yes, my man, nothing could save the place now." + +"And all my same [lard] in a jar--ten pounds good," murmured Mrs +Hickathrift. + +"Ay, moother, and my Sunday clothes," said the wheelwright with a bitter +laugh. + +"And my best frock." + +"Ay, and my tools, and a bit o' mooney I'd saved, and all my stoof. Eh, +but I'm about ruined, moother, and just when I was going to get on and +do the bit o' work for the dreern folk." + +The fire seemed to leap up suddenly with a great flash as if to +enlighten the great fellow's understanding, but he did not grasp the +situation for a few moments, till his wife, as she bemoaned the loss of +a paste-board and a flour-tub, suddenly exclaimed: + +"It's them sperrits of the fen as has done it all." + +"Ay, so it be!" roared Hickathrift. "Ay! Hey, bud if I could git one +of 'em joost now by scruff of his neck and the seat of his breeches, +I'd--I'd--I'd roast him." + +"Then it was no accident, Hickathrift?" + +"Yes, squire," said the man bitterly; "same sort o' axden as bont Farmer +Tallington's stable and shed. Hah, here he is!" he added, as the farmer +came panting up with Tom. "Come to waarm theesen, farmer? It's my turn +now." + +"My lad! My lad!" panted the farmer, "I am sorry." + +"Thanky, farmer; but fine words butter no parsneps. Theer, bairn," he +cried, putting his arm round his wife's waist; "don't cry that away. We +aren't owd folks, and I'm going to begin again. Be a good dry plaace +after fire's done, and theer'll be some niced bits left for yow to heat +the oven when fire's out." + +"And no oven, no roof, no fireside." + +"Hush! hush! bairn!" said the big fellow thickly. "Don't I tell thee +I'm going to begin again! What say, Mester Dick? Nay, nay, lad, nay." + +"What did Dick say?" said the squire sharply. + +"Hush, Hicky!" whispered Dick quickly. + +"Nay, lad, I wean't hoosh! Said, squire, as he's got thretty shillings +saved up, and he'd give it to me to start wi'." + +"And so he shall, my man, and other neighbours will help you too. I'll +make Dick's thirty shillings a hundred guineas." + +"Well, I can't do that, Hickathrift," said Farmer Tallington; "but if +ever you want to borrow twenty guineas come to me; and there's my horse +and sled to lead wood wheniver you like, and a willing hand or two to +help." + +Hickathrift turned sharply to say something; but he could only utter a +great gulp, and, turning away, he went a few yards, and leaned his head +upon his arm against a willow tree, and in the bright glow of the +burning building, whose gilded smoke rose up like some vast plume, they +could see his shoulders heave, while his wife turned to the squire, and +in a simple, homely fashion, kissed his hand. + +The squire turned to stop Dick, but it was too late, for the lad had +reached the wheelwright and laid his hand upon his shoulder. + +"Hicky," he said softly; "be a man!" + +"Ay, lad, I will," said the great fellow, starting up with his eyes wet +with tears. "It isn't the bont plaace made me soft like that, but +what's been said." + +He had hardly spoken before there was a peculiar noise heard in the +distance, as if a drove of cattle had escaped and were coming along the +hard road of the fen; but it soon explained itself, for there were +shouts and cries, and five minutes later Mr Marston and his men, nearly +a hundred strong, came running up, ready to assist, and then utter the +fiercest of denunciations against those who had done this thing. + +Then there was an ominous silence, as all stood and watched the burning +building till there was nothing but a heap of smouldering wood, which +was scattered and the last sparks quenched. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +THE TROUBLES CULMINATE. + +The fire at the wheelwright's lasted people nearly a month for gossip, +but Hickathrift would not believe it was the work of spirits now. + +Then came the news of a fresh outrage. The horses employed in bringing +stones for certain piers to water-gates were shot dead one night. + +Next, a fresh attempt was made to blow up the sluice, but failed. + +Last of all, the man who was put on to watch was shot dead, and his body +found in the drain. + +After this there was a pause, and the work was carried on with sullen +watchfulness and bitter hate. The denunciations against the workers of +the evil were fierce and long. + +But in spite of all, the drain progressed slowly and steadily. The +engineer was carrying his advances right into the stronghold of the +fen-men, who bore it all in silence, but struck sharply again and again. + +"I wonder who is to get the next taste!" said Tom Tallington one day as +he and Dick were talking. + +"No one," said Dick; "so don't talk about it. The people are getting +used to the draining, and father thinks they'll all settle down quietly +now." + +"How long is it since that poor fellow was shot?" + +"Don't talk about it, I tell you," said Dick angrily. "Three months." + +"No." + +"Nearly." + +Dick was right; nearly three months had gone by since the poor fellow +set to keep watch by Mr Marston had been shot dead, and this +culmination of the horrors of the opposition had apparently startled his +murderers from making farther attempts. + +"I tell you what it is," said Tom, "the man who fired that shot and did +all the other mischief has left the country. He dare not stay any +longer for fear of being caught." + +"Then it was no one over our side of the fen," said Dick thoughtfully. +"Perhaps you are right. Well, I'm going to have a good long day in the +bog to-morrow. It's wonderfully dry now, and I mean to have a good +wander. What time shall you be ready?" + +"Can't go," said Tom. "I've promised to ride with father over to the +town." + +"What a pity! Well, never mind; we'll go again the next day and have a +good long day then." + +"Will Mr Marston go with us?" + +"No. I asked him, and he said he should be too busy at present, but he +would go in a fortnight's time. He said he should not want either of us +for a week, so we can go twice if we like." + +Tom smiled as if, in spite of his many wanderings, the idea of a ramble +in the fen would be agreeable. + +"Shall you fish?" he said. + +"N-no, I don't think I shall. I mean to have a long wander through the +flats away west of the fir island." + +"You can't," said Tom; "it's too boggy." + +"Not it. Only got to pick your way. Do you think I don't know what I'm +about?" + +"Better take old Solomon with you, and ride him till he sinks in, and +then you can walk along his back into a safe place." + +"Then I'd better take another donkey too, and get him to lie down when I +come to another soft place." + +"Ah, I would!" said Tom. + +"I shall," said Dick. "Will you come?" + +"Do you mean by that to say that I am a donkey?" cried Tom half angrily. + +"Yes, when you talk such stupid nonsense. Just as if I couldn't get +through any bog out here in the fen. Anyone would think I was a child." + +"Well, don't get lost," said Tom; "but I must go now." + +The boys parted, with the promise that Tom was to come over from Grimsey +to breakfast the next morning but one, well provided with lunch; that in +the interim Dick was to arrange with Hickathrift about his punt, and +that then they were to have a thoroughly good long exploring day, right +into some of the mysterious parts of the fen, Dick's first journey being +so much scouting ready for the following day's advance. + +As soon as Dick was left alone he strolled down to the wheelwright's, +having certain plans of his own to exploit. + +"Well, Hicky, nearly got all right?" he said. + +"Nay, nay, lad, and sha'n't be for a twelvemonth," replied the great +bluff fellow, staring at his newly-erected cottage. "Taks a deal o' +doing to get that streight. How is it you're not over at the works?" + +"Not wanted for a bit. I say, Hicky, may I have the punt to-morrow?" + +"Sewerly, Mester Dick, sewerly. I'll set Jacob to clear her oot a bit +for you. Going fishing?" + +"Well--no," said Dick, hesitating. "I was--er--thinking of doing a +little shooting." + +"What at fend o' June! Nay, nay, theer's no shooting now." + +"Not regular shooting, but I thought I might get something curious, +perhaps, right away yonder." + +"Ay, ay, perhaps so." + +"Might see a big pike basking, and shoot that." + +"Like enough, my lad, like enough. Squire going to lend you a goon?" + +Dick shook his head, but the wheelwright was busy taking a shaving off a +piece of wood, so did not see it, and repeated his question. + +"No, Hicky, I want you to lend me one of those new ones." + +"What, as squire and Mr Marston left for me and Jacob! Nay, nay, lad, +that wean't do." + +"Oh, yes, it will, Hicky. I'll take great care of it, and clean it when +I've done. Lend me the gun, there's a good fellow." + +"Nay, nay. That would never do, my lad. Couldn't do it." + +"Why not, Hicky?" + +"Not mine. What would squire say?" + +"He wouldn't know, Hicky. I shouldn't tell him." + +"Bud I should, lad. Suppose thou wast to shoot thee sen, or blow off a +leg or a hand? Nay, nay. Yow can hev the boat, bud don't come to me +for a gun." + +Hickathrift was inexorable, and what was more, he watched his applicant +narrowly, to make sure that Dick did not corrupt Jacob. + +His visitor noticed it, and charged him with the fact. + +"Ay," he said, laughing, "that's a true word. I know what Jacob is. +He'd do anything for sixpence." + +"I hope he wouldn't set fire to the house for that," said Dick angrily. + +Hickathrift started as if stung, and stared at his visitor. + +"Nay," he said, recovering himself, "our Jacob nivver did that. He were +fast asleep that night, and his bed were afire when I wackened him. +Don't say such a word as that." + +"I didn't mean it, Hicky; but do lend me the gun." + +"Nay, my, lad, I wean't. There's the poont and welcome, but no gun." + +Dick knew the wheelwright too well to persevere; and in his heart he +could not help admiring the man's stern sense of honesty; so making up +his mind to be content with some fishing and a good wander in the +untrodden parts of the fen, he asked Hickathrift to get him some baits +with his cast-net. + +"Ay, I'll soon get them for you, my lad," said Hickathrift. "Get a +boocket, Jacob, lad." + +The next minute he was getting the newly-made circular net with its +pipe-leads from where it hung over the rafters of his shed, and striding +down to a suitable shallow where a shoal of small fish could be seen, he +ranged the net upon his arm, holding the cord tightly, and, giving +himself a spin round, threw the net so that it spread out flat, with the +pipe-leads flying out centrifugally, and covering a good deal of space, +the leads driving the fish into the centre. When it was drawn a couple +of dozen young roach and rudd were made captives, and transferred to the +bucket of water Jacob brought. + +"Fetch that little bit o' net and a piece o' band, lad," said the +wheelwright; and as soon as Jacob reappeared, Hickathrift bound the fine +net over the top of the pail, and lowered it by the cord into a deep +cold pool close by the punt. + +"Theer they'll be all ready and lively for you in the morning, and +you'll hev better sport than you would wi' a gun." + +Opinions are various, and Dick's were very different to the +wheelwright's; but he accepted his rebuff with as good a grace as he +could, and went home. + +The next morning was delicious. One of those lovely summer-times when +the sky is blue, and the earth is just in its most beautiful robe of +green. + +"Going on the mere, Dick?" said his father. "Well, don't get drowned or +bogged." + +"Dick will take care," said Mrs Winthorpe, who was busy cutting +provender. + +"Tom Tallington going with you?" said the squire. + +"No, father; I'm going alone." + +"I wish you could have come with me, Hicky!" said Dick, as, laden with +his basket of fishing-tackle and provender, he took his place in the +punt. + +"Ay, and I wish so too," said the wheelwright, smiling, as he drew up +and uncovered the pail of bait to set it in the boat. "Bud too busy. +Theer you are! Now, go along, and don't stop tempting a man who ought +to be at work. Be off!" + +To secure himself against further temptation he gave the punt a push +which sent it several yards away; so, picking up the pole, Dick thrust +it down and soon left the Toft behind, while the water glistened, the +marsh-marigolds glowed, and the reeds looked quite purple in places, so +dark was their green. + +Dick poled himself along, watching the water-fowl and the rising herons +disturbed in their fishing, while here and there he could see plenty of +small fish playing about the surface of the mere; but he was not in an +angling humour, and though the tempting baits played about in the bucket +he did not select any to hook and set trimmers for the pike that were +lurking here and there. + +At last, though, he began to grow tired of poling, for the sun was hot; +and, thinking it would be better to wait for Tom before he tried to +explore the wild part of the fen, he thrust the punt along, to select a +place and try for a pike. + +This drew his attention to the baits, where one of the little roach had +turned up nearly dead, a sure sign that the water required changing, so, +setting down the pole, he took up the bucket, and, lowering it slowly +over the side, he held one edge level with the water, so that the fresh +could pour in and the stale and warm be displaced. + +Trifles act as large levers sometimes. In this case for one, a few +drops of water from the dripping pole made the bottom of the punt +slippery; and as Dick leaned over the side his foot gave way, the weight +of the bucket overbalanced him, and he had to seize the side of the punt +to save himself. This he did, but as he leaned over, nearly touching +the water, it was to gaze at the bucket descending rapidly, and the fish +escaping, for he had let go. + +"What a nuisance!" he cried, as he saw the great vessel seem to turn of +a deeper golden hue as it descended and then disappeared, becoming +invisible in the dark water, while the punt drifted away before he could +take up the pole to thrust it back. + +There was nothing to guide him, and the poling was difficult, for the +water was here very deep, and though he tried several times to find the +spot where the bucket had gone down, it was without success. + +"Why, if I did find it," he muttered, "I shouldn't be able to get it up +without a hook." + +This ended the prospect of fishing, and as he stood there idly dipping +down the pole he hesitated as to what he should do, ending by beginning +to go vigorously in the direction of Dave Gittan's newly-built-up hut. + +"I'll make him take me out shooting," he said; "and we'll go all over +that rough part of the fen." + +There were very few traces of the past winter's fire visible at Dave's +home as Dick approached, ran his punt on to the soft bog-moss, and +landed, securing his rope to a tree, and there were no signs of Dave. + +He shouted, but there was no reply, and it seemed evident that the dog +was away as well. + +A walk across to Dave's own special landing-place put it beyond doubt, +for the boat was absent. + +"What a bother!" muttered Dick, walking back toward the hut, a stronger +and better place than the one which had been burned. "Perhaps he has +gone to see John Warren!" + +Dick hesitated as to whether he should follow, and as he hesitated he +reached the door of the hut and peeped in, to make sure that the dog was +not there asleep. + +The place was vacant, and as untidy already as the old hut. In one +corner there was a heap of feathers plucked from the wild-geese he had +shot; in another a few skins, two being those of foxes, the cunning +animals making the fen, where hunters never came, their sanctuary. +There were traces, too, of Dave's last meal. + +But it was at none of these that Dick looked so earnestly, but at the +'coy-man's old well-rubbed gun hanging in a pair of slings cut from some +old boot, and tempting the lad as, under the circumstances, a gun would +tempt. + +Hickathrift had refused to lend him one, badly as he wanted it; and here +by accident was the very thing he wanted staring at him almost as if +asking him to take it. + +And Dave! where was he? + +Dave might be anywhere, and not return perhaps for days. His comings +and goings were very erratic, and Dick tried to think that if the man +were there he would have lent him the gun. + +But it was a failure. + +"He wouldn't have lent it to me," said Dick sadly; and he turned to go. +But as he glanced round, there was the old powder-horn upon a +roughly-made shelf, and beside it, the leathern bag in which Dave kept +his shot, with a little shell loose therein which he used for a measure. + +It was tempting. There was the gun; there lay the ammunition. He could +take the gun, use it, and bring it back, and give Dave twice as much +powder and shot as he had fired away. He could even clean the gun if he +liked; but he would not do that, but bring it back boldly, and own to +having taken it Dave would not be very cross, and if he were it did not +matter. + +He would take the gun. + +No, he would not. It was like stealing the man's piece. + +No, it was not--only borrowing, and Dave would be the gainer. + +Still he hesitated, thinking of his father, of Hickathrift's refusal, of +its being a mean action to come and take a man's property in his +absence; and in this spirit Dick flung out of the hut and walked +straight down to the boat, seeing nothing but that gun tempting him as +it were, and asking him to seize the opportunity and enjoy a day's +shooting untrammelled by anyone. + +"It wouldn't do," he said with a sigh as he got slowly into the boat and +stooped to untie the rope, when, perhaps, the position sent the blood +rushing to his head. At any rate his wilful thoughts mastered him, and +in a spirit of reckless indifference to the consequences he leaped +ashore, ran up to the hut, dashed in, caught up the powder-horn and +shot-bag, thrust them into his pockets, and seizing the gun, he took it +from its leather slings, his hands trembling, and a sensation upon him +that Dave was looking in at the door. + +"What an idiot I was!" he cried, with a feeling of bravado now upon the +increase. "Dave won't mind, and I want to shoot all by myself." + +He glanced round uneasily enough as he made for the punt, where he laid +the gun carefully down, and, seizing his pole, soon sent the vessel to +some distance from the hut, every stroke seeming to make him breathe +more freely, while a keen sensation of joy pervaded him as he glanced +from time to time at the old flint-lock piece, and longed to be where +there would be a chance to shoot. + +The day was hot as ever, but the heat was forgotten as the punt was sent +rapidly along in the direction of the fir-clump island, for it was out +there that the wilder part of the fen commenced, and the hope that he +would there find the birds more tame consequent upon the absence of +molestation made the laborious toil of poling seem light. + +But all the same a couple of hours' hard work had been given to the +task, and Dick was still far from his goal, when it occurred to him that +a little of the bread and butter cut in slices, and with a good thick +piece of ham between each pair, would not be amiss. + +He laid the pole across the boat, then, and for a quarter of an hour +devoted himself to the task of food conversion for bodily support. + +This done, there was the gun lying there. It was not likely that he +would have a chance at anything; but he thought it would be as well to +be prepared, and in this spirit, with hands trembling from eagerness, he +raised the piece and began the task of loading, so much powder, and so +much paper to ram down upon it. + +But he had no paper. It was forgotten, and Dick paused. + +Necessity is the mother of invention. Dick took out his +pocket-handkerchief and his knife, and in a few minutes the cotton +square was cut up, a piece rammed in as a wad, and a measure of shot +poured on the top. + +Another piece of handkerchief succeeded, going down the barrel with that +peculiar _whish whash_ sound, to be thumped hard with the ramrod at the +bottom till the rod was ready to leap out of the barrel again. + +Then there was the pan to open and prove full of powder, and all ready +for the first great wild bird he should see, or perhaps a hare or a fox, +as soon as he should land. + +For it was thought no sin to shoot the foxes there in that wild corner +of England, where hounds had never been laid on, and the only chance of +hunting would have been in boats. Foxes lived and bred there year after +year, and died without ever hearing the music of the huntsman's horn. + +Dick laid the gun down with a sigh, and took up the pole, which he used +for nearly an hour before, with the fir island well to his left, he ran +the punt into a narrow cove among the reeds which spread before him, +and, taking the piece, stepped out upon what was a new land. + +It must have been with something of the feelings of the old navigators +who touched at some far western isle, that Dick Winthorpe landed from +his boat, and secured it by knotting together some long rushes and tying +the punt rope to them. For here he was in a place where the foot of man +could have rarely if ever trod, and, revelling in his freedom and the +beauty of the scene around, he shouldered the piece. + +He would have acted more wisely if he had filled his pockets with +provender from the basket; but he wanted those pockets for the powder +and shot, and without intending to go very far from the punt he started, +meaning to go in a straight line for some trees he could see at a great +distance off, hoping to find something in the shape of game before he +had gone far. + +It is very easy to make a straight line on a map, but a difficult feat +to go direct from one spot to another in a bog. + +Dick did not find it out, for he knew it of old, and so troubled himself +very little as he plodded on under the hot afternoon sun, now on firm +ground, now making some wide deviation so as to avoid a pool of black +water. Then there were treacherous morass-like pieces of dark mire +thinly covered with a scum-like growth, here green, there bleached in +the June sunshine. + +It was always hot walking, and made the worse by the way in which, in +spite of all his care, his feet sank in the soft soil. At times he +plashed along, having to leap from place to place, and then when the way +seemed so bad that he felt that he must return, it suddenly became +better and lured him on. + +He panted and perspired, and struggled on, with the gun always ready; +but saving a moor-hen or two upon one or other of the pools, and a coot +sailing proudly along at the edge of a reed-bed with her little dingy +family, he saw nothing worthy of a shot. + +Once there was a rustle among the reeds, but whatever made it was gone +before he could see what it was. Once a great heron rose from a shallow +place, offering himself as a mark; but it took Dick some time to get a +good view of the grey bird, and when at last he brought the sight of the +gun to bear upon it, the heron refused to remain still, and the muzzle +of the piece described two or three peculiar circles. When at last it +was brought steadily to bear upon the mark it was about a hundred yards +away, and the trigger was not pulled. + +How long Dick had tramped and struggled on through mire and water and +over treacherous ground he did not know, but he did not get one chance; +and at last, when he stopped short with a horrible sinking sensation in +his inner boy, the only things which presented themselves as being ready +to be shot were some beautiful swallow-tailed butterflies, while, save +that the sun was right before him and going down, the lad had not the +slightest idea of where he was. + +But he could not stand still, for he was on a soft spot, so he struggled +on to where the ground looked more dry, and fortunately for him it +proved to be so, and he stood looking round and thinking of going back. + +"I wish I had brought something to eat," he said, gazing wistfully in +the direction in which he believed the punt lay. + +But it was in vain to wish, so he determined to retrace his steps, +fighting against the thought that it would be a difficult task, for to +all intents and purposes he had lost all idea of the direction in which +he had come. It was very hot, though, and the gun was very heavy. He +was weary too with poling the boat and walking, and but for the romance +of the expedition he would have declared himself fagged out. + +As it was, he thought he would have ten minutes' rest before starting +back, so picking out a good dry firm place, he laid the gun down, and +then, seeing how comfortable the gun seemed, he lay at full length upon +his back on the soft heather and gazed straight up at the blue sky. + +Then his eyes wandered to a cloud of flies, long gnat-like creatures, +which were beginning to dance over the reeds, and he lay watching them +till he thought he would get up and be on the move. + +Then he thought, as it was so refreshing to be still, he would wait +another five minutes. + +So he waited another five minutes, and then he did not get up, but lay, +not looking at the cloud of gnats which were dancing now just over his +face as if the tip of his nose were the point from which they streamed +upward in the shape of a plume, for Dick Winthorpe was fast asleep. + +How long it was Dick did not know, only that it was a great nuisance +that that bull would keep on making such a tremendous noise, bellowing +and roaring round and round his bed till it annoyed him so much that he +started up wide awake and stared. + +It was very dark, not a star to be seen; but the bull was bellowing away +in the most peculiar manner, seeming as if he were now high up in the +air, and now with his muzzle close to the ground practising +ventriloquism. + +"Where am I?" said Dick aloud; and then, as the peculiar bellowing noise +came apparently nearer, "Why, it's the butterbump!" + +Dick was right, it was the butterbump, as the fen people called the +great brown bittern, which passed its days in the thickest parts of the +bog, and during the darkness rose on high, to circle round and over the +unfortunate frogs that were to form its supper, and utter its peculiar +bellowing roar. + +Dick had never heard it so closely before, and he was half startled by +the weird cry. The fen, that had been so silent in the hot June sun, +now seemed to be alive with peculiar whisperings and pipings. The frogs +were whistling here, a low soft plaintive whistle, and croaking there, +while from all around came splashings and quackings and strange cries +that were startling in the extreme to one just awakened from the depths +of sleep to find himself alone in the darkness, and puzzled by the +question: How am I to get back? + +No; return was impossible--quite impossible, and the knowledge was +forced upon him more and more that he had to make up his mind to pass +the night where he was, for to stir meant to go plunge into some bog, +perhaps one so deep that his escape with life might be doubtful. + +"How stupid I was!" mused Dick. "How hungry I am!" he said aloud. +"What a tiresome job!" + +He looked around, to see darkness closing him in, not a star visible; +but the fen all alive with the sounds, which seemed to increase, for a +bittern was answering the one overhead, and another at a greater +distance forming himself into a second echo. + +"I wonder how long it is since I lay down!" thought Dick. + +It might have been four hours--it might have been six or eight. He +could not tell, only that he was there, and that his mother would be in +a horrible state of dread. + +This impressed him so strongly that he was about to start off in a vain +effort to find the boat, but his better sense prevailed, and he remained +where he was, wondering whether it would be possible to pass the night +like that, and, in spite of himself, feeling no little dread of the +weird sounds which seemed to come nearer and nearer. + +Then the feeling of dread increased, for, though he could see nothing, +certain noises he heard suggested themselves as being caused by strange +creatures--dwellers in the fen--coming nearer to watch him, and among +them he fancied that there were huge eels fresh from the black slime, +crawling out of the water, and winding themselves like serpents in and +out among the rough grass and heath to get at him and fix their strong +jaws upon his legs. + +Then little four-footed, sharp-teethed creatures appeared to be creeping +about in companies, rushing here and there, while whittricks and rats +were waiting till he dropped asleep to leap upon him and bite him, +tearing out little pieces of his flesh. + +His imagination was so active that his face grew wet with horror, till, +making an effort over himself, he started right up and angrily stamped +his foot. + +"I didn't think I was such a coward," he said half aloud; and then, "I +hope poor mother will not be very much alarmed, and I wish Tom +Tallington was here!" + +The wish was so selfishly comic that he laughed and felt better, for now +a new idea came to him. + +It was very dark, but the nights were at their shortest now, and it +would be daybreak before three--at least so light that he might venture +to try and regain the boat. + +He stood for a while listening to the noises in the fen; the whispering +and chattering, piping and croaking, with the loud splashings and +rustlings among the reeds, mingled with the quacking of ducks and the +scuttering of the drakes, while every now and then the bittern uttered +his hoarse wild roar. + +Then, growing weary, he sat down again, and after a time he must have +dropped asleep, for he rose feeling quite startled, and stood staring as +a peculiarly soft lambent light shone here and there before him. + +It was apparently about fifty yards away, and looked like nothing which +he had ever seen, for when he had noticed this light before it had +always been much farther away. + +He knew it was the marsh light, but somehow it seemed more weird and +strange now than ever, and as if all the tales he had heard of it were +true. + +For there it was coming and going and gliding up and down, as if +inviting him to follow it, while, as he seemed to feel that this was an +invitation, he shuddered and his brow grew cold and dank, for he +believed that to follow such a light would be to go direct to his death. + +All the old legendary stories crowded into his mind as that light came +and went, and seemed to play here and there for what must have been half +an hour, when it disappeared. But as it passed away he saw another away +to his left, and he was watching this intently when he noticed that far +beyond there was a faint light visible; and feeling that this was the +first sign of the dawn, he turned to gaze at the will-o'-the-wisp again, +and watched it, shuddering as it seemed to approach, growing bolder as +it glided away. + +"But that was not dawn--that," he said, "that faint light!" It was +growing stronger and it was nearer, and more like the rising of the sun, +or like--yes, it must be fire again. + +Dick's heart leaped, and the chilly feeling of nervous dread and the +coldness of the temperature passed away, to give place to a sense of +excitement which made his blood dance in his veins and his cheeks flush. + +He was not mistaken--he had had too much experience of late. It was +fire, and he asked himself whose turn it was now, and why, after the +long lapse from outrage, there should be another such a scene as that. + +It was impossible to tell where the fire was, but it was a big +conflagration evidently, for it was lighting up the sky far more than +when he first observed it, but whether it was in the direction of his +home or toward the far end of the fen he could not tell. + +He thought once that he might be mistaken, and that it was the +forerunner of the rising moon; but he was convinced directly that it was +fire he saw from the way in which it rose and fell and flickered softly +in the sky. + +He must have been watching the glow for quite a couple of hours, and it +was evidently paling, and he was hopefully looking for another light-- +that of day, when it seemed to him that he could hear the splashing of +water and the rustling of reeds. + +The sounds ceased and began again more loudly, and at last they seemed +to be coming nearer, but passing him by--somewhere about a hundred yards +away. + +The sounds ceased--began again--ceased--then sounded more loudly; and at +last, with palpitating heart, Dick began to move in the direction of the +noise, for he realised that either there was open water or a canal-like +passage across the bog, which someone was passing through in a boat. + +Dick paused again to listen, but there could be no mistake, the sounds +were too familiar, and with voice husky with excitement he put his hand +to his mouth and uttered a loud hail. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +A STARTLING SCENE. + +To Dick Winthorpe's great surprise there was no answer to his cry, and +raising his voice again he shouted: "Who's that? Help!" + +His voice sounded wild and strange to him out there in that waste, +closed in as he was by the darkness, and as he listened he could not +repress a shudder, for everything now had become so silent that it was +terrible. Away to his left there was the faint glow of light--very +faint now--but everywhere else darkness, and all around him now a dead +silence. His cry had seemed to alarm every moving creature in the fen, +and it had crouched down, or dived, or in some way hidden itself, so +that there was neither rustle of body passing through the reeds, splash +of foot in the mire, nor beat of pinion in the air. He looked around +him half in awe for the strange lights which he had seen gliding here +and there like moths of lambent fire, but they too had disappeared, and +startling as had been the noise he had heard, the silence seemed now so +terrible that he turned cold. + +"What a coward I am!" he said to himself at last. "What is there to be +afraid about?" + +He shouted again, and felt more uneasy, for as his voice died away all +seemed more silent than ever, and he drew in a long hissing breath as he +gazed vainly in the direction from which the splashing had seemed to +come. + +For quite half an hour all was perfectly still, but he did not move, +partly from an intense desire to be certain, partly, it must be +confessed, from a feeling of dread which oppressed him. + +Then there was a rustle and a splash from somewhere behind him, such a +noise as a bird might make. Directly after there came from a distance +the scuttering noise made by a duck dabbling its bill in the ooze, and +this was followed by a low _quawk_ uttered by some nocturnal bird, +perhaps by one of the butterbumps whose hoarse booming cry had come so +strangely in the earlier part of the night. + +As if these were signals to indicate to the animal life of the fen that +all was right, sound after sound arose such as he had heard before; but +there was one so different that it filled Dick Winthorpe's ears, and as +he listened he seemed to see a man in a punt, who had been crouching +down among the reeds, rising up softly, and silently lowering a pole +into the water to thrust the boat onward from where it had lain. + +Even if it had been light the reeds and undergrowth would have hindered +him from seeing anything, and in that darkness the impossibility was +emphasised the more strongly; but all the same the faint splash, the +light rubbing of wood against wood as the pole seemed to touch the side +of the boat, the soft dripping of water, and the silky brushing rustle +of the boat among the reeds and withes, joined in painting a mental +picture upon the listener's brain till it seemed to Dick that he was +seeing with his ears this man in his boat escaping furtively so as not +to be heard. + +Dick was about to shout again, but he felt that if he did there would be +no answer, and his heart began to beat strangely. + +It was not fear now, but from a sudden excitement consequent upon a line +of thought which suggested itself. + +"Why did not this man answer to his cry--this man who was so furtively +stealing away? Was it from fear of him?" + +Undoubtedly fear of being seen and known. + +Dick absolutely panted now with excitement. All feeling of dread passed +away, taking with it the chilly sensation of cold and damp. + +He listened. + +Should he shout again and order him to stop? No; he knew that would be +of no use, for, as if to make all more sure, there, as Dick listened, +each and every nerve on the strain, was the increasing rapidity of the +thrusts made with the pole, as the man evidently thought he was getting +more and more out of hearing. + +"Who is it?" thought Dick, as he realised that by his accident he had +discovered what had been hidden from all who had patiently watched. + +It was all plain enough to him now; and as he listened to the sounds +dying away and growing lost among the splashings and rustlings made by +the birds, which were recovering their confidence, the excitement quite +took away the lad's breath. + +For there it all was. This wretch--some fen-man from the other side-- +miles away--had stolen across in the darkness, wending his way along the +mere channels and over the pools, to commit another dastardly outrage, +firing another cottage or stack, and then stolen back, his evil work +done. + +Whose house had been burned? + +It must be the huts of the drain-makers. Dick felt sure of that. He +did not know why, but there was the proof lately painted in the sky. +And this base wretch, who could it be? he asked himself. Oh, if he +could but have seen! + +Would this be the same man who had been guilty of all these crimes? +thought Dick, as he listened and found that the sounds had died out; and +now far away there was a soft faint opalescent light telling him of the +coming morn, and sending a thrill of joy through his breast. For there +would be light and warmth, and the power to find the boat once more, and +with it food. Better still, if he could get to his boat he might follow +the wretch who was escaping, and know who it was. + +Dick felt directly that it was impossible, for the man would be beyond +pursuit long before he could find his boat; and after listening again he +began to creep cautiously back to where he had lain down and slept and +left Dave Gittan's gun. + +The dawn was spreading, and it showed the watcher which was the east, +and hence taught him that the fire must have been somewhere in the +direction of the Toft, for the glare in the sky was certainly north of +where he now stood. + +The dawn spread faster, and the reeds and alders about him began to be +visible; and--yes, there was the gun, all cold to the touch and wet with +dew. + +"Not much shooting," thought Dick as he mentally planned getting back to +the boat, and hurrying across to Dave's hut to replace the piece and +suffer a good scolding. + +"Never mind; I'll give him a pound of powder. What's that?" + +Splashing--the rustling of reeds--voices. + +There was no concealment here, and besides the sounds came in a contrary +direction to that taken by the fleeing man. + +"Hoi!" shouted Dick loudly. + +"Hoi! hallo!" came back; and then a well-known voice cried: "Is that +you, Dick?" + +"Yes, father. Here! Ahoy!" + +There was more splashing, more talking, and Dick's heart leaped as he +felt that his father had come in search of him, and that he would have +an easier task than he had expected in finding his boat. + +As the sounds approached the light increased, and Dick had no difficulty +in going to meet them, picking his way carefully through the bog till he +found himself close to a broad channel of reedy water, and here he had +to pause. + +"Where are you?" came from about a hundred yards away. And as he +shouted to guide the search party he soon saw through the dim light a +crowded punt propelled by two polers, and that there was another behind. + +The next minute the foremost punt was within reach, and Dick stepped +from a clump of rushes on board. + +"Got anything to eat?" cried Dick, obeying his dominant instinct, and +his voice sounded wolfish and strange. + +"To eat!--no, sir," cried his father sternly. "What are you doing +here?" + +"I lost myself, father, and went to sleep--woke up in the darkness, and +couldn't stir. Morning, Hicky!" + +"Wheer's my poont?" said the wheelwright. + +"Close round here somewhere," said Dick. "Go on and we shall find it. +But where was the fire?" + +The squire drew a hissing breath between his teeth as if in pain, and +yet as if in relief; for it seemed to him that once more he was +suspecting wrongfully, and that if his son had been mixed up with the +past night's outrage he would never have spoken so frankly. + +"The fire, boy!" he said hoarsely; "at the Toft. The place is nearly +burned down." + +"Oh!" ejaculated Dick; and there was so much genuine pain and agony in +his voice that the squire grasped his son's hand. + +"Never mind, Dick; we'll build it up again." + +"Ay, squire, we will," cried Hickathrift; "and afore long." + +"And what is better, my boy, we saw the wretch who stole off the mere +last night and fired the big reed-stack." + +"Yes, father," cried Dick excitedly. "And I heard him come stealing by +here." + +"You did, Dick?" + +"Yes, father--not an hour ago." + +"Marston!" cried the squire, hailing the other boat. + +"Yes." + +"We're right. He came by here an hour ago. Dick heard him." + +"You did, Dick?" cried Mr Marston. + +"Yes, but it was all in the dark, and I couldn't see who it was." + +"That does not matter, my lad," said the squire. "We know him now, and +we only want to run him down." + +"Know him, father?" + +"Yes, boy. It was Dave Gittan." + +"Nonsense!" + +Dick burst into a laugh. + +"Why, father, his place was burned too!" + +"Yes, boy, to throw us off the scent--the scoundrel! but we shall have +him now." + +Dick sat down in the punt like one astounded, while Hickathrift poled +along the channel till he came to open water, where, just as the sun +rose above the horizon, they caught sight of the tied-up boat. + +"We're too many in this," said Hickathrift, making for the other punt. +"You pole this here, and I'll tak' mine. Will you come, squire?" + +"Yes," said Dick's father; and the change being made, the three boats +were now propelled over the sunlit water, where, as the lad gladly +applied himself to the food he had left behind, he learned something of +what had taken place during the night. + +Hickathrift was his informant, for the squire was very stern and silent, +and Mr Marston was in one of the other boats, which were manned by +drain-men and farm-labourers, and had for leaders Farmer Tallington and +the engineer, while many were armed with muskets. + +"Is Tom there?" said Dick in a whisper. + +"Ay, lad, he's theer," said the big wheelwright, "along o' Mr Marston." + +And then in answer to questions he related that Mr Marston had been +over at the Toft, and stopped up watching with the squire for Dick's +return, dropping asleep at last, and then awakening suddenly to hear a +strange noise among the fowls. + +The squire went out, followed by Mr Marston, and the truth was before +them. + +"The big stack was afire!" whispered Hickathrift, "and burning so as +they knew it would be impossible to put it out, and just as they +realised the terrible state of affairs there was the sound of a shot, +and then of another and another from somewhere down among the cottages, +and directly after the beating of feet, and a party of the labourers +hurried up, startled from their beds. + +"`Your turn now, squire,' I says to him," whispered the wheelwright. + +"`Ay,' he says, `my turn now. Who fired that shot?' + +"`Oh! some un here,' I says. `We thought we seed him as did it going +off in the poont, but it was so dark we couldn't be sure.' + +"Squire didn't ask no more, for there was too much to do getting out +your moother, lad, and trying to save the furnitur, 'sides throwing +watter on the fire. + +"Bud, theer, it warn't no use. Plaace burned like a bit o' paaper, and +we could do nowt bud save the best o' the things." + +"Did you save the clock?" asked Dick. + +"Ay, lad, I carried it out mysen, just as Mr Marston come oop wi' a lot +of his lads, and Farmer Tallington come from t'other way; and we saved +all we could, and got out the beasts and horses, but t'owd plaace is +bont out." + +"And where is mother?" + +"All reight along o' my missus, bless her; and when we see we could do +no more, squire began about who done it." + +"Yes: go on." + +"Well, theer's nowt much to say, lad, only that soon as squire knowd who +it weer he--" + +"But how did he know who it was?" cried Dick. + +"Some un towd him." + +"Yes, but who told?" + +"Him as fired his goon at him when he see'd him by the light o' the fire +poling along in his poont." + +"And who was that?" + +"Nay, lad, I'm not going to tell thee. Some un as thowt he desarved a +shot for setting fire to folks's houses and shooting honest men. Some +folk don't stop to think. If they've got goons in their hands, and sees +varmen running away, they oops wi' the goon and shutes, and that's what +some un did. Thou'lt know who it weer one day." + +"And he told my father?" + +"It weer our Jacob towd squire. He sin his faace quite plain, and that +it weer Dave." + +"Now, Marston, where for next?" shouted the squire, after taking a long +look round over the open water, now illumined by the sun. + +"Try that island yonder," was the reply. "There's a hut among the low +fir-trees, and I fancy it is his making." + +The boats were turned in the suggested direction, and Dick felt a +curious sensation of nervous dread stealing over him as he thought of +seeing that hut not long before, and of how likely it was that Mr +Marston was right. + +A strange sense of shock and horror came over Dick as he now seemed to +realise, for the first time, that he was one of a party engaged in +hunting down Dave Gittan, the man who had always been to him as a +friend, the companion of endless excursions over the mere; and his heart +sank within him as he glanced round in search of an opportunity to land +and get away from the horrible pursuit. + +But there was no escape, for he knew that the pursuers would not turn +backward, and he glanced helplessly at where he could see Tom +Tallington's face in the farther of the other boats, and responded to +his wave of the hand. + +There was a stern relentless look in every face he saw, and he thought +of how his father and Mr Marston had been shot, how first one and then +another had been nearly burned in his bed, while their property was +destroyed, and he felt the justice of the severe looks. But all the +same there was a lingering liking for Dave, and he felt disposed to +stand up in his defence and say it was impossible that he could have +done these things, though all the time, as he ran over the matters in +his mind, he began to recall various suspicious incidents, and to think +that, perhaps, they were right. + +One thing buoyed him up though, and that was the thought that they were +not going straight to the decoy-man's hut, and perhaps through this +delay he might escape. + +It was a vain hope, one which was swept away directly after, for +Hickathrift whispered: + +"We went straight to his plaace to try and ketch him, but he slipped +away in his poont, and dodged us about in the dark, till Mester Marston +held out that he was makking for the far part of the fen, and we +followed him theer, but lost all sound on him, and then you know, Mester +Dick, we fun you." + +With a stern effort to be firm Dick watched the progress of the punt +toward the island that was to have been his abode when he felt huffed at +home, and wondered whether Dave were there now. + +"He isn't there," thought Dick; and he turned to telegraph a look at Tom +Tallington, who he felt sure would be as anxious as himself about Dave's +escape. + +"Do you want Tom Tallington?" said his father, who, though apparently +paying no attention, had noted every exchange of glances. + +"Yes, father; there is more room here," said Dick boldly. + +The squire made a sign to Hickathrift, who ceased poling, and the other +two boats came up on either side. + +"Come in here, Tom," said Dick eagerly. + +Tom obeyed with alacrity and stepped on board, while in short decisive +tones the squire spoke: + +"We will divide now, and approach on three sides. You, Marston, and +you, Tallington, get well over so as to command a view all round, for +this man must not escape." + +"Escape! No!" said Farmer Tallington fiercely. + +"If he is there, I don't think he will escape," said Mr Marston +sternly. + +"Hah!" ejaculated the squire; "that is one reason why I waited for you +both to come up. Now, gentlemen, and you, my good fellows, listen. +There must be no violence." + +"No violence, eh!" said Farmer Tallington. "Didn't he bon my place?" + +"And shoot me?" said Mr Marston sternly. + +"Yes, and his is evidently the hand which has committed a score of +outrages, but all the same we must act as if we were the officers of the +law: seize, bind, and hand him over to justice unhurt." + +There was a low murmur from the drain-men in Mr Marston's boat. + +"Yes, and that is why I speak," said the squire firmly. "I am leader +here, and I insist upon this man being taken uninjured. Let the law +deal with him. It is not our duty to punish him for the crimes." + +There was another low murmur here, but the squire paid no heed and went +on: + +"In the first place, not a shot is to be fired." + +"Not if he shutes at us?" cried Farmer Tallington. + +"No: not even if he fires at any of us. If he should draw trigger, rush +in and seize him before he has time to reload, and then, with no more +violence than is necessary, let him be bound." + +"Well," said Farmer Tallington, "perhaps you're reight neighbour; and as +long as he is punished I don't know as I mind much how it's done." + +"Then we all understand each other, and you, my men, I shall hold you +answerable for any injury this man receives." + +"What! Mayn't us knock him down, squire?" grumbled the big wheelwright. + +"Of course you may, Hickathrift. Stun him if you like; he will be the +easier to bind." + +"Hey, that's better, lads," cried the wheelwright, brightening up. +"Squire's talking sense now." + +"But he'll shoot his sen oop in yon hut, squire, and fire at us and +bring us down." + +"There will only be time for one shot, Mr Tallington," said Marston +quietly, "and we can fetch him out before he has a chance to reload. +Mr Winthorpe is right." + +"Oh well, I wean't stick out," said the farmer rather sulkily; "but +Dave's a rare good shot and one of us will hev to go home flat on his +back before we get up to yon wood." + +"He will not dare to fire," said the squire firmly. + +"I do not agree with you, Mr Winthorpe," said Marston. "The man is +desperate, and he will do anything now to escape." + +"And if he can't," cried Farmer Tallington, "he'll die like a rat in a +corner, biting, so look out. He's got that long gun of his loaded and +ready for the first man who goes up to yon hut, and that man arn't me." + +"I will go up first," said the squire quietly; "and he will not dare to +fire." + +"Bud he hev dared to fire, mester," said the wheelwright. + +"Yes, at those who did not see him lurking in some hiding-place, but he +will not dare to fire now." + +"He can't fire, father," cried Dick excitedly. + +"Why?" + +"Because I have his gun here in the boat." + +"What?" cried the squire; and the matter was explained. + +There was no further hesitation. The boats divided as if going to the +attack upon some fort, and after giving the others time to get well on +either side of the island, the squire gave Hickathrift orders to go on, +and the punt glided swiftly toward the shore. + +"You two boys lie down in the bottom of the boat," said the squire. + +"Oh, father!" exclaimed Dick, as Tom slowly obeyed. + +"What is it, Dick?" + +"It seems so cowardly." + +"It is more cowardly to risk life unnecessarily for the sake of +bravado," said his father; and then, reading the look upon his son's +face, the squire continued with a sad smile: + +"I am captain of this little expedition, Dick, and the captain must +lead." + +Dick never felt half so much inclined to disobey his father before, as +he slowly took his place in the bottom of the punt, while Hickathrift +sent it forward so quickly that it was the first to touch the gravelly +shore. When the squire sprang out Hickathrift followed him, after +driving down the pole and securing the boat. + +"I say, Tom," said Dick. + +"I say, Dick," replied Tom. + +"Do you think he would be very cross if we went after them? I do want +to see." + +Tom shook his head, and, landing, sat down on the edge of the boat, Dick +following and seating himself beside his companion, to watch his father +steadily approach the hut, of which not so much as a glimpse could be +obtained, so closely was it hidden among the trees. + +By this time the squire was half-way to the fir-wood, and Dick could +bear it no longer. + +"How could I meet mother," he cried angrily, "if I let him go alone like +that?" + +"But he can't be shot," said Tom. + +"No, but he may be hurt," retorted Dick; and he ran eagerly after his +father. + +"And so may my father be hurt," said Tom as soon as he was left alone; +and he looked in the direction by which Farmer Tallington must approach +the wood, but no one was visible there, and he ran rapidly after his +companion and rejoined him just as he was following his father into the +wood. + +The morning sun shone brilliantly without, but as soon as they were in +the wood they seemed to have entered upon a dusky twilight, cut here and +there by brilliant shafts and bands which struck the ground in places +and made broad patches of golden hue. + +No word was spoken, and in the dim wood with the rustling increasing, +the scene in some way suggested to Dick the fen during the night when he +was listening to the passing of the punt--evidently Dave's--and he fell +a-wondering whether the decoy-man was now far away on the other side of +the mere. + +"That you, squire?" shouted Farmer Tallington from the trees beyond the +hut, which now appeared before them, sombre and gloomy, half hidden by +the growth. + +"Yes, we are here," was the reply. + +"He's in here some'ere's, for his poont's ashore." + +"Where are you?" came from the other side, and, guided by the voices, +Marston soon came up, with his men. + +The squire gave a short sharp order, and the two parties separated, so +as to surround the little hut. Tom whispered to Dick what he was +already thinking. + +"Why, Dick, old Dave's as cunning as a rat, and could slip through there +easy." + +The moment the place was surrounded the squire gave a sharp glance back +at his son, stepped forward, stooped down, and entered the low hut. + +Hickathrift was close behind him, and the next moment he, too, had +disappeared. + +"Is he there, Mr Winthorpe?" cried Marston excitedly; and he, too, +stepped forward and entered the hut. + +"Why, what's it all mean?" said Farmer Tallington impatiently; and he, +too, stepped up to the low doorway and entered. + +"They're tying his hands and feet, Tom," whispered Dick excitedly; and +unable to control himself he ran up to the door, followed by his +schoolmate, but as he did so it was to encounter the squire coming out +with a peculiarly solemn look upon his countenance. + +"Isn't he there, father?" cried Dick wonderingly. + +"Yes, boy--no," said the squire solemnly, as the others came slowly out. +"He managed to crawl here to die." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +LAST WORDS. + +It was a solemn party that returned to the Toft that day: three boats, +with the last propelled by Hickathrift, towing another behind. That +last punt was Dave Gittan's, and in it, later on, the man was taken to +his last resting-place. + +At the inquiry it was found that Dave had been mortally wounded by a +bullet; and in this state he had managed to force his boat to his hut, +and when pursued, to his lurking-place in the farther part of the fen, +to lie down and die. + +Who fired the shot which took his life? No one could say. Five bullets +were sent winging to stop his career on the night of his last insane +act, when pretty well everything which would burn upon the Toft was +destroyed; but whose was the hand which pulled the trigger, and whose +the eye which took the aim, was not divulged. + +Dave had well kept his secret, and struggled hard to stay the advance of +progress, but fought in vain, and with his fall almost the last +opposition to the making of the great drain died out. + +There were old fen-men who murmured and declared that the place was +being destroyed, but for the most part they lived to see that great +drain and others made, and the wild morass become dry land upon which +the plough turned up the black soil and the harrow smoothed, and great +waving crops of corn took the place of those of reed. Meadows, too, +spread out around the Toft, and Farmer Tallington's home at Grimsey-- +meads upon which pastured fine cattle; while in that part of the wide +fen-land ague nearly died away. + +It was one evening twenty years later that a couple of stalwart +well-dressed men, engineers engaged upon the cutting of another lode or +drain many miles to the north, strolled down from the Toft farm to have +a chat with the great grey-haired wheelwright, who carried on a large +business now that a village had sprung up in the fen. + +His delight was extreme to see the visitors, and they had hard work to +extricate their ringers from his grip. + +"Think of you two coming to see me now! It caps owt." + +"Why, of course we've come to see you, Hicky," said the taller of the +two. "How well you look!" + +"Well! Hearty, Mester Dick, bless you! and the missus too. Hearty as +the squire and his lady, bless 'em. But your father looks sadly, Mester +Tom, sir. He don't wear as I should like to see un. He's wankle." +[Sickly.] + +"Rheumatism, Hicky; that's all. He'll be better soon. I say, what's +that--a summer-house?" said Tom, pointing. + +"That, Mester Tom! Why, you know?" + +"Why, it's the old punt!" cried Dick. + +"Ay, it's the owd poont, Mester Dick. What games yow did hev in her +too, eh?" + +"Yes, Hicky," said Dick with a sigh. "Ah! those were happy days." + +"They weer, lad; they weer. Owd poont got dry and cracked, and of no +use bud to go on the dreern, and who wanted to go on a dreern as had +been used to the mere?" + +"No one, of course," said Dick, gazing across the fields and meadows +where he had once propelled the punt. + +"Ay, no one, o' course, so Jacob sawed her i' two one day, and we set +her oop theer i' the garden for a summer-hoose, and Jacob painted her +green. I say, Mester Dick, ony think," added Hickathrift, laughing +violently. + +"Think what? Don't laugh like that, Hicky, or you'll shake your head +off." + +"Nay, not I, my lad; but it do mak' me laugh." + +"What does?" + +"Jacob's married!" + +"No!" + +"He is, Mester Dick, and theer's a babby." + +"Never!" said Dick, laughing, to humour the great fellow, who wiped his +eyes and became quite solemn now. + +"Yes, that he hes, Mester Dick, and you'd nivver guess what he's ca'd +him." + +"Jacob, of course." + +"Nay, Mester Dick; he's ca'd him Dave." + +Dick and Tom went down to the wheelwright's again next day to chat over +old times--fishing, shooting, the netting at the decoy, and the like; +and heard how John Warren had lately died, a venerable old man, who +confessed at last how he had helped Dave Gittan in some of the outrages +when the drain was made, because he hated it, and said it would ruin +honest men. + +But it was not to see John Warren's nor Dave Gittan's grave that +Hickathrift led the young men to the one bit of waste land left, and +there pointed to a wooden tablet nailed against a willow tree. + +"The squire give me leave, Mester Dick, and Jacob and me buried him +theer when he died. Jacob painted his name on it, rather rough, but the +best he could, and we'd hev put his age on it, as well as the date, if +we'd ha' known." + +"How old was he, do you think, Hicky?" said Dick. + +"Don't know, sir, but straange and old." + +"But why did you take so much interest in him? You never liked the +donkey." + +"Nay, bud you did, lad, and that was enough for me." + +"Poor old Solomon!" said Dick, smiling at the recollections the rough +tablet evoked; "how he could kick!" + +"And so you and young Tom--I beg pardon, sir," said Hicky, "Mester +Tallington--are going to help Mester Marston wi the big dreerning out in +Cambridgeshire, eh?" + +"Yes, Hicky, ours is a busy life now; but we're beginning to find people +more sensible about such matters. Mr Marston was laughing over it the +other day, and saying that all the romance had gone out of our +profession now there was no chance of getting shot." + +"Weer he, now?" said Hickathrift wonderingly. "Think of a man liking to +be shot at!" + +"Oh, he does not like to be shot at, Hicky! By the way, though, who was +it shot Dave Gittan? Come, now, you know." + +"Owd Dave Gittan's been buried twenty year, Mester Dick, so let him +rest." + +"Rest! Of course; but come--you do know?" + +"Yes, Mester Dick," said the wheelwright stolidly. "I do know, but I +sweered as I'd nivver tell, and I'll keep my word." + +"Ah, well, I will not press you, Hicky! It was a sad time." + +"Ay, my lads, a sad time when a man maks war like that again his +brothers wi' fire and sword, leastwise wi' goon. That theer fen was +like a battlefield in them days, while now it's as pleasant a place to +look upon as a man need wish to see." + +"A lovely landscape, Hicky," said Dick, gazing across the verdant plain. + +"Ay, lad, and once all bog and watter, and hardly a tree from end to +end." + +"A great change, Hicky, showing what man can do." + +"Ay, a great change, Mester Dick, but somehow theer are times when I get +longing for the black watter and the wild birds, and all as it used to +be." + +"Yes, Hicky," said Dick almost sadly as he saw in memory's mirror the +days of his boyhood; "but this is a world of change, man; we must look +forward and not back." + +"Ay, Mester, Dick, 'cause all's for the best." + +"Yes, Hicky, keep to that--all's for the best! Come, Tom; it's time we +said good-bye to the old fen!" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dick o' the Fens, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK O' THE FENS *** + +***** This file should be named 21306.txt or 21306.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/3/0/21306/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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