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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Vast Abyss, by George Manville Fenn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Vast Abyss
+       The Story of Tom Blount, his Uncles and his Cousin Sam
+
+Author: George Manville Fenn
+
+Illustrator: W.H. Overend
+
+Release Date: September 27, 2009 [EBook #30106]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAST ABYSS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+The Vast Abyss, by George Manville Fenn.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+This is one of the very best books by GM Fenn.  It has a good steady
+pace, yet one is constantly wondering how some dreadful situation is to
+be got out of.  The hero is young Tom, whose father had been a doctor
+who had died in some recent epidemic, which had also carried off his
+mother.  Tom has been taken into the house and law business of an
+uncle, but he does not seem to be getting on well there.  Another uncle
+visits, and takes Tom back with him, giving him a much pleasanter and
+more interesting life.  Together they convert an old windmill into an
+astronomical observatory, which means grinding the glass lenses and
+mirrors, as well as bringing the structure of the building up to the
+required standard.  In this they are encouraged by the daily visits of
+the vicar, while the housekeeper, Mrs Fidler, and the old gardener, make
+various remarks on the sidelines.  However, there is a boy in the
+village whose behaviour is not good at all, and many of the episodes in
+the story are concerned with him, his dog, and their deeds.
+
+Not wishing to spoil the story for you, we will simply say that there
+is another issue involving the legal uncle, and his rather nasty son.
+________________________________________________________________________
+THE VAST ABYSS, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+"I wish I wasn't such a fool!"
+
+Tom Blount said this to himself as he balanced that self upon a high
+stool at a desk in his uncle's office in Gray's Inn.  There was a big
+book lying open, one which he had to study, but it did not interest him;
+and though he tried very hard to keep his attention fixed upon its
+learned words, invaluable to one who would some day bloom into a family
+solicitor, that book would keep on forming pictures that were not
+illustrations of legal practice in the courts of law.  For there one
+moment was the big black pond on Elleston Common, where the water lay so
+still and deep under the huge elms, and the fat tench and eels every now
+and then sent up bubbles of air, dislodged as they disturbed the bottom.
+
+At another time it would be the cricket-field in summer, or the football
+on the common in winter, or the ringing ice on the winding river, with
+the skates flashing as they sent the white powder flying before the
+wind.
+
+Or again, as he stumbled through the opinions of the judge in
+"Coopendale _versus_ Drabb's Exors.," the old house and garden would
+stand out from the page like a miniature seen on the ground-glass of a
+camera; and Tom Blount sighed and his eyes grew dim as he thought of the
+old happy days in the pleasant home.  For father and mother both had
+passed away to their rest; the house was occupied by another tenant; and
+he, Tom Blount, told himself that he ought to be very grateful to Uncle
+James for taking him into his office, to make a man of him by promising
+to have him articled if, during his year of probation, he proved himself
+worthy.
+
+"I wouldn't mind its being so dull," he thought, "or my aunt not liking
+me, or Sam being so disagreeable, if I could get on--but I can't.
+Uncle's right, I suppose, in what he says.  He ought to know.  I'm only
+a fool; and it doesn't seem to matter how I try, I can't get on."
+
+Just then a door opened, letting in a broad band of sunshine full of
+dancing motes, and at the same time Samuel Brandon, a lad of about the
+same age as Tom, but rather slighter of build, but all the same more
+manly of aspect.  He was better dressed too, and wore a white flower in
+his button-hole, and a very glossy hat.  One glove was off, displaying a
+signet-ring, and he brought with him into the dingy office a strong
+odour of scent, whose source was probably the white pocket-handkerchief
+prominently displayed outside his breast-pocket.
+
+"Hullo, bumpkin!" he cried.  "How's Tidd getting on?"
+
+"Very slowly," said Tom.  "I wish you'd try and explain what this bit
+means."
+
+"Likely!  Think I'm going to find you in brains.  Hurry on and peg away.
+Shovel it in, and think you are going to be Lord Chancellor some day.
+Guv'nor in his room?"
+
+"No; he has gone on down to the Court.  Going out?"
+
+"Yes; up the river--Maidenhead.  You heard at the breakfast, didn't
+you?"
+
+Tom shook his head.
+
+"I didn't hear," he said sadly.
+
+"You never hear anything or see anything.  I never met such a dull,
+chuckle-headed chap as you are.  Why don't you wake up?"
+
+"I don't know; I do try," said Tom sadly.
+
+"You don't know!--you don't know anything.  I don't wonder at the
+governor grumbling at you.  You'll have to pull up your boots if you
+expect to be articled here, and so I tell you.  There, I'm off.  I've
+got to meet the mater at Paddington at twelve.  I say, got any money?"
+
+"No," said Tom sadly.
+
+"Tchah! you never have.  There, pitch into Tidd.  You've got your work
+cut out, young fellow.  No letters for me?"
+
+"No.  Yes, there is--one."
+
+"No!--yes!  Well, you are a pretty sort of a fellow.  Where is it?"
+
+"I laid it in uncle's room."
+
+"What!  Didn't I tell you my letters were not to go into his room?  Of
+all the--"
+
+Tom sighed, though he did not hear the last words, for his cousin
+hurried into the room on their right, came back with a letter, hurried
+out, and the door swung to again.
+
+"It's all through being such a fool, I suppose," muttered the boy.  "Why
+am I not as clever and quick as Sam is?  He's as sharp as uncle; but
+uncle doesn't seem a bit like poor mother was."
+
+Just then Tom Blount made an effort to drive away all thoughts of the
+past by planting his elbows on the desk, doubling his fists, and resting
+his puckered-up brow upon them, as he plunged once more into the study
+of the legal work.
+
+But the thoughts would come flitting by, full of sunshiny memories of
+the father who died a hero's death, fighting as a doctor the fell
+disease which devastated the country town; and of the mother who soon
+after followed her husband, after requesting her brother to do what he
+could to help and protect her son.
+
+Then the thought of his mother's last prayer came to him as it often
+did--that he should try his best to prove himself worthy of his uncle's
+kindness by studying hard.
+
+"And I do--I do--I do," he burst out aloud, passionately, "only it is so
+hard; and, as uncle says, I am such a fool."
+
+"You call me, Blount?" said a voice, and a young old-looking man came in
+from the next office.
+
+"I!--call?  No, Pringle," said Tom, colouring up.
+
+"You said something out loud, sir, and I thought you called."
+
+"I--I--"
+
+"Oh, I see, sir; you was speaking a bit out of your book.  Not a bad way
+to get it into your head.  You see you think it and hear it too."
+
+"It's rather hard to me, I'm afraid," said Tom, with the puzzled look
+intensifying in his frank, pleasant face.
+
+"Hard, sir!" said the man, smiling, and wiping the pen he held on the
+tail of his coat, though it did not require it, and then he kept on
+holding it up to his eye as if there were a hair or bit of grit between
+the nibs.  "Yes, I should just think it is hard.  Nutshells is nothing
+to it.  Just like bits of granite stones as they mend the roads with.
+They won't fit nowhere till you wear 'em and roll 'em down.  The law is
+a hard road and no mistake."
+
+"And--and I don't think I'm very clever at it, Pringle."
+
+"Clever!  You'd be a rum one, sir, if you was.  Nobody ever masters it
+all.  They pretend to, but it would take a thousand men boiled down and
+double distilled to get one as could regularly tackle it.  It's an
+impossibility, sir."
+
+"What!" said Tom, with plenty of animation now.  "Why, look at all the
+great lawyers!"
+
+"So I do, sir, and the judges too, and what do I see?  Don't they all
+think different ways about things, and upset one another?  Don't you get
+thinking you're not clever because you don't get on fast.  As I said
+before, you'd be a rum one if you did."
+
+"But my cousin does," said Tom.
+
+"Him?  Ck!" cried the clerk, with a derisive laugh.  "Why, it's my
+belief that you know more law already than Mr Sam does, and what I say
+to you is--Look out! the guv'nor!"
+
+The warning came too late, for Mr James Brandon entered the outer
+office suddenly, and stopped short, to look sharply from one to the
+other--a keen-eyed, well-dressed man of five-and-forty; and as his brows
+contracted he said sharply--
+
+"Then you've finished the deed, Pringle?" just as the clerk was in the
+act of passing through the door leading to the room where he should have
+been at work.
+
+"The deed, sir?--no, not quite, sir.  Shan't be long, sir."
+
+"You shall be long--out of work, Mr Pringle, if you indulge in the bad
+habit of idling and gossiping as soon as my back's turned."
+
+Pringle shot back to his desk, the door swung to, and Mr James Brandon
+turned to his nephew, with his face looking double of aspect--that is to
+say, the frown was still upon his brow, while a peculiarly tight-looking
+smile appeared upon his lips, which seemed to grow thinner and longer,
+and as if a parenthesis mark appeared at each end to shut off the smile
+as something illegal.
+
+"I am glad you are mastering your work so well, Tom," he said softly.
+
+"Mastering it, uncle!" said Tom, with an uneasy feeling of doubt raised
+by his relative's look.  "I--I'm afraid I am getting on very slowly."
+
+"But you can find time to idle and hinder my clerk."
+
+"He had only just come in, uncle, and--"
+
+"That will do, sir," said the lawyer, with the smile now gone.  "I've
+told you more than once, sir, that you were a fool, and now I repeat it.
+You'll never make a lawyer.  Your thick, dense brain has only one
+thought in it, and that is how you can idle and shirk the duty that I
+for your mother's sake have placed in your way.  What do you expect,
+sir?--that I am going to let you loaf about my office, infecting those
+about you, and trying to teach your cousin your lazy ways?  I don't know
+what I could have been thinking about to take charge of such a great
+idle, careless fellow."
+
+"Not careless, uncle," pleaded the lad.  "I do try, but it is so hard."
+
+"Silence, sir!  Try!--not you.  I meant to do my duty by you, and in due
+time to impoverish myself by paying for your articles--nearly a hundred
+pounds, sir.  But don't expect it.  I'm not going to waste my
+hard-earned savings upon a worthless, idle fellow.  Lawyer!  Pish!
+You're about fit for a shoeblack, sir, or a carter.  You'll grow into as
+great an idiot as your father was before you.  What my poor sister could
+have seen in him I don't--"
+
+_Bang_!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+The loudly-closed door of the private office cut short Mr James
+Brandon's speech, and he had passed out without looking round, or he
+would have seen that his nephew looked anything but a fool as he sat
+there with his fists clenched and his eyes flashing.
+
+"How dare he call my dear dead father an idiot!" he said in a low fierce
+voice through his compressed teeth.  "Oh, I can't bear it--I won't bear
+it.  If I were not such a miserable coward I should go off and be a
+soldier, or a sailor, or anything so that I could be free, and not
+dependent on him.  I'll go.  I must go.  I cannot bear it," he muttered;
+and then with a feeling of misery and despair rapidly increasing, he
+bent down over his book again, for a something within him seemed to
+whisper--"It would be far more cowardly to give up and go."
+
+Then came again the memory of his mother's words, and he drew his breath
+through his teeth as if he were in bodily as well as mental pain; and
+forcing himself to read, he went on studying the dreary law-book till,
+in his efforts to understand the author, his allusions, quotations,
+footnotes, and references, he grew giddy, and at last the words grew
+blurred, and he had to read sentences over and over again to make sense
+of them, which slid out of his mind like so much quicksilver.
+
+Lunch-time came, and Pringle crept through the place where he was
+seated, glanced at Mr Brandon's door, stepped close up, and whispered--
+
+"I'm going to get my dinner.  Don't look downhearted about a wigging,
+Mr Tom.  It's nothing when you're used to it."
+
+"Ahem!" came from the inner office, and Pringle made a grimace like a
+pantomime clown, suggesting mock horror and fear, as he glided to the
+outer door, where he turned, looked back, and then disappeared; while,
+as soon as he was alone, Tom took out a paper of sandwiches, opened it,
+and began to eat, it being an understood thing that he should not leave
+the office all day.
+
+But those sandwiches, good enough of their kind, tasted as if they were
+made of sawdust, and he had hard work to get them down, and then only by
+the help of a glass of water from the table-filter, standing at the side
+of the office--kept, Pringle said, to revive unfortunate clients whose
+affairs were going to the bad.  Every now and then a cough was heard
+from the inner office, and Tom hurried over his meal in dread lest his
+uncle should appear before he had finished.  Then, as soon as the last
+was eaten, and the paper thrust into the waste-basket, the boy attacked
+his book once more, and had hardly recommenced when the inner office
+door opened, and his uncle appeared, looking at him sharply--ready, Tom
+thought, to find fault with him for being so long over his midday meal.
+
+But there was nothing to complain about.
+
+"I'm going to have my lunch," he said sharply, "and I may not come back,
+though all the same I may.  Mind that man Pringle goes on with his work,
+and don't let me have any fault to find about your reading.  When you go
+home tell them to give you something to eat, for there will be no
+regular dinner to-day, as I shall be out.  Take home any letters that
+may come, in case I don't look in."
+
+"All right, uncle."
+
+"And don't speak in that free-and-easy, offhand, unbusiness-like manner.
+Say `Yes, sir,' and `No, sir,' if you are not too stupid to remember."
+
+He put on his hat and went out, leaving the boy feeling as if a fresh
+sting had been planted in his breast, and his brow wrinkled up more than
+ever, while his heart grew more heavy in his intense yearning for
+somebody who seemed to care for him, if ever so little.
+
+Five minutes later Pringle came back, looking shining and refreshed.  As
+he entered he gave Tom an inquiring look, and jerked his head sidewise
+toward the inner office.
+
+Tom was not too stupid to understand the dumb language of that look and
+gesture.
+
+"No," he replied.  "He went out five minutes ago, and said that very
+likely he wouldn't be back."
+
+"And that you were to take any letters home after office hours?"
+
+"Yes; how did you know?"
+
+"How did I know!" said the clerk with a chuckle; "because I've been
+caught before.  That means that he'll be sure to look in before very
+long to see whether we are busy.  You'd better read hard, sir, and don't
+look up when he comes.  Pst! 'ware hawk!"
+
+He slipped into the little office, and his stool made a scraping noise,
+while, almost before Tom had settled down to his work, the handle of the
+outer door turned and his uncle bustled in.
+
+"Here, did I leave my umbrella?" he said sharply.
+
+"I did not see it, uncle--sir," replied Tom, jumping from his stool.
+
+"Keep your place, sir, and go on with your work.  Don't be so fond of
+seizing any excuse to get away from your books.  Humph, yes," he
+muttered, as he reached into his room and took up the ivory-handled
+article from where it stood.
+
+The next moment he was at the door of the clerk's office.
+
+"By the way, Pringle, you had better go and have that deed stamped this
+afternoon if you get it done in time."
+
+"Yes, sir," came back sharply, and the lawyer frowned, turned round, and
+went out once more.
+
+The outer door had not closed a minute before the inner one opened, and
+Pringle's head appeared, but with its owner evidently on the alert, and
+ready to snatch it back again.
+
+"Good-bye!  Bless you!" he said aloud.  "Pray take care of yourself,
+sir.  You can bob back again if you like, but I shan't be out getting
+the deed stamped, because, as you jolly well know, it won't be done
+before this time to-morrow."
+
+Pringle looked at Tom, smiled, and nodded.
+
+"You won't tell him what I said, Mr Tom, I know.  But I say, don't you
+leave your stool.  You take my advice.  Don't you give him a chance to
+row you again, because I can see how it hurts you."
+
+Tom's lip quivered as he looked wistfully at the clerk.
+
+"It's all right, sir.  You just do what's c'rect, and you needn't mind
+anything.  I ain't much account, but I do know that.  I wouldn't stay
+another month, only there's reasons, you see, and places are easier to
+lose than find, 'specially when your last guv'nor makes a face with the
+corners of his lips down when any one asks for your character.  Pst!
+look out.  Here he is again."
+
+For there was a step at the door, the handle rattled, and as Pringle
+disappeared, a quiet, grave-looking, middle-aged man stepped in.
+
+"Do, Tom!" he said, as with an ejaculation of surprise the boy sprang
+from his stool and eagerly took the extended hand, but dropped it again
+directly, for there did not seem to be any warmth in the grasp.  "Quite
+well, boy?"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Richard," said Tom, rather sadly.
+
+"That's right.  Where's my brother?"
+
+"He has gone out, sir, and said he might not return this afternoon."
+
+"Felt I was coming perhaps," said the visitor.  "Here, don't let me
+hinder you, my lad; he won't like you to waste time.  Getting on with
+your law reading?"
+
+The boy looked at him wistfully, and shook his head.
+
+"Eh?  No?  But you must, my lad.  You're no fool, you know, and you've
+got to be a clever lawyer before you've done."
+
+Tom felt disposed to quote his other uncle's words as to his folly, but
+he choked down the inclination.
+
+"There, I won't hinder you, my lad," continued the visitor.  "I know
+what you busy London people are, and how we slow-going country folk get
+in your way.  I only want to look at a Directory,--you have one I know."
+
+"Yes, sir, in the other office.  I'll fetch it."
+
+The quiet, grey-haired, grave-looking visitor gave a nod as if of
+acquiescence, and Tom ran into the inner office, where he found that
+Pringle must have heard every word, for he was holding out the London
+Directory all ready.
+
+"He must hear everything too when uncle goes on at me," thought Tom, as
+he took the Directory and returned Pringle's friendly nod.
+
+"Tell him he ought to give you a tip."
+
+Tom frowned, shook his head, and hurried back with the great red book.
+
+"Hah, that's right, my boy," said the visitor.  "There, I don't want to
+bother about taking off my gloves and putting on my spectacles.  Turn to
+the trades, and see if there are any lens-makers down."
+
+"Yes, sir, several," said Tom, after a short search.
+
+"Read 'em down, boy."
+
+Tom obeyed alphabetically till he came to D, and he had got as far as
+Dallmeyer when his visitor stopped him.
+
+"That will do," he said.  "That's the man I want.  Address?"
+
+Tom read this out, and the visitor said--
+
+"Good; but write it down so that I don't forget.  It's so easy to have
+things drop out of your memory."
+
+Tom obeyed, and the visitor took up the slip of paper, glanced at it,
+and nodded.
+
+"That's right.  Nice clear hand, that one can read easily."
+
+"And Uncle James said my writing was execrable," thought Tom.
+
+"Good-bye for the present, boy.  Tell your uncle I've been, and that I
+shall come on in time for dinner.  Bye.  Be a good boy, and stick to
+your reading."
+
+He nodded, shook hands rather coldly, and went out, leaving Tom looking
+wistfully after him with the big Directory in his hands.
+
+"They neither of them like me," he said to himself, feeling sadly
+depressed, when he started, and turned sharply round.
+
+"On'y me, Mr Tom," said the clerk.  "I'll take that.  Directories
+always live in my office.  I say, sir."
+
+"Yes, Pringle."
+
+"I used to wish I'd got a lot of rich old uncles, but I don't now.
+Wouldn't give tuppence a dozen for 'em.  Ketched again!--All right, Mr
+Tom, sir; I'll put it away."
+
+For the door opened once more, and their late visitor thrust in his
+head.
+
+"Needn't tell your uncle I shall come to-night."
+
+Pringle disappeared with the Directory, and Uncle Richard gazed after
+him in a grim way as he continued--
+
+"Do you hear?  Don't tell him I shall come; and you needn't mention that
+I said he wouldn't want me, nor to his wife and boy neither.  Bye."
+
+The door closed again, and the inner door opened, and Pringle's head
+appeared once more.
+
+"Nor we don't neither, nor nobody else don't.  I say, Mr Tom, I thought
+it was the governor.  Ever seen him before?"
+
+"Only twice," said Tom.  "He has been abroad a great deal.  He only came
+back to England just before dear mother--"
+
+Tom stopped short, and Pringle nodded, looked very grave, and said
+softly--
+
+"I know what you was going to say, Mr Tom."
+
+"And I saw him again," continued the lad, trying to speak firmly, "when
+it was being settled that I was to come here to learn to be a lawyer.
+Uncle James wanted Uncle Richard to bring me up, but he wouldn't, and
+said I should be better here."
+
+"Well, perhaps you are, Mr Tom, sir," said Pringle thoughtfully.  "I
+don't know as I should care to live with him."
+
+"Nor I, Pringle, for--Here, I say, I don't know why I tell you all
+this."
+
+Pringle grinned.
+
+"More don't I, sir.  P'r'aps it's because we both get into trouble
+together, and that makes people hang to one another.  Steps again.  Go
+it, sir."
+
+The clerk darted away, and Tom started leading once more; but the steps
+passed, and so did the long, dreary afternoon, with Tom struggling hard
+to master something before six o'clock came; and before the clock had
+done striking Pringle was ready to shut up and go.
+
+"You'll take the keys, sir," he said.  "Guv'nor won't come back now.
+I've got well on with that deed, if he asks you when he comes home.
+Good-evening, sir."
+
+"Good-evening, Pringle," said Tom; and ten minutes later he was on his
+way to his uncle's house in Mornington Crescent, where he found dinner
+waiting for him, and though it was only cold, it was made pleasant by
+the handmaid's smile.
+
+Tom began a long evening all alone over another law-book, and at last,
+with his head aching, and a dull, weary sense of depression, he went up
+to the bedroom which he shared with his cousin, jumped into his own bed
+as soon as he could to rest his aching head, and lay listening to a
+street band playing airs that sounded depressing and sorrowful in the
+extreme, and kept him awake till he felt as if he could never drop off,
+and cease hearing the rumble of omnibuses and carts.
+
+Then all at once Mr Tidd came and sat upon his head, and made it ache
+ten times worse, or so it seemed--Mr Tidd being the author of one of
+the books his uncle had placed in his hands to read.
+
+He tried to force him off, but he would not stir, only glared down at
+him laughing loud, and then mockingly, till the torture seemed too much
+to be borne; and in an agony of misery and despair he tried to escape
+from the pressure, and to assure his torturer that he would strive hard
+to master the book.  But not a word could he utter, only lie there
+panting, till the eyes that glared looked close down into his, and a
+voice said--
+
+"Now then, wake up, stupid.  Don't be snoring like that."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+Tom Blount started up in bed confused and staring.  He was only half
+awake, and it was some time before he could realise that it was his
+cousin, who had come back from his trip boisterous and elated, and who
+had been playing him some trick as he lay there asleep.
+
+"Well, what are you staring at, old torpid?" cried Sam, as he now began
+to divest himself slowly of his coat and vest.
+
+"I--that is--have been asleep," stammered Tom.
+
+"Asleep?  Yes, and snoring loud enough to bring the plaster off the
+ceiling.  Why, you must have been gorging yourself like a
+boa-constrictor, and been sleeping it off.  Come, wake up, bumpkin,
+you're half stupid now."
+
+"I'm quite awake, Sam.  Had a pleasant day?  I say, were you sitting on
+my head?"
+
+"Was I doing what?" cried Sam.  "No, I wasn't; but you want some one to
+sit upon you to bring you to your senses.  Wake up; I want to talk."
+
+Tom tried to rub the last traces of his drowsiness out of his eyes, and
+now sat up watching his cousin, who, after taking off collar and tie,
+unfastened his braces, and then, as if moved by a sudden thought, he
+tied the aforesaid suspenders about his waist.  Then, grinning to
+himself, he stooped down, untied his Oxford shoes, pushed them off, took
+up one, and shouting "_Play_!" bowled it sharply at Tom where he sat up
+in bed on the other side of the room.
+
+It was a bad shot, for the shoe whizzed by the lad's side, and struck
+the scroll-work of the iron bedstead with a sharp rap, and fell on the
+pillow.
+
+"Play again!" cried Sam, and he sent the second shoe spinning with a
+vicious energy at the still confused and sleepy boy.
+
+This time the aim was excellent, and Tom was too helpless to avoid the
+missile, which struck him heavily, the edge of the heel catching him on
+the chin, and making him wince.
+
+"Well played--well bowled!" cried Sam, laughing boisterously.  "I say,
+bumpkin, that's the way to wake you up."
+
+Tom's face grew dark, and the hand which he held to his injured face
+twitched as if the fingers were trying to clench themselves and form a
+fist for their owner's defence; but the boy did not stir, only sat
+looking at his cousin, who now struck an attitude, made two or three
+feints, and then dashed forward hitting out sharply, catching Tom in the
+chest, and knocking him backward so heavily that it was his crown now
+that struck the scroll-work of the bed.
+
+"That's your sort, countryman," cried Sam.  "How do you like that
+style?"
+
+"Don't!  Be quiet, will you," said the boy in a suffocated voice, as he
+sat up once more.
+
+"What for?" cried Sam.  "Here, get up and have a round with the gloves.
+I feel as if I can hit to-night.  It's the rowing.  My arms are as hard
+as wood."
+
+"No; be quiet," said Tom huskily.  "They'll hear you down-stairs."
+
+"Let 'em," said Sam, chuckling to himself as he dragged open a drawer,
+and brought out a couple of pairs of boxing-gloves, two of which he
+hurled with all his might like a couple of balls at his cousin's head.
+
+But the boy was wide-awake now, and caught each glove in turn, letting
+it fall afterwards upon the bed before him.
+
+"Now then, shove 'em on," cried Sam, as he thrust his own hands into the
+gloves he held.  "Look sharp, or I'll knock you off the bed."
+
+"No, no," cried Tom; "don't be so absurd.  How can I when I'm
+undressed?"
+
+"Put on your trousers then.  D'yer hear?  Be quick now, or you'll have
+it."
+
+"You'll have uncle hear you directly if you don't be quiet."
+
+"You'll have him hear you go off that bed lump if you don't jump out and
+get ready.  Now then, are you going to begin?"
+
+"No," said Tom sturdily.  "I'm going to sleep."
+
+He snuggled down in his place and drew the clothes up to his ear, but
+they did not stay there, for Sam began his attack, bounding forward and
+bringing the padded gloves _thud_, _thud_, down upon his cousin's head,
+as if bent upon driving it down into the pillow.
+
+Tom sat up again quickly with his teeth set, and his eyes flashing.
+
+"Will you be quiet?" he cried in a low, half-suffocated voice.
+
+"Will you put on those gloves?" cried Sam.
+
+"No; I'm not going to make such a fool of myself at this time of night,"
+said Tom.
+
+"Lie down then," cried Sam, and hitting out again cleverly he knocked
+his cousin back on to the pillow, following it up with other blows, each
+having the same result, for Tom struggled up again and again.
+
+"Now, will you get up?" cried Sam.
+
+"No," said Tom hoarsely; and down he went once more.
+
+"You'd better jump up and do as I tell you, or it will be the worse for
+you."
+
+"You'd better leave me alone before you get my temper up."
+
+"Temper, bumpkin?  Yes, you'd better show your teeth.  Take that, and
+that, and that."
+
+Tom did take them--heavy blows delivered with the soft gloves, but all
+falling hard enough to inflict a good deal of pain, and make the boy
+draw his breath hard.
+
+"That's your sort," continued Sam, who danced about by the side of the
+bed, skilfully delivering his blows upon his defenceless cousin, and
+revelling in the pleasure he found in inflicting pain.  "That'll knock
+some sense into your thick head, and so will that, and that, and that,
+and--Oh!"
+
+Sam had gone too far, for after trying all he could to avoid the blows,
+Tom suddenly gathered himself together and shot out of bed full at his
+cousin's breast, sending him down heavily in a sitting position first
+and then backwards, so that his head struck heavily against the iron leg
+of his own bedstead.
+
+Then, thoroughly up now, Tom flung himself upon his cousin, tore off his
+gloves, and stuffed them under his bed-clothes, and was looking for the
+others, when he was sent down in turn by Sam.
+
+"You savage beast!" cried the latter.  "I'll teach you to do that;" and
+flinging himself on Tom's chest, he nipped him with his knees, and began
+to belabour him with his fists.
+
+Then a fierce struggle began.  Sam was jerked off, and for a few moments
+there was an angry up-and-down wrestle, ending in Sam becoming the
+undermost, with Tom occupying his position in turn, and holding his
+cousin down just as the bedroom door was opened, and Mr James Brandon
+entered in his dressing-gown, and holding up a candle above his head.
+
+"What is the meaning of all this?" he cried angrily, as Tom sprang up
+and darted into bed.
+
+"Yes, you may well say that, father," cried Sam, rising slowly, and
+beginning to try and fasten the neck of his shirt, but vainly, for the
+button-hole was torn and the button off.  "If that country wild beast is
+to stop here I shan't sleep in the same room."
+
+Sam's father turned to Tom, who now lay in bed staring, mentally stunned
+by the tone his cousin had taken.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" he cried.  "How dare you, sir!"
+
+"Why, he began at me, uncle, while I was asleep, and--"
+
+"Silence, sir!  I will not have the calm and repose of my house
+disturbed by such disgraceful conduct.  Past twelve o'clock, you ought
+to be asleep, and here is a regular riot in the place."
+
+"There, I told you how it would be," said Sam in an ill-used,
+remonstrative tone.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Tom, but no more, for a hot feeling of indignation
+forced him to be silent, stung as he was by the injustice of the
+disturbance being laid at his door.
+
+"_Oh_! indeed!" cried his uncle.  "It is scandalous, sir.  Out of
+charity and compassion for your forlorn state, I give you a home and
+brilliant prospects, and you set yourself to work in every way possible
+to make me repent my kindness.  It is abominable.  You make friends with
+the servants; you are idle and stupid and careless beyond belief; and
+when you come back at night to my peaceful quiet home, you must
+introduce your low, blackguardly habits, and begin quarrelling and
+fighting with your cousin."
+
+"I can't speak--I won't speak," said Tom to himself, as he set his teeth
+hard.  "And as for Sam, I'll--"
+
+He had not time to say to himself what he would do to his cousin, for
+his uncle had worked himself up now to deliver a sounding tirade upon
+his base, disgraceful conduct, finding plenty of epithets suitable as he
+considered for the occasion, and making the poor lad writhe as he lay
+there, hot and panting beneath the undeserved reproaches till he was
+quite out of breath; while, to make matters worse, Sam put in a word or
+two in a murmuring tone--"He knew how it would be," and "It was of no
+use for him to speak," and the like.  And all the time Tom's indignation
+made him feel more stubbornly determined to hold his peace.
+
+"It's of no use for me to complain," he thought.  "Uncle hates me, and
+he will not believe, and it's too hard to bear."
+
+"Once for all, sir," cried his uncle, "remember this--if you stay here
+there must be a marked improvement in your conduct, both as to your work
+at the office and your behaviour in my house.  I won't have it--do you
+hear?  I won't have it.  That sulky way too won't go down with me.  Here
+you, Sam, undress and get to bed, and if he interferes with you again,
+call me at once; but if I do come up, unwilling as I should be, I shall
+feel called upon, out of my duty to his mother, to read him a very
+severe lesson, such as his schoolmaster should have read him years ago.
+Now silence, both of you; and as for you, sir, bear in mind what I have
+said, for, as you ought to know by this time, I am a man of my word."
+
+The door was shut loudly, and the resounding steps were heard, followed
+by the banging of the bedroom door on the next floor.
+
+"There, now you know, bumpkin," said Sam, with a sneering laugh.
+
+Tom sat up in bed as if a spring had been touched.
+
+"You sneak!" he cried.
+
+"What?"
+
+"I say you sneak--you miserable, cowardly sneak!"
+
+"Look here," cried Sam, "you say another word and I'll call the guv'nor,
+and you know what he meant; he'll give you a good licking, and serve you
+right."
+
+"Oh!" muttered Tom between his teeth, while his cousin went on quietly
+undressing.
+
+"That would soon bring you to your senses.  I wanted to be friendly with
+you, and have just a bit of a game, but you must turn nasty, and it just
+serves you right."
+
+"Oh!" muttered Tom again.
+
+"I thought that would quiet you, my lad.  He'd bring up his old rattan,
+and loosen that stiff hide of yours.  There, go to sleep, bumpkin, and
+think yourself lucky you got off so well."
+
+A minute later the candle was extinguished, and Sam jumped into bed, to
+fall asleep directly, but Tom lay with his head throbbing till the pale
+dawn began to creep into the room; and then only did he fall into a
+troubled doze, full of unpleasant dreams one after the other, till it
+was time to rise, get his breakfast alone, and hurry off to the office.
+For breakfast was late, and aunt, uncle, and cousin did not put in an
+appearance till long after Tom had climbed upon his stool in Gray's Inn.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+That day and many following Tom sat over his books or copying, musing
+upon the injustice of the treatment he was receiving, and feeling more
+and more the misery of his new life.  He looked with envy at nearly
+every boy he met, and thought of the happy, independent life they seemed
+to lead.  But he worked hard all the same.
+
+"I won't give up," he would say through his set teeth.  "Uncle shall see
+that if I'm not clever I can persevere, and master what I have to
+learn."
+
+But in spite of his determination he did not progress very fast, for the
+simple reason that he expected to learn in a few months the work of many
+years.
+
+The weeks did not pass without plenty of unpleasant encounters with his
+cousin, while pretty well every day there was a snubbing or downright
+bullying from his uncle.
+
+"But never you mind, Mr Tom," Pringle would say; "things always come
+right in the end."
+
+One of Tom's greatest troubles was his home life, and the evident
+aversion shown to him by his aunt.  She had received him coldly and
+distantly at the first, and her manner did not become warmer as the
+months wore on.  Possibly she had once been a sweet, amiable woman, but
+troubles with her husband and son had produced an acidity of temper and
+habit of complaining which were not pleasant for those with whom she
+lived.  Her husband escaped, from the fact that she held him in fear,
+while Sam was too much idolised to receive anything but the fondest
+attentions.
+
+Tom's perceptions were keen enough, and he soon saw for himself that his
+uncle repented his generosity in taking him into his home; while his
+aunt's feeling for him was evidently one of jealousy, as if his presence
+was likely to interfere with her darling's prospects.
+
+She resented his being there more and more; and though Tom tried hard to
+win her love and esteem, he found at the end of six months that he was
+as far from his object as ever.
+
+"I'm only in the way there," he often said to himself; "I wish I could
+live always here at the office."
+
+But as he thought this he looked round with a slight shiver, and thought
+of how dreary it would be shut up there with the law-books, tin boxes,
+and dusty papers, and he gave up the idea.
+
+Often of a night it was like a temptation to him--that intense longing
+to be free; and he would sit with a book before him, but his mind
+wandering far away, following the adventures of boys of his own age who
+had gone away to seek their fortunes, and if they had not found all they
+sought, had at least achieved some kind of success.
+
+And how grand it would be, he thought, with his cheeks flushing, to be
+independent, and work his own way without encountering day by day his
+uncle's sour sneers and reproaches, his aunt's cold looks, and his
+cousin's tyranny.
+
+"I could make my way, I know I could," he thought, and the outlook grew
+day by day more rosy.  Those were pleasant paths, he told himself, that
+he wanted to tread, and it never occurred to him that if he went among
+strangers they might be harder than his uncle.
+
+But the outcome of these musings was always the same: there was the
+stern figure of Duty rising before him to remind him of his promise to
+his mother, and with his brow knitting, his hands would clench beneath
+table or desk as he softly muttered to himself--
+
+"I'm going to be a lawyer, and I will succeed."
+
+But it has been written by a wise man, "There's a divinity that shapes
+our ends, rough-hew them how we will," and Tom Blount was soon to find
+out its truth.
+
+Matters had been going very badly at Mornington Crescent, and the boy's
+life was harder than ever to bear, for, presuming upon his patience, Sam
+Brandon was more tyrannical than ever.  Words failing to sting
+sufficiently, he had often had recourse to blows, and these Tom had
+borne patiently, till, to his cousin's way of thinking, he was about as
+contemptible a coward as ever existed.
+
+One morning at the office Sam was seated opposite to his cousin writing,
+Pringle was busily employed in the other room, and Tom was putting
+stamps on some letters, when his eye lit upon one standing edgewise
+against a gum-bottle between him and his cousin.
+
+Just then Mr Brandon bustled in looking very stern and angry, and he
+gave a sharp look round the office.  Then his eyes lit upon Tom and his
+task.
+
+"What letters are those?" he said.
+
+"The tithe notices, sir, you told me to fill up and direct from the
+book," replied Tom.
+
+"Humph! yes, quite right.  Oh, by the way, Samuel, did you post that
+letter to Mr Wilcox yesterday afternoon?"
+
+"Yes, father," said Sam promptly; and as he raised his eyes he saw his
+cousin's gazing at the letter standing on edge between them.
+
+Sam turned pale as he now met Tom's keen look.
+
+It was all momentary, in the interval of Mr Brandon's first words and
+his next question.  "Then how is it that Mr Wilcox has not received it,
+and been on to me at home full of anxiety about not having my answer to
+an important question?"
+
+"I don't know, father," said Sam sharply.
+
+"Are you sure you posted the letter?"
+
+"Oh yes, father.  No; I recollect now: some one came in on business, to
+ask for you, and I told Tom Blount here to take it directly.  Oh!" he
+cried, "I say, it is too bad.  Why, you didn't take it, Tom.  Here's the
+letter, father, all the time."
+
+He took up and held out the unfortunate missive, shaking his head at Tom
+the while.
+
+"You never told me to take any letter yesterday," said Tom quietly.
+
+"Oh--my!  What a lie, to be sure!" cried Sam, as if perfectly astounded.
+"Pringle must have heard me at the time."
+
+"Of course," said his father, speaking with his lips tightly compressed,
+so that his voice sounded muttering and indistinct.  Then aloud--"Here,
+Pringle."
+
+_Scroop_ went Pringle's stool, and he hurried in.  "You call, sir?"
+
+"Yes.  What time was it when you heard Mr Samuel tell his cousin to go
+out and post a letter?"
+
+"Never heard anything of the kind, sir, at any time."
+
+"That will do," said his employer.
+
+"Row on," thought Pringle.  "I hope he isn't going to catch it again."
+
+Then as the door closed Mr Brandon, whose countenance was flushed and
+his eyes angry-looking, turned upon his son.
+
+"Do you think I am blind, sir?" he said sharply.
+
+"No, father: I don't know what you mean."
+
+"Then I'll tell you, sir.  I mean that you have told me a miserable
+falsehood--a disgraceful falsehood."
+
+"I haven't, father.  I told Tom here to take the letter;" and he gave
+his cousin a fierce look which evidently said, "Say I told you, or it
+will be the worse for you," and he accompanied the look with a sharp
+kick under the desk, which took effect on Tom's shin, rousing him to a
+pitch of fury and obstinate determination.
+
+"Oh, you haven't, eh?" said Mr Brandon.  "Tom, did your cousin tell you
+to post that letter?"
+
+"Yes, you know I did," cried Sam.
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"I did.  You've forgotten it, or else you're saying that out of spite,"
+cried Sam desperately.
+
+"I haven't forgotten it, and I'm not saying what I did out of spite,"
+said Tom firmly.  "Indeed I spoke the truth, uncle."
+
+"Yes; I believe you," said Mr Brandon.
+
+"Shall I go and post the letter now, sir?"
+
+"No; it is too late.  Here, Samuel, come into my room."
+
+Mr Brandon walked into his room, while Sam got down slowly from his
+stool, leaning over toward his cousin the while.
+
+"I'll serve you out for this," he whispered, and then crossed to his
+father's room.
+
+There was a low murmur of voices from within as soon as the door was
+closed; but that door fitted too closely for any of the conversation to
+be heard.  Not that Tom was listening, for he was feeling a kind of pity
+for his cousin's position, and more warmly towards his uncle for his
+simple act of justice than he had felt for months.
+
+Just then there was a faint creaking sound, and looking behind him, it
+was to see that the inner office door was open, and Pringle standing
+there framed as it were, and going through a pantomimic performance
+expressive of his intense delight, grimacing, rubbing his hands, and
+laughing silently.  Then he gesticulated and pointed toward the private
+office, and rubbed his hands again, till there was a sound in the
+private room, and he darted back and closed the door.
+
+All this was meant for Tom's amusement, and as congratulation; but the
+boy did not feel in the least elated, but sat waiting for his cousin's
+return, fully intending to offer him his hand and whisper, "I am sorry--
+but you should have told the truth."
+
+A good half-hour passed before Sam came out, looking very red in the
+face; but when he took his place on his stool, Tom did not reach across
+to offer his hand, for his cousin's face repelled him, and he felt that
+something would come of all this--what he could not tell.  Still there
+was one gratifying thing left: his uncle had taken his word before that
+of his cousin, and this little thing comforted him during the remainder
+of that unpleasant day.
+
+Before the afternoon was half over Mr Brandon came to his door and
+called Sam, who went in, and then took his hat and went away, to Tom's
+great relief, for it was far from pleasant to be sitting at a double
+desk facing one who kept on darting scowling looks full of threatenings.
+
+An hour later Mr Brandon left, after sending Pringle upon some errand,
+and for the rest of the afternoon the boy had the office to himself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+In due time Tom locked up the safe and strong-room, saw that no
+important papers were left about, and started for Mornington Crescent in
+anything but the best of spirits, for he did not look forward with any
+feeling of pleasure to his next meeting with his cousin.  Upon reaching
+home he found from divers signs that company was expected to dinner; for
+the cloth was laid for five, the best glass was on the table, there were
+flowers and fruit, and sundry fumes from the kitchen ascended into the
+hall, suggesting extra preparations there as well.
+
+Tom had hardly reached this point when his cousin came out of the
+library scowling.
+
+"Here, bumpkin," he cried, "you're to look sharp and put on your best
+things.  It's not my doing, I can tell you, but the pater says you're to
+come in to dinner."
+
+"Who's coming?" said Tom.
+
+"What's that to you?  Pretty cheeky that.  I suppose you ought to have
+been asked whether we might have company."
+
+"Oh, no," said Tom, good-temperedly; "I only wanted to know."
+
+"Did you?  Well, you won't know till dinnertime.  Now then, don't stand
+staring there, but go and wash that dirty face, and see if you can't
+come down with your hands and nails fit to be seen."
+
+"Clean as ever yours are," was on Tom's lips; but he remembered his
+cousin's trouble of that morning, pitied him, and felt that he had some
+excuse for feeling irritable and strange.
+
+"Well, go on; look sharp," said Sam, manoeuvring so as to get behind his
+cousin.
+
+"All right; I'm going," replied Tom, who was suspicious of something
+coming after his cousin's promise of revenge; and he wanted to remain
+facing any danger that might be threatening.  But he felt that he could
+not back away, it would look so cowardly, and, daring all, he went
+slowly to the pegs to hang up his overcoat.
+
+"Get on, will you," cried Sam; "don't be all night.  We don't want to
+wait for you."
+
+"Oh, I shan't be long," said Tom quietly; "I'll soon be down."
+
+He was on the mat at the foot of the stairs as he said this, conscious
+the while that Sam was close behind; and he was in the act of stepping
+up, when he received so savage a kick that he fell forwards on to the
+stairs, striking his nose violently, and creating a sensation as if that
+member had suddenly been struck off.
+
+"You got it that time, did you?" said Sam, with a satisfied chuckle.
+"You generally play the wriggling eel, but I was too quick for you, my
+lad."
+
+Sam said no more, for his triumph was only short-lived.  He was looking
+triumphantly at his cousin as the lad got up heavily, feeling his nose
+to find out whether it was there.  The next instant Sam was feeling his
+own, for he had at last gone too far.  Tom had borne till he could bear
+no more; and in the anguish of that kick he had forgotten company,
+dressing for dinner, everything but the fact that Sam was there, and
+quick as lightning he struck him full in the face.
+
+This satisfied him--acting like a discharging rod for his electric rage?
+
+Nothing of the kind: there was a supreme feeling of pleasure in striking
+that blow.  It, was the outlet of any amount of dammed-up suffering; and
+seeing nothing now but his cousin's malignant face, Tom followed up that
+first blow with a second, till, throwing his remaining strength into a
+blow intended for the last, it took effect, and Sam went over backwards,
+flung out his right hand to save himself, and caught and brought down a
+great blue china jar, which shivered to pieces on the floor, covering
+Sam with fragments, and giving him the aspect of having been terribly
+cut, for his nose was bleeding freely.
+
+So was Tom's, as he caught a glimpse of himself in the glass of the hall
+table, while his lip had received a nasty cut, and in the struggle the
+stains had been pretty well distributed over his face.
+
+But he had no time to think of that, for the crash had alarmed those
+up-stairs as well as down, and hurrying steps were heard.
+
+The first to arrive was the cook, who, on reaching the head of the
+kitchen stairs, uttered a kind of choking gasp as she saw Sam lying
+apparently insensible among the ruins of the china jar.
+
+"Oh, Master Tom, what have you been and done?" she cried.
+
+"Been and done?" came like an angry echo from the landing above, where
+Mr Brandon had arrived.  But before he could say more there was a
+piercing shriek, he was pushed aside, and Mrs Brandon rushed down the
+remaining stairs crying wildly--
+
+"Oh, my darling boy! my darling boy!  He has killed him--he has killed
+him!"
+
+She dropped upon her knees by where Sam lay, apparently insensible; but
+uttered a cry of pain and sprang up again, for the broken china was full
+of awkward corners.
+
+"Oh, James!  James! look what that wicked wretch has done!"
+
+"Look, woman!  Do you think I'm blind?  That vase was worth fifty
+pounds, if it was worth a penny."
+
+"I--I wasn't thinking about the ch-ch-ch-china," sobbed Mrs Brandon,
+"but about my darling Sam.  Oh, my boy! my boy! don't say you're dead!"
+
+"Don't you make an exhibition of yourself before the servants," cried
+her husband angrily.  "Here you, sir: I always knew that you'd make me
+repent.  How came you to break that vase?"
+
+"I didn't, sir," said Tom quietly; "Sam caught hold of it as he was
+falling."
+
+Sam was lying insensible the moment before, but this was reviving.
+
+"I didn't, father; he knocked me down, and then seized the vase and
+dashed it at me."
+
+"Yes, yes," cried Mrs Brandon, as Sam lapsed into insensibility once
+more.  "The wretch has had a spite against his cousin ever since he has
+been here.  Oh, my darling, darling boy!"
+
+Sam uttered a low groan which made his mother shriek and fling herself
+down by him again.
+
+"Oh, Mary! cook!" she cried, "help--help!"
+
+"Yes, mum," said the former; "shall I bring a dustpan and brush, and
+take up the bits?"
+
+"No, no!  Water--sponge--help!"
+
+"Indeed, indeed, I did not break the vase," pleaded Tom, as his uncle
+suddenly caught him by the collar and drew a gold-headed malacca cane
+from the umbrella-stand.
+
+"I'll soon see about that," said Mr Brandon, with a fierce drawing-in
+of the breath.
+
+"Yes; beat him, beat him well, James, the wretch, the cruel wretch, and
+then turn him out of the house."
+
+"Don't you interfere," cried Mr Brandon, with a snap.  Then to Tom--"I
+suppose you'll say you were not fighting?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I was fighting; but Sam began at me, and all because I
+wouldn't screen him to-day."
+
+"Hah! never mind that," said Mr Brandon.
+
+"Don't beat me, sir," pleaded Tom, excitedly.  "I can't bear it."
+
+"You'll have to bear it, my fine fellow.  Here, come into the library."
+
+"Yes, James, beat the wretch well," cried Mrs Brandon.  "Oh, my
+darling, does it hurt you very much?"
+
+"Oh!" groaned Sam, and his mother shrieked; while a struggle was going
+on between Tom and his uncle, the boy resisting with all his might.
+
+"He has killed him! he has killed him!" sobbed Mrs Brandon; "and you
+stand there, cook, doing nothing."
+
+"Well, mum, what can I do?  I'm wanted down-stairs.  Them soles is
+a-burning in the frying-pan.  You can smell 'em up here."
+
+"Yes; nice preparations for company," said Mr Brandon, stopping to
+pant, for Tom had seized the plinth at the foot of the balustrade and
+held on with all his might.  "Go down in the kitchen, cook, and see to
+the dinner."
+
+The cook turned to go, but stopped short and turned back.
+
+"Oh, my darling! my darling!" cried Mrs Brandon.
+
+"Oh-h-h-h!" groaned Sam.
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," said cook, speaking very loudly, "but please
+you ain't going to whip Mr Tom, are you?"
+
+"Silence, woman!  Go down to your kitchen!" roared her master.
+
+"Yes, sir--directly, sir; but Mr Sam's allus at him, and he begun it
+to-night, for I heared him."
+
+"Will you go down and mind your own business, woman?"
+
+"Yes, sir; but I can't bear to see you lay your hand on that poor boy,
+as ain't done nothing to deserve it, and I will speak out, so there."
+
+"Silence, woman!"
+
+"No, sir, nor I won't silence neither; and don't you please call me
+woman, because I won't take it from nobody, not for no wages.  I behaves
+respectful to you and missus, and expect the same, so there."
+
+"Cook, you leave at a month's end," cried Mrs Brandon.  "Oh, Sam, Sam,
+speak to your broken-hearted mother."
+
+"Cert'ny, mum, and very glad to go," said cook, who was working herself
+up into a passion.  "To-night if you like.  No, I won't; I'll go now, as
+soon as I've packed my boxes; and if Mary's the girl I take her for,
+she'll go too, and not stand here sweeping up your nasty old china."
+
+"Am I to take you by the shoulders, woman, and bundle you down-stairs?"
+roared Mr Brandon.
+
+"No, sir, you ain't.  Just you dare to touch me, that's all; and what's
+more, you ain't a-going to beat Master Tom, so there now.  I wouldn't
+stand here and see him punished for what he don't deserve.  It's all
+that Mr Sam, who's ma's spoilt him, and indulged him, till he's grown
+into a nasty, overbearing, cigarette-smoking wretch, as treats servants
+as if they was the dirt under his feet."
+
+"Fanny," cried the lawyer, who felt that he was losing dignity in an
+unequal struggle, "send this woman down-stairs.  Now, sir, you let go of
+that balustrade and come here."
+
+"No," cried Tom, between his teeth; "you shan't beat me for nothing.  It
+was all Sam."
+
+"Come here!" roared his uncle, making a savage drag at the boy, which
+was intercepted by cook forcing herself between, and trying to shelter
+him.
+
+"You shan't beat him, not while I'm here," she cried.
+
+"He is not going to beat him," said a quiet, firm, grave voice; and all
+started to see that "the company," who had been standing quite
+unobserved on the upper landing, a silent spectator of the scene, was
+now coming down.
+
+"Oh, Richard!" cried Mrs Brandon; "look here!  The wretch--the wretch!"
+
+"Yes, he does look a pretty object certainly," said the visitor.  "Here
+you, sir, get up and go to your room, and wash yourself.  Don't lie
+groaning there."
+
+"Oh--oh--oh!" cried Mrs Brandon, hysterically, "I didn't mean Sam."
+
+"If you'd go and stop in the drawing-room, Richard, and not interfere, I
+should feel obliged."
+
+"Nothing would have pleased me better, James," said his brother coldly;
+"but the riot was getting too loud--I was obliged to come."
+
+"Then, now go and wait.  The dinner will be ready soon."
+
+"That it just won't," cried cook viciously; "and if you're a gentleman,
+though you are master's own brother, you'll come and help me."
+
+"There is no need," said Uncle Richard, in his quiet way.  "Mr Brandon
+is not going to beat his nephew.  He was very angry, no doubt, but
+that's all over now; and as to the dinner, my dear madam, while I act
+the peacemaker, I hope you will bear in mind that I am very hungry, and
+should be very glad of some of the good things you were preparing, when
+in your genuine, womanly way you felt yourself called upon to defend
+this boy."
+
+"Look here, Richard," began Mr Brandon.
+
+"Tut--tut--tut, man, be quiet.  Tom, my lad, go up-stairs to your room
+and make yourself decent.  Fanny, my good girl, you are spoiling an
+expensive dress put on in my honour.  Mary, my child, there are two or
+three sharp pieces of the broken vase here.  Would you mind?  Thank you.
+These things are very sharp.  Now you, Sam, jump up, and go and wash
+yourself.  Do you hear?"
+
+"Confound it all, Richard!" began Mr Brandon.
+
+"Tut--tut, quiet, man!" said Uncle Richard; "there's nothing the matter
+with the fellow."
+
+"He's half killed--dangerously hurt," protested Mrs Brandon.
+
+"Not he, my dear Fanny.  I saw him watching the proceedings with one eye
+open.  Come, Sam, no nonsense.  Get up, and go to your room; and don't
+you dare to interfere with Tom, because if you do I shall come up
+myself.  Let me see; I think I have a bit of a hold on you, have I not?"
+
+Sam's eyes both opened widely, and he rose to his feet, then directed an
+imploring look at his uncle, who drew back, pointed up the stairs, and
+the lad shivered slightly as he went slowly by him, and began to ascend.
+
+"Hang it all, Richard, is this house mine or is it yours?" said James
+Brandon.
+
+"Mine," said his brother--"while I am your guest, of course.  Thank you,
+Jem, I'll take my cane, if you please.  It is a favourite old malacca--a
+presentation."
+
+He took the cane quietly from his brother's hand and replaced it in the
+stand, with the result that cook uttered a titter and hurried
+down-stairs, followed by Mary, bearing a dustpan full of broken sherds.
+
+"Come, that's better," said Uncle Richard, disregarding his brother's
+angry gesture.  "Now, my dear Fanny, let me take you to the
+drawing-room.  The storm's over, and the sun is coming out.  Don't let's
+spoil my visit because the boys fell out and broke a vase."
+
+"No, no, Richard," said Mrs Brandon, half hysterically, as she yielded
+at once and took her brother-in-law's arm.  "But you don't know.  That
+boy has the temper of a demon."
+
+"What, Sam?"
+
+"No, _no_, No!  That boy Thomas.  We haven't had a day's peace since he
+came into the house.  And now a fifty-pound vase broken.  Oh! the wicked
+boy."
+
+"I didn't do it, aunt.  It was Sam," came from the head of the
+staircase.
+
+"Ah!  Silence there, sir!" shouted Uncle Richard.  "How dare you stand
+there listening!  Be off, and make yourself decent for dinner."
+
+"Richard!" cried Mrs Brandon, in a tone of remonstrance, "you surely
+would not have that boy down to dinner now!"
+
+"Why not, my dear sister?" he said, as they reached the drawing-room
+floor.
+
+"After breaking that vase?"
+
+"Never mind the vase, Fanny."
+
+"And nearly killing his cousin?"
+
+"Nonsense, my dear, partial, motherly judge.  Lookers-on see most of the
+game," said Uncle Richard good-humouredly.  "I was looking on from the
+landing for some time, and from what I saw, I have no hesitation in
+saying that Master Tom got as good as he gave."
+
+"But oh, Richard!"
+
+"Tut--tut!  Listen to me, my dear.  Boys will quarrel and fight
+sometimes.  I can remember a good many sets-to with Jem when we were
+young.  These two have fought, and it's all over."
+
+"But you really don't know," began Mrs Brandon.
+
+"Oh yes, I do.  Master Tom is not perfect.  There, there, forget it all
+now; and let me send you a vase to replace the one broken.  By the way,
+I hope they will not be long with that dinner."
+
+"Oh no, it will not be long now--that is, if that insolent woman will
+condescend to send us up some."
+
+"But she will," said Uncle Richard good-humouredly.  "If she does not,
+and the worst comes to the worst, we'll storm her kitchen and finish the
+cooking ourselves.  I'm a good cook in my way.  Bachelors have their
+whims."
+
+"Ah, you don't know what London servants are."
+
+"No," said Uncle Richard, smiling pleasantly at the flurried lady, who
+was still troubled by the domestic storm through which she had just
+passed.  "Mrs Fidler is a very good old soul in her way, and the maid
+has been with me some time now, and has evidently made up her mind to
+stop.  I don't give them much trouble, except with my fads."
+
+"And do you still go on with--with those--those--"
+
+"Crazes?" said Uncle Richard smilingly.  "To be sure I do.  Ah, here's
+James.  Well, old fellow, is it all right again?"
+
+"Right again?" said Mr Brandon, who had just entered the room; "no, it
+is not.  But there, I'm sorry there should be all this disturbance when
+you are here.  It all comes of being charitable in the course of duty.
+But there, I'll say no more."
+
+"That's right," said Uncle Richard, just as Mary entered the room with--
+
+"If you please, ma'am, dinner is served."
+
+"Hah!" cried Uncle Richard, rising to offer his arm to his
+sister-in-law.  "But the boys are not down."
+
+"No; and they are not coming," said Mr Brandon angrily.
+
+"Oh, James dear!" protested Mrs Brandon.
+
+"My dear Jem!" said Uncle Richard, smiling, "I put in my petition.  The
+fight is over, so now let's have peace and--dinner."
+
+"Oh, very well," said Mr Brandon.  "Mary, go and tell Mr Samuel that
+we are waiting dinner for him."
+
+"And, Mary, you will convey the same message to Mr Thomas," said Uncle
+Richard.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the girl, with a smile; and before her master could
+protest she was gone.
+
+Five minutes elapsed, during which Uncle Richard seemed to have
+forgotten his dinner in eager explanation of some piece of mechanism
+that he was making, and about which he had come up to town.  At the end
+of that time Tom entered nervously, looking as if he had had his share
+of cuts and bruises; but to his great satisfaction no one said a word;
+and then Sam came in, looking very puffy about the eyes, and with one
+side of his mouth drawn down into a peculiar swollen smile.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed his mother, and she rose to fly to his side; but Uncle
+Richard was prepared for her, and took her hand to draw through his arm.
+
+"That's right," he cried.  "I am awfully hungry;" and he led her out of
+the room, followed by Mr Brandon, while Tom and Sam followed in silence
+down the stairs, each intent upon the plans he had in his breast, and
+fully determined to carry them out.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+It was a capital dinner, but Sam felt that he could not eat a bit for
+mental troubles, while his cousin felt the same from bodily reasons
+connected with a terrible stiffness at one angle of his lower jaw.
+
+Consequently Sam made a very poor dinner, to his mother's grief; but Tom
+ate heartily and enjoyed everything, forgetting his cares for the time
+being, as he listened in astonishment to the way in which his cold,
+grave uncle could brighten up, and keep the whole table interested by
+his conversation relating to discoveries in the world of science,
+especially in connection with light, and researches in what he spoke of
+as "The Vast Abyss."
+
+Then came tea in the drawing-room, and on the part of the two boys an
+early movement in the direction of bed.
+
+Tom was on his guard as soon as they were alone, fully expecting that
+his cousin would in some way renew hostilities, the more especially as
+neither Mr nor Mrs Brandon had had an opportunity of speaking to them
+with warning or appeal.
+
+But Sam did not even look at him, undressing himself in sulky silence,
+throwing his clothes here and there, and plunging into bed and turning
+his face to the wall as he began to make his plans respecting a campaign
+he intended to carry out for the destruction of his cousin's peace,
+without running risks of getting himself injured as he had been that
+night.
+
+"For," said Sam to himself, "everything seems to be against me.  I only
+forgot that letter, and instead of helping a fellow out of a hole that
+beastly young sneak betrayed me.  Then when I meant to pay him out, all
+the luck was on his side; and lastly, old moony Uncle Dick must turn
+upon me about that money affair.  But wait a bit, I'll pay him back, and
+then he may tell the guv'nor if he likes.  What did he say when I went
+and told him what a hole I was in over that account, and was afraid the
+guv'nor would know;--that it was embezzlement, and a criminal offence,
+and that if I had done such a thing for a regular employer, I might have
+found myself in the felon's dock?  Rubbish!  I only borrowed the money
+for a few weeks, and meant to pay it back.  He shall have it again; and
+let him tell the old man if he dares.  A coward, to throw that in my
+teeth!  Wonder if they'll ask him what he meant.  But all right, Master
+Tom Blount, you shall pay for this."
+
+Meantime the object of his threatenings had undressed in silence too,
+extinguished the light, remembered by his bedside the old mother-taught
+lesson, and added a prayer for pardon in regard for that which he had
+made up his mind to do.  Then, as his head pressed the pillow, he lay
+thinking of all that had taken place since he had been at his uncle's,
+and came finally to the conclusion that he could bear no more.
+
+"I can't help being a fool," he said to himself, dolefully.  "I have
+tried, but all these law things slip out of my head as fast as I read
+them.  Of course it makes uncle bitter and angry, when he has tried to
+help me, and would go on trying if it was not for Sam."
+
+Then the long, weary time of his stay came up, and in succession the
+series of injuries and petty annoyances to which he had been subjected
+by his cousin passed before him, strengthening his determination.
+
+But in spite of all these, he would have fought down the desire so
+strong upon him if it had not been for the past evening's scene.  Even
+as he lay in bed his face flushed, and he quivered with shame and
+indignation.  For here it all was vividly before his mind's eye.  What
+had he done to deserve it?  Nothing.  He had spoken the truth, and
+declined to take his cousin's lapse upon his own shoulders about that
+letter; and then on getting home Sam had turned upon him, and any boy,
+Tom argued, would have done as he did, and struck back.  He'd have been
+a mean-spirited coward if he had not.
+
+"No, I can't stand it," he muttered, with his head beneath the clothes.
+"He was going to beat me in spite of all I said, and it was too
+horrible.  I wouldn't have minded so much if I had been in the wrong,
+but even then it was too cruel before aunt--before the servants, and
+with Sam lying there shamming to be so bad, and watching all the time in
+his delight.  No, I won't alter my mind in the morning.  Poor father
+used to say, `Sleep on it, my lad;' but I can't sleep on this.  I must
+go now before things get worse."
+
+He threw the clothes from his face and lay listening, to try and make
+out whether his cousin was awake.  He was not, for a heavy stuffy
+breathing could be heard, consequent upon Sam's mouth being open, a
+peculiar puffy swelling about the nose preventing him from breathing in
+the usual way.
+
+This brought a gleam of mental sunshine into Tom's sad and blackened
+horizon.  Naturally a bright, merry lad, for months past he had not had
+a hearty laugh; but now, as he recalled his cousin's appearance, the
+smile broadened, and for a few moments he shook with suppressed
+laughter.
+
+But the mirth passed away directly, for the matter was too serious, and
+he now lay with knitted brows, listening to his cousin's breathing, and
+continuing his plans.
+
+He would wait another hour, and then begin.
+
+He waited for some time listening till the last sound had died out in
+the house, thinking that he must move about very silently, for his
+uncle's room was beneath, and the servants were only separated from them
+by a not too thick wall.
+
+"Poor cook! poor Mary!" he thought.  "I should like to kiss them and say
+good-bye.  How brave cook was; and she is sure to lose her place for
+taking my part.  Aunt and uncle will never forgive her.  How I wish I
+had a home of my own and her for housekeeper.  But perhaps I shall never
+have one now, for what am I going to do when I go?"
+
+That was the great puzzle as he lay there gazing at the window-blind,
+faintly illumined by the gas-lamps in the Crescent.  What was he to do?
+Soldier?--No; he was too young, and wanting in manly aspect.  Sailor?--
+No.  He would like to go to sea, and have adventures; but no, if his
+father and mother had lived it would have given them pain to know that
+he had run away to enlist, or get on board some coasting vessel.
+
+No; he could not do that.  It might be brave and daring, but at the same
+time he had a kind of feeling that it would be degrading, and he would
+somehow do better than either of those things, and try and show his
+uncles, both of them, and Sam too, that if he was a fool, he was a fool
+with some good qualities.
+
+But it was quite an hour since it had struck twelve, and it was time to
+act.  The first thing was to test Sam's sleep--whether he was sound
+enough to enable him to make his preparations unheard.
+
+What would be the best thing to do? came again.  How could he get work
+without a character?  What answer could he give people who asked him who
+he was, and whence he came?
+
+No answer came, think hard as he would.  All was one black, impenetrable
+cloud before him, into which he had made up his mind to plunge, and what
+his future was to be he could not tell.  But let it be what it would, he
+mentally vowed that it should be something honest, and he would not let
+the blackness of that cloud stay him.  No; his mind was fully made up
+now.  This was his last night at his uncle's house, and he would take
+his chance as to where he would next lay his head.
+
+"I shall be free," he muttered half aloud; "now I am like a slave."
+
+It was time to act.  Not that he meant to leave the house that night.
+No; his mind was made up.  He would pack a few things in the little
+black bag in which he took his law-books to and fro, place it ready in
+the hall as usual, and go in to his breakfast; and when he started for
+the office, just call in and say good-bye to Pringle, who would not
+hinder him.  On the contrary, he would be sure to give him advice, and
+perhaps help him as to his future.
+
+"Poor old Pringle won't say stay," he muttered; and reaching out of bed,
+he felt in his trousers pocket on the chair for a halfpenny.  He could
+not spare it, but it was the only missile he could think of then, and he
+held it poised ready to throw as he listened to his cousin's heavy
+breathing.
+
+He threw the coin forcibly, so that it struck the wall just above Sam's
+head, and fell upon his face.
+
+There was no movement, and the heavy, guttural breathing went on.
+
+Tom waited a few minutes, and then slipped out of bed, crossed to his
+cousin's side, and gave the iron bedstead a slight shake, then a hard
+one.  Next he touched his shoulder, and finished by laying a cold hand
+upon his hot brow.
+
+But the result was always the same--the heavy, hoarse breathing.
+
+Satisfied that he might do anything without arousing his cousin, he
+returned to his own bed, slipped on his trousers, and sat down to think.
+
+There was the bag of books on the top of his little chest of drawers,
+and he had only to take them out, lay them down, and after carefully
+pulling out the drawer, pack the bag full of linen, and add an extra
+suit.  It would be a tight cram, but he would want the things, and they
+would prove very useful.
+
+But there was a hitch here.  All these things were new, his old were
+worn-out, and his uncle had paid for all these in spite of his aunt's
+suggestion, that there were a good many of Sam's old things that might
+be altered to fit.
+
+He stumbled over this.  They were not his; and at last, in a spirit of
+proud independence, he ignored his own services to his uncle, and
+stubbornly determined that he would take nothing but the clothes in
+which he stood.
+
+"And some day I'll send the money to pay for them," he said proudly,
+half aloud.
+
+"Gug--gug--gug--ghur-r-r-r," came from his cousin's bed as if in
+derision.
+
+But Tom's mind was made up, and undressing once more he lay down to
+think, but did not, for, quite satisfied now as to his plans, no sooner
+had his head touched the pillow than, utterly wearied out, he dropped
+asleep.
+
+It seemed to him that he had only just closed his eyes, when, in a
+dreamy way, he heard the customary tapping at his door, followed by a
+growl from Sam, bidding Mary not make "that row."
+
+Then Tom was wide-awake, thinking of his over-night plans.
+
+And repentant?
+
+Not in the least.  He lay there thinking fiercely, only troubled by the
+idea of what he would do as soon as he had made his plunge penniless
+into that dense black cloud--the future.
+
+But there was no lifting of the black curtain.  He could see his way to
+the office to bid Pringle good-bye.  After that all was hidden.
+
+At the end of a quarter of an hour he jumped up and began to dress,
+while Sam lay with his back to him fast asleep, or pretending.
+
+It did not matter, for he did not want to speak to him; and after
+dressing, and duly noting that there was only a scratch or two, no
+swelling about his face, he went down with his bag of books to the
+breakfast-room, to read as usual for an hour before his uncle and aunt
+came down.
+
+In the hall he encountered the cook, who had to "do" that part of the
+housework, and she rose from her knees to wish him so hearty a
+good-morning, that a lump rose in Tom's throat, there was a dimness in
+his eyes, and his hand went out involuntarily for a silent good-bye.
+
+To his surprise a pair of plump arms were flung round him, and he
+received two hearty kisses, and then there was a warm whisper in his
+ear--
+
+"Don't you mind a bit, my dear.  You didn't deserve it; and as for Mr
+Sam, he's a beast."
+
+"Thank you, cook," said Tom huskily, "thank you.  Good-bye."
+
+"What!  Oh no, it ain't good-bye neither, my dear.  They'd like me to
+go, and so I won't.  I'll stop just to spite them, so there!"
+
+Cook went off to seize a door-mat, carry it out on the front steps, and
+then and there she banged it down, and began to thump it with the head
+of the long broom, as if in imagination she had Sam beneath her feet.
+
+"She didn't understand me," said Tom to himself, as he hurried into the
+breakfast-room, feeling that after all it would be very painful to go,
+but not shaken in his determination.
+
+"Morning, Mr Tom," said Mary, who looked bright and cheerful in her
+clean print dress, as she made pleasant morning music by rattling the
+silver spoons into the china saucers.  "Ain't it a nice morning?  The
+sun's quite hot."
+
+"Yes, a beautiful morning," said Tom sadly, as he gave the girl a
+wistful look, before going into a corner, sitting down and opening
+_Tidd's Practice_ for what his cousin called a grind.
+
+Then with a sigh he went on reading, giving quite a start when Mary had
+finished her preparations for breakfast, and came to whisper--
+
+"Cook ain't going, sir; she says she wouldn't go and leave you here
+alone for nothing, and I won't neither."
+
+Tom felt as if he could not speak, and he had no need to, for the maid
+slipped out of the room, and the next minute Uncle Richard entered to
+nod to him gravely.
+
+"Morning, my lad," he said rather sternly.  "That's right--never waste
+time."
+
+How cold and repellent he seemed: so different to his manner upon the
+previous night, when the boy had felt drawn towards him.  The effect was
+to make Tom feel more disposed than ever to carry out his plan, and he
+was longing for the breakfast to be over, so that he could make his
+start for the office.
+
+But it wanted half-an-hour yet, and the boy had just plunged more deeply
+into his book, when Uncle Richard said--
+
+"And so you don't like the law, Tom?"
+
+The boy started, for there was a different ring in the voice now.  It
+sounded as if it were inviting his confidence, and he was about to
+speak, when his elder went on--
+
+"To be sure, yes; you told me so last time I saw you."
+
+"I have tried, sir, very hard," said Tom apologetically; "but it seems
+as if my brains are not of the right shape to understand it."
+
+"Humph, perhaps not," said his uncle, gazing at him searchingly; and Tom
+coloured visibly, for it seemed to him that those penetrating eyes must
+be reading the secret he was keeping.  "And you don't like your cousin
+Sam either?"
+
+Tom was silent for a few moments.
+
+"Why don't you answer my question, sir?"
+
+"I was thinking, uncle, that it is Cousin Sam who does not like me."
+
+"How can he when you knock him down, and then dash china vases at him,
+sir?"
+
+"I suppose I did knock him down, uncle, but not until he had kicked and
+struck me.  Throw vases at him!" cried the boy indignantly; "I wouldn't
+be such a coward."
+
+"Humph!" grunted his uncle, taking up the morning paper that Mary had
+just brought in; and without another word he sat back in his chair and
+began to read, while Tom, with his face still burning, turned once more
+to his book, with a strange elation beginning to take the place of the
+indignation he felt against his uncle, for it had suddenly occurred to
+him that this was the last time he would have to make his head ache over
+the hard, brain-wearying work.  Then the elation died out again, for
+what was to be his future fate?
+
+He was musing over this, and wondering whether after all he dare trust
+Pringle, when the door suddenly opened, Uncle Richard rustled and
+lowered the paper, and Mrs Brandon entered the room, looking
+wonderfully bright and cheerful.
+
+"Good-morning, Richard," she cried; "I am so sorry I am late.  James
+will be down directly.  Good-morning, Tom."
+
+Tom jumped in his chair at this pleasantly cordial greeting, and stared
+dumbfounded at his aunt.
+
+"Not a bit late," said Uncle Richard, after a glance at his watch.  "You
+are very punctual.  Hah, here is James."
+
+For at that moment Mr Brandon, looking clean-shaven and pleasant,
+entered the room.
+
+"Morning, Dick," he cried; "what a lovely air.  Ah, Tom, my boy, got
+over the skirmish?"
+
+Tom babbled out something, and felt giddy.  What did it mean?  Could
+they have divined that he was about to run away, and were going to alter
+their treatment; or had Uncle Richard, who seemed again so grave and
+cold, been taking his part after he had gone to bed?
+
+But he had very little time for dwelling upon that; the question which
+troubled him was, How could he go away now?
+
+The thoughts sent him into a cold perspiration, and he glanced anxiously
+at the clock, to see that it was a quarter past eight, and that in
+fifteen minutes, according to custom, he must start for the office--for
+the office, and then--where?
+
+Just then Mary entered with the breakfast-tray, and, chatting
+pleasantly, all took their seats.  Mary whisked off two covers, to
+display fried ham and eggs on one, hot grilled kidneys on the other.
+
+Tom grew hotter and colder, and asked himself whether he was going out
+of his mind, for there was no thin tea and bread-and-butter that
+morning.
+
+"Tea or coffee, Tom?" said his aunt; and Tom's voice sounded hoarse as
+he chose the latter.
+
+He was just recovering from this shock when his uncle said--
+
+"Ham and eggs or kidneys, Tom?  There, try both--they go well together."
+
+"Thank you, uncle," faltered the boy; and he involuntarily looked up at
+Uncle Richard, who sat opposite to him, and saw that, though his face
+was perfectly stern and calm, his eyes were fixed upon him with a
+peculiar twinkling glitter.
+
+"Bread, my boy?" he said quietly, and he took up a knife and the loaf.
+
+"Try a French roll, Tom," said his aunt, handing the dish.
+
+"How can I run away?" thought Tom, as he bent over his breakfast to try
+and hide his agitation, for his breast was torn by conflicting emotions,
+and it was all he could do to continue his meal.  "It's of no use," he
+said to himself, as the conversation went on at the table; and though he
+heard but little, he knew that it was about the guest departing that
+morning for his home in Surrey.
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard, "I must get back, for I'm very busy."
+
+"And not stay another night?" said Aunt Fanny sweetly.
+
+"No, not this visit, thanks.  I'll get back in good time, and astonish
+Mrs Fidler.  Hallo, squire, you're late; Tom has half finished the
+kidneys."
+
+"Morning, uncle," said Sam sourly; "I didn't know it was so late.  I've
+got a bad headache this morning, ma."
+
+"Have you, dear?--I am so sorry.  But never mind, I've a nice strong cup
+of tea here, and I'll ring for some dry toast."
+
+"No, don't, ma," said Sam, scowling at Tom, and looking wonderingly at
+his cousin's plate.  "I'll have coffee and a hot roll."
+
+"But they will be bad for your head, love."
+
+Sam made no reply, but felt his plate, which was nearly cold, and then
+held it out to his father for some kidneys.
+
+"Oh, Sam, my darling, don't have kidneys, dear.  I'm sure they'll be bad
+for you."
+
+"No, they won't, ma," he said pettishly; and his father helped him
+liberally.
+
+Uncle Richard went on with his breakfast, making believe to see nothing,
+but Tom noticed that his keen eyes glittered, and that nothing escaped
+him.  Those eyes were wonderful, and fascinated the boy.
+
+Suddenly, just as he had made a very poor breakfast, the clock on the
+chimney-piece gave a loud _ting_.  It was the half-hour, and Tom rose
+quickly after a hasty glance at his uncle and aunt.  He had had
+breakfast for the last time, and feeling that this change of treatment
+was only due to his Uncle Richard's presence, he was more determined
+than ever to go.
+
+"Good-bye, Uncle Richard," he said firmly, but there was a husky sound
+in his voice.
+
+"No, no, sit down, Tom," was the reply.  "We won't say good-bye yet."
+
+Sam stopped eating, with a bit of kidney half-way to his mouth, and
+stared.
+
+"Yes, sit down, Tom," said Mr Brandon, giving a premonitory cough,
+after a glance at his wife.  "The fact is, my lad, your uncle and I had
+a little conversation about you after you were gone to bed last night."
+
+Tom, who had subsided into his chair, took hold of the table-cloth, and
+began to twist it up in his agitation, as a peculiar singing noise came
+in his ears; and as he listened he kept on saying to himself--"Too
+late--too late; I must keep to it now."
+
+"Yes, a very long talk," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Very," acquiesced his brother; "and as we--as he--"
+
+"As _we_, James," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Exactly--could not help seeing that you do not seem cut out for the
+law--er--hum--do not take to it--he has been kind enough to say that he
+will give you a trial with him down in the country."
+
+Tom's head, which had been hanging down, was suddenly raised, and the
+words were on his lips to say No, he could not go, when he met the keen,
+bright, piercing eyes fixed upon his, and those words died away.
+
+"He has not definitely decided as to what he will put you to, but means
+to test you, as it were, for a few months."
+
+The singing in Tom's ears grew louder.
+
+Go with that cold stern man, who had never seemed to take to him?  It
+would be like jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire.  Impossible!
+He could not--he would not go.
+
+"There," said Mr Brandon in conclusion, after a good deal more, of
+which Tom heard not a word; "it is all settled, and you will go down
+with your uncle this morning, so you had better pack up your box as soon
+as we leave the table.  Now what have you to say to your uncle for his
+kindness?"
+
+"No: I will not go," thought Tom firmly; and once more he raised his
+eyes defiantly to that searching pair, which seemed to be reading his;
+but he did not say those words, for others quite different came halting
+from his lips--"Thank you, Uncle Richard--and--and I will try so hard."
+
+"Of course you will, my boy," said the gentleman addressed, sharply.
+"But mind this, the country's very dull, my place is very lonely, all
+among the pine-trees, and you will not have your cousin Sam to play
+with."
+
+"Haw haw!"
+
+This was a hoarse laugh uttered by the gentleman in question.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Sam?" said Uncle Richard, raising his eyebrows.
+
+"I didn't speak, uncle," said Sam, "but I will, and I say a jolly good
+job too, and good riddance of bad rubbish."
+
+"Sam, dear, you shouldn't," said his mother, in a gentle tone of
+reproof.
+
+"Yes, I should; it's quite true."
+
+"Hold your tongue, sir."
+
+"All right, father; but we shall have some peace now."
+
+"And I am to have all the disturbance, eh?" said Uncle Richard; "and the
+china vases thrown at me and smashed, eh?"
+
+Tom darted a quick look at his uncle, and saw that he was ready to give
+him a nod and smile, which sent a thrill through him.
+
+"You'll have to lick him half-a-dozen times a week," continued Sam.
+
+"Indeed," said Uncle Richard good-humouredly; "anything else?"
+
+"Yes, lots of things," cried Sam excitedly; "I could tell you--"
+
+"Don't, please, my dear nephew," said Uncle Richard, interrupting him;
+"I could not bear so much responsibility all at once.  You might make me
+repent of my determination."
+
+"And you jolly soon will," cried Sam maliciously; "for of all the--"
+
+"Hush, Sam, my darling!" cried his mother.
+
+"You hold your tongue now, sir," said Mr Brandon; "and I should feel
+obliged by your making haste down to the office.  You can tell Pringle
+that your cousin is not coming any more."
+
+Tom started, and looked sharply from one to the other.
+
+"Mayn't I go and say good-bye to Pringle, uncle?" he cried.
+
+"No, sir," said his Uncle James coldly; "you will only have time to get
+your box packed.  Your uncle is going to catch the ten fifty-five from
+Charing Cross."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard; "and you can write to your friend."
+
+"Or better not," said Mr Brandon.  "Tom has been rather too fond of
+making friends of people beneath him.  There, my lad, you had better go
+and be getting ready; and I sincerely hope that you will make good use
+of your new opportunity."
+
+Tom hardly knew how he got out of the room, for he felt giddy with
+excitement.  Then he was not going to run away, but to be taken down
+into Surrey by his Uncle Richard--and for what?
+
+Would he behave well to him?  He looked cold and stern, but he was not
+on the previous night.  Young as he was, Tom could read that there was
+another side to his character.  Yes, he must go, he thought; and then he
+came face to face with Mary, who came bustling out of a bedroom.
+
+"La!  Master Tom, how you startled me.  Not gone to the office?"
+
+"No, Mary.  I'm going away for good with Uncle Richard."
+
+"Oh, I am glad!  No, I ain't--I'm sorry.  But when?"
+
+"This morning--almost directly."
+
+"My!  I'll go and tell cook."
+
+Tom reached his room, packed up his things as if in a dream, and bore
+the box down-stairs, his cousin having left the house some time.  Then,
+still as if in a dream, he found himself in the breakfast-room, and
+heard Mary told to whistle for a cab.
+
+Ten minutes later his uncle's Gladstone was on the roof side by side
+with the modest old school box; and after saying good-bye to all, they
+were going down the steps.
+
+"Jump in first, Tom," said Uncle Richard, "and let's have no silly
+crying about leaving home."
+
+Tom started, and stared at his uncle with his eyes wonderfully dry then,
+but the next moment they were moist, for two female figures were at the
+area gate waving their handkerchiefs; and as the boy leaned forward to
+wave his hand in return, mingled with the trampling of the horse, and
+the rattle of the wheels, there came his uncle's voice shouting Charing
+Cross to the cabman from the kerb, and from the area gate--
+
+"Good-bye, Master Tom, good-bye!"
+
+"Why, the boy's wet-eyed!" said Uncle Richard in a peculiarly sneering
+voice.  "What a young scoundrel you must have been, sir, to make those
+two servants shout after you like that!  There, now for a fresh home,
+boy, and the beginning of a new life, for your dear dead mother's sake."
+
+"Uncle!" gasped Tom, with the weak tears now really showing in his eyes,
+for there was a wonderful change in his companion's voice, as he laid a
+firm hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Yes, Tom, your uncle, my boy.  I never quarrel with my brother James or
+his wife, but I don't believe quite all that has been said about you."
+
+All thought of running away to seek his fortune faded out of Tom
+Blount's brain, as he sat there with his teeth pressed together, staring
+straight away between the horse's ears, trying hard to be firm.
+
+But after long months of a very wretched life it was stiff work to keep
+his feelings well within bounds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+"Now, Tom, cloak-room; come along.  I've got some tackle to take down
+with us.  Only ten minutes before we start.  Here, porter, luggage--
+quick!"
+
+A man came forward with a barrow, and after taking the luggage from the
+cab, followed to the cloak-room, from whence sundry heavy,
+peculiar-looking packages and a box were handed out and trundled to the
+train; and in a few minutes, with his heart beating wildly, and a
+feeling of excitement making him long to jump up and shout aloud, Tom
+sat there watching the houses and trees seem to glide more and more
+swiftly past the windows as the speed increased.  For to him it was like
+being suddenly freed from prison; and instead of the black cloud which
+had been hanging before his eyes--the blank curtain of the future which
+he had vainly tried to penetrate--he was now gazing mentally ahead along
+a vista full of bright sunshine and joy.
+
+There were two other passengers in the carriage, who, like his uncle,
+were soon absorbed in their papers, and not a word was spoken until
+these two got out at the first stopping-place, twenty miles from town;
+and as soon as the porter had given the door that tremendous unnecessary
+bang so popular with his fraternity, and the train was speeding on
+again, Uncle Richard threw down his paper with a loud "Hah!" and turned
+to his nephew.
+
+"Well, Tom," he said, "I don't know what I am to do with you now I have
+got you.  You don't want to go on with the law?"
+
+"Oh no, sir, I am too stupid," said Tom quickly.
+
+"Why do you say `sir,' my boy?  Will not uncle do for your mother's
+brother?"
+
+"Uncle James told me always to say `sir,' sir--uncle I mean."
+
+"Ah, but I'm not your Uncle James, and I like the old-fashioned way.
+Well, as you are too stupid for the law, I suppose I must try you with
+something easier--say mathematics."
+
+Tom looked at him aghast.
+
+"A nice pleasant subject, full of calculations.  But we shall see.  I
+suppose you will not mind helping me?"
+
+"I shall be glad to, uncle."
+
+"That's right; but you don't know yet what I want you to do.  You will
+have to take your coat off sometimes, work hard, put on an apron, and
+often get dirty."
+
+"Gardening, uncle?  Oh, I shall like that."
+
+"Yes; gardening sometimes, but in other ways too.  I do a deal of
+tinkering now and then."  Tom stared.
+
+"Yes, I mean it: with tin and solder, and then I try brass and turning.
+I have a regular workshop, you know, with a small forge and anvil.  Can
+you blow bellows?"
+
+Tom stared a little harder as he gazed in the clear grey eyes and the
+calm unruffled countenance, in which there was not the dawn of a smile.
+
+"I never tried," said Tom, "but I feel sure I could."
+
+"And I feel sure you cannot without learning; some of the
+easiest-looking things are the hardest, you know.  Of course any one can
+blow forge bellows after a fashion, but it requires some pains to manage
+the blast aright, and not send the small coal and sparks flying over the
+place, while the iron is being burned up."
+
+"Iron burned up?" said Tom.
+
+"To be sure.  If I put a piece in the forge, I could manage the supply
+of oxygen so as to bring it from a cherry heat right up to a white,
+while possibly at your first trial you would burn a good deal of the
+iron away."
+
+"I did not know that," said Sam.
+
+"And I suppose there are a few other little things you do not know, my
+boy.  There's a deal to learn, Tom, and the worst or best of it is, that
+the more you find out the more you realise that there is no end to
+discovery.  But so much for the blacksmith's work."
+
+"But you are not a blacksmith, uncle."
+
+"Oh yes, I am, Tom, and a carpenter too.  A bad workman I know, but I
+manage what I want.  Then there is my new business too at the mill."
+
+"Steam mill, uncle?"
+
+"Oh no, nor yet water.  It's a regular old-fashioned flour-mill with
+five sails.  How shall you like that business?"
+
+Tom looked harder at his uncle.
+
+"Well, boy, do I seem a little queer?  People down at Furzebrough say I
+am."
+
+"No, sir," said Tom, colouring; "but all this does sound a little
+strange.  Do you really mean that you have a windmill?"
+
+"Yes, Tom, now.  My very own, my boy.  It was about that I came up
+yesterday--to pay the rest of the purchase-money, and get the deeds.
+Now we can set to work and do what we like."
+
+Tom tried hard, but he could not help looking wonderingly at his uncle,
+of whom he had previously hardly seen anything.  He knew that he had
+been in India till about a year before, and that his mother had once
+spoken of him as being eccentric.  Now it appeared that he was to learn
+what this eccentricity meant.
+
+"Did you learn any chemistry when you were at school, Tom?" said his
+uncle, after a pause.
+
+"Very little, uncle.  There were some lectures and experiments."
+
+"All useful, boy.  You know something about physics, of course?"
+
+"Physics, uncle?" faltered Tom, as he began to think what an
+empty-headed fellow he was.
+
+"Yes, physics; not physic--salts and senna, rhubarb and magnesia, and
+that sort of thing; but natural science, heat and light, and the wonders
+of optics."
+
+Tom shook his head.
+
+"Very little, uncle."
+
+"Ah, well, you'll soon pick them up if you are interested, and not quite
+such a fool as your uncle made out.  Do you know, Tom, that windmill has
+made me think that I never could have been a lawyer."
+
+Tom was silent.  Things seemed to be getting worse.
+
+"Four times have I had to come up to town and see my lawyer, who had to
+see the seller's lawyer over and over again--the vendor I ought to have
+said.  Now I suppose you wouldn't have thought that I was a vendee,
+would you?"
+
+"Oh yes, I know that," said Sam.  "You would be if you bought an
+estate."
+
+"Come, then, you do know something, my lad.  But it has been a tiresome
+business, with its investigation of titles and rights of usance, and
+court copyhold fines, and--Bother the business, it has taken up no end
+of time.  But there, it's all over, and you and I can go and make the
+dust fly and set the millstones spinning as much as we like.  Thumpers
+they are, Tom, three feet in diameter.  I wish to goodness they had been
+discs of glass instead of stone."
+
+"Do you, uncle?" said Tom, for his companion was evidently waiting for
+an answer.
+
+"Yes; we could have tried some fine experiments with them, whereas they
+will be useless and unsalable I expect."
+
+To Tom's great relief the conversation reverted to his life at Gray's
+Inn and Mornington Crescent, for the impression would keep growing upon
+him that what people said about his uncle's queerness might have some
+basis.  But this opinion was soon shaken as they went on, for he was
+questioned very shrewdly about his cousin and all that had passed
+between them, till all at once his companion held out his hand.
+
+"Shake hands, Tom, my boy.  We are just entering Furzebrough parish, and
+I want to say this:--You came to me with an execrable character--"
+
+"Yes, uncle; I'm very sorry."
+
+"Then I'm not, my lad.  For look here: I have been questioning you for
+the last hour, and I have observed one thing--in all your statements
+about your cousin, who is an abominably ill-behaved young whelp, you
+have never once spoken ill-naturedly about him, nor tried to run him
+down.  I like this, my lad, and in spite of all that has been said, I
+believe that you and I will be very good friends indeed."
+
+"Thank you, uncle," said Tom, huskily.  "I mean to try."
+
+"I know that, or I wouldn't have brought you home.  There, there, look!
+quick! before it runs behind that fir clump, that's the old madman's
+windmill."
+
+Tom turned sharply to the window, and caught sight of a five-sailed
+windmill some five miles away, on a long wooded ridge.
+
+"See it?"
+
+"Yes, uncle; I just caught sight of it."
+
+"That's right; and in five minutes, when we are out of the cutting, you
+can see Heatherleigh in the opening between the two fir-woods."
+
+"That's your house, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my lad--that's my house, where I carry on all my diabolical
+schemes, and perform my incantations, as old Mother Warboys says.  You
+didn't know what a wicked uncle you had."
+
+"No, sir," said Tom, smiling.
+
+"Oh, I'm a dreadful wretch; and you did not know either, that within
+five-and-thirty miles of London as the crow flies, there is as much
+ignorance and superstition as there was a couple of hundred years or so
+ago, when they burnt people for being witches and wizards, and the like.
+There, now look; you can just see Heatherleigh there.  No; too late--
+it's gone."
+
+Tom felt puzzled.  One minute he was drawn strongly towards his uncle,
+the next he felt uneasy, for there was something peculiar about him.
+Then he grew more puzzled as to whether the eccentricity was real or
+assumed.  But he soon had something else to think of, for five minutes
+after a run through a wild bit of Surrey, that looked gloriously
+attractive with its sandy cuttings, commons, and fir-trees, to a boy who
+had been shut up closely for months in London, his uncle suddenly cried,
+"Here we are!" and rose to get his umbrella and overcoat out of the
+rack.
+
+"Let's see, Tom," he said; "six packages in the van, haven't we?  Mind
+that nothing is left behind."
+
+The train was slackening speed, and the next minute they were standing
+on the platform of a pretty attractive station, quite alone amongst the
+fir-trees.  The station-master's house was covered with roses and
+clematis, and he and the porters were evidently famous gardeners in
+their loneliness, for there was not a house near, the board up giving
+the name of the station as Furzebrough Road.
+
+"Shall I take the luggage, sir?" said a man, touching his hat; and at
+the same moment Tom caught sight of a solitary fly standing outside the
+railings.
+
+"Yes; six packages.  By the way, Mr Day, did a box come down for me?"
+
+This to the station-master, who came up as the train glided off and
+disappeared in a tunnelled sandhill a hundred yards farther.
+
+"Yes, sir; very heavy box, marked `Glass, with care.'  Take it with
+you?"
+
+"Yes, and let it be with care.  Here, I'll come and pay the rates.  Tom,
+my lad, see that the things are all got to the fly."
+
+Tom nodded; and as his uncle disappeared in the station-master's office,
+he went to where the two porters were busy with a barrow and the
+luggage.
+
+They were laughing and chatting with the flyman, and did not notice
+Tom's approach, so that he winced as he heard one of the porters say--
+
+"Always some fresh contrapshum or another.  Regular old lunatic, that's
+what he is."
+
+"What's he going to do with that old mill?" said the other.
+
+"Shoot the moon they--Is this all, sir?" said the flyman, who caught
+sight of Tom.
+
+The boy nodded, and felt indignant as well as troubled, for he had
+learned a little about public opinion concerning his uncle.
+
+"Be careful," he said; "some of those things are glass."
+
+"All right, sir; we'll be careful enough.  Look alive, Jem.  Where will
+you have the box as come down by's mornin's goods?"
+
+"On the footboard.  Won't break us down, will it?"
+
+"Tchah! not it.  On'y about a hundredweight."
+
+By the time the luggage was stowed on and about the fly, Uncle Richard
+came out, and expressed his satisfaction.
+
+"Rather a lonely place in winter, Tom," he said, as he entered the
+stably-smelling old fly.
+
+"Yes, but very beautiful," replied Tom.  "Have we far to go?"
+
+"Three miles, my lad, to the village, and a quarter of a mile further to
+the house."
+
+It was a very slow ride, along sandy lanes, through which, as soon as
+there was the slightest suggestion of a hill, the horse walked; but
+everything looked lovely on this bright summer day.  High banks where
+ferns clustered, plantations of fir, where brilliantly-plumaged
+pheasants looked up to see them pass, and every now and then rabbits
+scuttled up the steep sandy slopes, showing their white cottony tails
+before they disappeared amongst the bracken, or dived into a hole.
+Wild-flowers too dotted the sides of the lane, and as Tom sat gazing out
+of the window, drinking in the country sweets, his uncle nodded and
+smiled.
+
+"Will it do, my boy?" he said.
+
+"Do!" cried Tom, ecstatically; "it's lovely!"
+
+"Humph! yes.  Sun shines--don't rain."
+
+In due time they reached and passed through a pretty flowery village,
+dotted about by the sides of a green, and with several houses of a
+better class, all looking as if surrounded by large gardens and
+orchards.  Then, all at once, Tom's companion exclaimed--
+
+"Here's the mill!" and he had hardly glanced at the tall round brick
+tower, with its wooden movable cap, sails, and fan, all looking
+weather-beaten and dilapidated, when his uncle exclaimed--"Here we are!"
+and down on a slope, nearly hidden in trees, he saw the red-tiled gables
+of a very attractive old English house, at whose gate the fly stopped.
+
+"Drive in, sir?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  I'll have the boxes in the stable-yard.  Pull up at
+the door first.  But ring, and the gardener will come to help."
+
+The gate was swung back and the fly was led in, now, between two wide
+grassy borders, with the soft, sandy gravel making hardly a sound
+beneath the wheels.  This drive wound in and out, so that a couple of
+minutes had elapsed before they came in sight of the front of the house,
+with its broad porch and verandah.
+
+"Welcome to Heatherleigh, Tom--our home," said his uncle.  "Ah, here's
+Mrs Fidler."
+
+This was as a very grim, serious-looking, grey-haired woman appeared in
+the porch.
+
+"Back again, Mrs F.," cried Uncle Richard cheerily.  "Here, this is my
+nephew, who has come to stay.  Get my telegram?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir, and everything's ready, sir."
+
+Just then a sun-browned man, with a blue serge apron rolled up and
+tucked in round his waist, came up, touched his hat, and looked at the
+luggage.
+
+"Morning, David.  The box and portmanteau for indoors.  The boxes to be
+very carefully placed in the coach-house.  Glass, mind.  Here, driver,
+give your horse some hay and water; David will see to it, while you go
+round to the kitchen for a crust of bread-and-cheese.  Mind and be
+careful with those packages."
+
+"Oh yes, sir, certainly," said the man; and he led the horse on amongst
+the shrubs; while as Tom followed his uncle into the prettily-furnished
+museum-like hall, he thought to himself--
+
+"I wonder whether uncle knows how they laugh at him behind his back."
+
+"Dinner at two, Mrs Fidler, I suppose?" said Uncle Richard just then.
+
+"Yes, sir, precisely, if _you_ please," was the reply.
+
+"That's right.  Here, Tom, let's go and see if they have smashed the
+glass in the packages."
+
+Uncle Richard led the way out through a glass door, and across a velvety
+lawn, to a gate in a closely-clipped yew hedge.  This opened upon a
+well-gravelled yard, where the rusty-looking old fly was standing, with
+its horse comfortably munching at the contents of its nose-bag, and
+David the gardener looking on with a pail of water at his feet.
+
+"Why, David, how was it that the horse was not put in the stable and
+given a feed?"
+
+"He's having his feed, sir," said the gardener.  "Them's our oats.  The
+driver said he'd rather not take him out, because the harness do give
+so, sir, specially the traces; so he had the nose-bag pretty well
+filled, and the horse have been going at 'em, sir, tremenjus."
+
+"Boxes all right?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I don't think we've broke anything; but that big chest did
+come down pretty heavy."
+
+"What?" cried his master; and he hurried into the coach-house to examine
+the packing-case.  "Humph!  I hope they have not broken it," he
+muttered; "I won't stop to open it now.  Come, Tom, we'll just walk
+round the garden, so that you may see my domain, and then I'll show you
+your room."
+
+The domain proved to be a fairly extensive garden in the most perfect
+order, and Tom stared at the tokens of abundance.  Whether he was gazing
+at fruit or flowers, it was the same: the crop looked rich and tempting
+in the extreme.
+
+"We won't stop now, my lad.  Let's go and see if Mrs F. has put your
+room ready."
+
+Uncle Richard led the way, with Tom feasting his eyes upon the many
+objects which filled him with wonder and delight; and even then it all
+seemed to be so dreamlike, that he half expected to wake up and find
+that he had been dozing in the hot office in Gray's Inn.
+
+But it was all real, and he looked with delight at the snug little room,
+whose window opened upon the garden, from which floated scents and
+sounds to which he had long been a stranger.
+
+"Look sharp and wash your hands, boy, the dinner-bell will ring in ten
+minutes, I see, and Mrs Fidler is very particular.  Will your room do?"
+
+"Do, uncle!" cried Tom, in a tone which meant the extreme of
+satisfaction.
+
+"That's right.  You see they've brought up your box.  Come down as soon
+as you are ready."
+
+He went out and closed the door; and, with his head in a whirl, Tom felt
+as if he could do nothing but stand there and think; but his uncle's
+words were still ringing in his ears, and hurriedly removing the slight
+traces of his journey, he took one more look from his window over the
+soft, fresh, sloping, far-stretching landscape of garden, orchard,
+fir-wood, and stream far below in the hollow, and then looked round to
+the right, to see standing towering up within thirty yards, the
+windmill, with its broken sails and weatherworn wooden cap.
+
+He had time for no more.  A bell was being rung somewhere below, and he
+hurried down, eager to conform to his uncle's wishes.
+
+"This way, Tom," greeted him; and his uncle pointed to the hat-pegs.
+"You'd better take to those two at the end, and stick to them, for Mrs
+Fidler's a bit of a tyrant with me--with us it will be now.  Place for
+everything, she says, and everything in its place--don't you, old lady?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the housekeeper, who was just inside the little
+dining-room door, in a stiff black silk dress, with white bib and apron,
+and quaint, old-fashioned white cap.  "It saves so much trouble, Master
+Tom, especially in a household like this, where your uncle is always
+busy with some new contrivance."
+
+"Quite right," said Uncle Richard.  "So take your chair there, Tom, and
+keep to it.  What's for dinner?  We're hungry."
+
+Mrs Fidler smiled as she took her place at the head of the table, and a
+neat-looking maid-servant came and removed the covers, displaying a
+simple but temptingly cooked meal, to which the travellers did ample
+justice.
+
+But Tom was not quite comfortable at first, for Mrs Fidler seemed to be
+looking very severely at him, as if rather resenting his presence, and
+sundry thoughts of his being an interloper began to trouble the lad, as
+he wondered how things would turn out.  Every now and then, too,
+something was said which suggested an oddity about his uncle, which
+would give rise to all sorts of unpleasant thoughts.  Still nothing
+could have been warmer than his welcome; and every now and then
+something cropped up which made the boy feel that this was not to be a
+temporary place of sojourning, but his home for years to come.
+
+"There," exclaimed Uncle Richard, when they rose from the table, "this
+is a broken day for you, so you had better take your cap and have a good
+look round at the place and village.  Tea at six punctually.  Don't be
+late, or Mrs Fidler will be angry."
+
+"I don't like to contradict you, sir," said the housekeeper, smiling
+gravely; "but as Master Tom is to form one of the household now, he
+ought, I think, to know the truth."
+
+"Eh?  The truth?  Of course.  What about?"
+
+"Our way of living here, Master Tom," said the housekeeper, turning to
+him.  "I should never presume to be angry with your uncle, sir; I only
+carry out his wishes.  He is the most precise gentleman I ever met.
+Everything has to be to the minute; and as to dusting or moving any of
+the things in his workshop or labour atory, I--"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Uncle Richard, grinding his teeth and screwing up his
+face.  "My good Mrs Fidler, don't!"
+
+"What have I done, sir?" exclaimed the housekeeper.
+
+"Say workshop, and leave laboratory alone."
+
+"Certainly, sir, if you wish it."
+
+"That's right.  Well, Tom, what are you waiting for?"
+
+"I thought, if you wouldn't mind, I should like to help you unpack the
+boxes."
+
+"Oh, by all means, boy.  Come along; but I'm going to have a look over
+the windmill first--my windmill, Mrs Fidler, now.  All settled."
+
+"I'm very glad you've got over the bother, sir."
+
+"Oh, dear me, no," said Uncle Richard, laughing; "it has only just
+began.  Well, what is it?"
+
+"I didn't speak, sir."
+
+"No, but you looked volumes.  What have they been saying now?"
+
+"Don't ask me, sir, pray," said the housekeeper, looking terribly
+troubled.  "I can't bear to hear such a good man as you are--"
+
+"Tut! stuff, woman.  Nothing of the kind, Tom.  I'm not a good man, only
+an overbearing, nigger-driving old indigo planter, who likes to have his
+own way in everything.  Now then, old lady, out with it.  I like to hear
+what the fools tattle about me; and besides, I want Tom here to know
+what sort of a character I have in Furzebrough."
+
+"I--I'd really rather not say, sir.  I don't want to hear these things,
+but people will talk to David and cook and Jenny, and it all comes to
+me."
+
+"Well, I want to hear.  Out with it."
+
+"I do wish you wouldn't ask me, sir."
+
+"Can't help it, Mrs Fidler.  Come."
+
+"Bromley the baker told cook, sir, that if you were going to grind your
+own flour, you might bake your own bread, for not a loaf would he make
+of it."
+
+"Glad of it.  Then we should eat bread made of pure wheat-meal without
+any potatoes and ground bones in it.  Good for us, eh, Tom?"
+
+"Better, uncle," said the boy, smiling.
+
+"Well, what next?"
+
+"Doctor told David out in the lane that he was sure you had a bee in
+your bonnet."
+
+"To be sure: so I have; besides hundreds and thousands in the hives.  Go
+on."
+
+"And Jane heard down the village that they're not going to call it
+Pinson's mill any more."
+
+"Why should they?  Pinson's dead and gone these four years.  It's
+Richard Brandon's mill now."
+
+"Yes, sir, but they've christened it Brandon's Folly."
+
+"Ha, ha!  So it is.  But what is folly to some is wisdom to others.
+What next?  Does old Mother Warboys say I am going to hold wizards'
+sabbaths up in the top storey, and ride round on the sails o' windy
+nights?"
+
+"Not exactly that, sir," said Mrs Fidler, looking sadly troubled and
+perplexed; "but she said she was sure you would be doing something
+uncanny up there, and she hoped that no evil would descend upon the
+village in consequence, for she fully expected that we should be smitten
+for your sins."
+
+"Did she tell you this?"
+
+"No, sir; she said it to Mr Maxted."
+
+"Told the vicar?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And what did he say?"
+
+"She says he insulted her, sir, and that she'll never go into his church
+any more.  She's been telling every one so--that he called her a silly,
+prejudiced old woman."
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"It's all I can remember, sir."
+
+"And enough too.  Look here, Tom, you had, I think, better call David,
+and tell him to put the pony in and drive you back to the station.  I'm
+sure you would rather go back to your uncle James, and be happy with
+your cousin Sam."
+
+Tom smiled.
+
+"You can't want to stay here."
+
+"Are you going up to the mill now, uncle?" said Tom, with a quaint look.
+
+"Oh yes, directly, if you are going to risk it.  Ready?"
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"Then come on."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+Uncle Richard frowned and looked very serious, but he uttered a low
+chuckle as he led the way into a snug little room, half-library,
+half-museum.  A long, heavy chest stood on one side, formed of plain,
+dark-coloured wood; but upon its being opened, Tom saw that it was all
+beautifully polished ornamental wood inside, and full of drawers, trays,
+and fittings for bright saws, hammers, chisels, and squares.
+
+"My old tool-chest, Tom.  I used to have that at Sattegur in my
+bungalow, and do most of my carpentering myself, for the natives there
+are not much of hands when you want anything strong.  When you want a
+tool--bradawl, gimlet, pincers, anything--here they all are."  He opened
+and shut drawers rapidly as he spoke.  "Nails, screws, tacks, you'll
+know where to find them, only put things back when done with.  What did
+I come for?  Oh, a rule.  Here we are."  He took a new-looking boxwood
+rule from its place, closed the lid, and then led the way out into the
+garden, up a flight of steps formed of rough pieces of tree, and leading
+in a winding way through a shrubbery to a doorway in a wall.  Passing
+through this, they were in a narrow lane, and close to the yard which
+enclosed the great brick tower of the mill.
+
+"Nice and handy for conveying the flour-sacks to and fro, Tom, eh?" said
+Uncle Richard, smiling.  "Now then, let's have another inspection of the
+new old property."
+
+He took out a bunch of old keys, unlocked the gate, and entered; and
+then they crossed the yard, which was littered with old wood, and with
+here and there a worn-out millstone leaning against the walls, two extra
+large ones bound with rusty iron standing up like ornaments on either
+side of the mill-tower door, one above whitened with ancient flour,
+having evidently been used for loading carts drawn up close beneath.
+
+"Splendid place, eh, Tom?" said Uncle Richard, as he unlocked the door,
+which uttered a low groan as its unoiled hinges were used, and a
+peculiar odour of old mildewed flour came from within.  "We shall have a
+place now in case of invasion or civil war, ready for retreat and
+defence.  We can barricade the lower doors, and hurl down the upper and
+nether millstones on the enemies' heads, set the mill going, and mow
+them down with the sails, and melt lead ready to pour down in ladlefuls
+to make them run from the scalding silver soup.  A grand tower for
+practising all those old barbaric delights."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Tom uneasily, for his uncle looked at him
+penetratingly, as if expecting an answer.
+
+"Is he serious, or only joking me?" thought Tom the next moment.  "He
+must be a little wrong.  Got windmills in his head, like Don Quixote."
+
+"Yah! yah!  Who shot the moon?" came in a coarse yell from outside the
+gate.
+
+Tom started, flushed, and turned round angrily, with his fists
+involuntarily clenching.
+
+"Yah! yah! old wind-grinders!" cried the voice again, followed by
+several heavy bangs on the gate, evidently delivered with a stick.
+
+"The impudent scoundrel!" cried Uncle Richard.  "Go and tell that fellow
+that--"
+
+But he got no further, for, taking all this as an insult meant for his
+uncle, Tom had darted off for the gate, which he threw open, and found
+himself face to face with a big, shambling, hobbledehoy sort of fellow
+of about eighteen or nineteen, who stepped back for a yard or two,
+swinging a heavy stick to and fro, while a mangy-looking cur, with one
+eye and a very thin tail like a greyhound's, kept close at his heels.
+
+"What is it?" said Tom hotly.  "Did you knock at the gate like that?"
+
+"What's it got to do with you?" said the lad, insolently.  "Get in, or
+I'll set the dog at yer."
+
+Tom glanced at the dog and then at its master, and felt as he often had
+when his cousin Sam had been more than usually vicious.
+
+"I'll jolly soon let yer know if yer give me any o' your mouth.  Here,
+Badger, smell him, boy--ciss--smell him!"
+
+The cur showed his teeth, and uttered a low snarling growl, as its
+master advanced urging him on; while Tom drew one leg a little back
+ready to deliver a kick, but otherwise stood his ground, feeling the
+while that everything was not going to be peaceful even in that lovely
+village.
+
+But before hostilities could begin, and just as the dog and his master
+were within a yard, the gate was suddenly snatched open, and Uncle
+Richard appeared, when the lout turned sharply and ran off along the
+lane, followed by his dog, the fellow shouting "Yah! yah! yah!" his
+companion's snapping bark sounding like an imitation.
+
+"Come in, Tom," said Uncle Richard.  "I don't want you to get into rows
+with Master Pete Warboys.  Insolent young rascal!"
+
+Tom looked at his uncle inquiringly.
+
+"That's the pest of the village, Tom.  Nice young scoundrel.  An idle
+dog, who has had a dozen places and will not stay in them, though he has
+no Cousin Sam to quarrel with."
+
+Tom winced, for the words were a decided hit at him.
+
+"So he has settled down into a regular nuisance, who does a bit of
+poaching, steals fruit, breaks windows, and generally annoys every one
+in the place.  If he were not such an ugly, shambling cub some
+recruiting sergeant might pick him up.  As it is, we have to put up with
+him and his ways."
+
+"Yah!" came from a distance; and Tom's nerves tingled, for he did not
+like to hear the insult directed at his uncle, however strange he might
+be.
+
+"There, let's go on with our inspection, my boy," and the gate was
+closed again, and they walked together up the slope into the mill.
+
+There was not much to see on the ground-floor, save the whitened brick
+walls, a huge pillar or post in the middle, and a ladder-like flight of
+steps on one side, up which Uncle Richard led the way; and as Tom
+emerged from a trap-door, he found himself in a circular chamber, a
+little less than the one below, with three windows at the sides, the
+doorway he had seen from without, and three pairs of millstones placed
+horizontally, and connected by shafts with the mechanism above the
+cobwebby and flour-whitened ceiling.  There was a flight of steps, too,
+here, and Tom now noticed that there was a trap-door overhead, formed
+with two flaps and a hole in the middle, while a similar one was at his
+feet.
+
+"For sending the sacks up and down," said Uncle Richard.  "The floors
+are thoroughly solid, and made of good stuff.  Excellent," he continued.
+"Let's go up to the top."
+
+He led the way up the second flight of steps into the next chamber,
+which was wonderfully like the floor below, minus the millstones; but
+the roof, instead of being a flat ceiling of boards and beams, was a
+complication of rafters, ties, posts, and cog-wheels, while at one side
+was the large pivot passing out through well-greased and blackened
+bearings, which bore the five sails of the mill, balanced to a great
+extent by the projecting fan, which, acted upon by the wind, caused the
+whole of the wooden cap which formed the top to revolve.
+
+"There's the way out to repair the sails, or oil the great fan," said
+Uncle Richard, pointing to a little sloping doorway in the curved cap
+roof.  "Think the place will do?  It's a good fifteen feet from the
+floor to the curve."
+
+"Do, sir?"
+
+"Do, _uncle_, please.  Yes, do!  The whole top revolves easily enough,
+and will do so more easily when there are no sails or fan."
+
+"Do you mean for defence, uncle?" stammered Tom.
+
+"Defence?--nonsense.  Attack, boy.  The roof will only want modifying,
+and a long narrow shutter fitting, one that we can open or close easily
+from within.  The place when cleaned, scraped, painted, and coloured
+will be all that one could wish, and is strong enough to bear anything.
+We can mount a monster here."
+
+Tom looked more puzzled than ever.  Monster?
+
+"In the floor below make our laboratory, and keep chemicals and plates."
+
+"Yes, uncle," said Tom; for he could understand that.
+
+"And on the ground-floor do our grinding and fining."
+
+"But the millstones are on the floor above," said Tom.
+
+"Yes, I know, my boy, for the present; but I'll soon have them lowered
+down.  There, the place will do splendidly, and Mrs Fidler will be at
+peace."
+
+Tom did not see how Mrs Fidler could be at peace if the corn was ground
+on the basement-floor of the mill, but he said nothing.
+
+"Now we'll go down," said Uncle Richard.  "I'm more than satisfied.
+I'll have two or three stout fellows to lower down the stones; the rest
+we will do ourselves."
+
+He led the way down, locked up the mill again and the outer gate, and
+then entered the garden and crossed it to the coach-house, where the
+packages brought down were waiting.
+
+"Go to the tool-chest and fetch an iron chisel and the biggest hammer,"
+said Uncle Richard.  "No, it's screwed down.  Bring the two largest
+screw-drivers."
+
+Tom hurried away, and soon returned, to find that his uncle had opened
+one of the packages he had brought down, and was untying some brown
+paper, which proved to contain brass tubes and fittings, with slides and
+rack-work.
+
+"Know what these are?" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"They look like part of a photographic camera," said Tom.
+
+"A good shot, my lad, but not right.  Now for the big chest.  I hope
+they are not broken.  Try and get out some of the screws."
+
+These were gradually drawn from the very stout chest, the lid lifted, a
+quantity of thickly-packed straw removed, and a round package of brown
+paper was revealed.
+
+"Out with it, Tom," said his uncle.  "No, don't trust to the string."
+
+Tom bent down to lift out the package, but failed, and his uncle
+laughed.
+
+"Let's both try," he said, and getting their fingers down, they lifted
+out something exceedingly heavy, and bore it to a stout bench.  "Now for
+the other," said Uncle Richard; and after removing more straw, a second
+package was seen precisely like the first, which on being taken out and
+opened, proved to be a great solid disc of ground-glass made fairly
+smooth but quite opaque.
+
+"Bravo! quite sound," cried Uncle Richard.  "Now the other."
+
+This proved also to have borne the journey well, and Tom looked from the
+two great discs to his uncle.
+
+"Well," said the latter; "do you see what these are for?"
+
+"To grind flour much finer?"
+
+"To grind grandmothers, boy!  Nonsense!  Not to grind, but to be ground.
+Out of those Tom, you and I have to make a speculum of tremendous
+power."
+
+"A looking-glass, sir?" said Tom, feeling rather depressed at his
+uncle's notion.  For what could a sensible man want with looking-glasses
+made round, and weighing about a hundredweight each?
+
+"Yes, a looking-glass, boy, for the sun and moon, and Jupiter, Venus,
+Mars, Saturn, and the rest to see their faces in, or for us to see them.
+I can't afford to give five or six hundred pounds for a telescope, so
+you and I will make a monster."
+
+"Telescope!" cried Tom, as scales seemed to fall from before his eyes.
+"Oh, I see!"
+
+"Well, didn't you see before?"
+
+"No, uncle, I couldn't make it out.  Then that's what you want the
+windmill for, to put the telescope in, with the top to turn round any
+way?"
+
+"To be sure; it will make a splendid observatory, will it not?"
+
+"Glorious, uncle!" cried the boy, whose appearance underwent a complete
+change, and instead of looking heavy and dull, his eyes sparkled with
+animation as he exclaimed eagerly, "How big will the telescope be?"
+
+"A little wider than the speculum--about eighteen inches across."
+
+"And how long?"
+
+"Fifteen feet, boy."
+
+"Yes," cried Tom, excitedly.  "And when are you going to begin, uncle?"
+
+"Now, my boy.  At once."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+"Uncle James was always calling me a fool," said Tom the next morning;
+"and I must be, or I shouldn't have thought poor Uncle Richard half
+crazy.  What a lot of stuff I did get into my head."
+
+He was dressing with his window wide open; the sun was shining warmly,
+though it was only about six o'clock, and a delicious scent floated in
+from the garden and the pine-woods beyond.
+
+"Grinding corn and turning miller!" he said, and he burst into a merry
+fit of laughter, and then stopped short with a hair-brush in his hand,
+staring at his face in the glass, for he hardly knew it; he looked so
+different to the sad, depressed lad whose countenance had gazed wearily
+at him from the mirror when he rose of a morning in London.
+
+"It must be the fresh country air," he said to himself; but all the same
+he felt that it must be something more, and he hastened to finish
+dressing and go down, so as to have a good look round before breakfast
+punctually at eight.
+
+"Seems like coming out for a holiday, or being at home again," he
+thought, as he went down-stairs softly, wondering whether he could
+easily get out, but to find that the front door was wide open, and hear
+the servants busy in the kitchen; while, as he stepped out on to the
+lawn, he suddenly heard the musical sound of a scythe being sharpened,
+and the next minute he was alongside of David, who had just begun to
+sweep the keen implement round and lay the daisies low.
+
+"Mornin', sir, mornin'.  Going to be reg'lar hot day.--Eh?  Want to get
+up into the pine-woods.  Best go straight to the bottom of the garden,
+and out into the field, and then strike up to your left."
+
+Tom hurried through the bright grounds, followed the directions, and in
+a few minutes he was climbing a slope of rough common-land, here velvety
+short turf full of wild thyme, which exhaled its pungent odour as his
+feet crushed its dewy flowers, there tufted with an exceedingly
+fine-growing, soft kind of furze, beyond which were clumps of the
+greater, with its orange and yellow blooms, and rough patches of
+pale-bloomed ling and brilliant yellow broom.
+
+Beyond this wide strip the closely-growing fir-trees began, forming a
+dense, dark-green wood.
+
+It was for this that he was aiming; but as he reached the edge, he
+turned to stand in the bright sunshine looking down at the village.
+
+There was the square-towered, ivy-covered church, with its clock-face
+glistening, and the hands pointing to twenty minutes past six.  Beyond
+it, what seemed to be an extensive garden beside the churchyard, and the
+ivy-covered gables of a house that he immediately concluded was the
+Vicarage.  Other attractive cottage-like houses were dotted about.  Then
+he caught sight of the green, with its smaller places.  Another more
+pretentious place or two, and as his eyes swept round, he reached, close
+at hand, his uncle's home--his home now, with the windmill towering
+above it just on the top of the ridge.
+
+"What nonsense!" he said half aloud; and then he burst into a merry
+laugh, which ceased as he heard what sounded like a mocking echo, and a
+long-tailed black and white bird flew out of a fir-tree, with the sun
+glistening upon its burnished green and purple tail feathers.  "Why it's
+a magpie!" he cried, and another flew out to follow the first.
+
+As he stood watching them, his eyes rested upon a flashing of water here
+and there, showing where a stream ran winding through the shallow
+valley; while a couple of miles beyond it he could trace the railway now
+by a heavy goods train panting slowly along, with the engine funnel
+leaving a long train of white flocculent steam behind.
+
+"Oh, it's lovely," he said softly.  "Who could help being happy down
+here!"
+
+There was rather a swelling in his throat, for he felt the change for a
+few moments.  But the next minute the exploring desire was strong upon
+him, and he plunged in amongst the bronze, pillar-like stems of the
+fir-trees, and began wandering on and on in a kind of twilight, flecked
+and cut by vivid rays of sunshine, which came through the dense,
+dark-green canopy overhead.  The place was full of attractions to such a
+newly-released prisoner, and his eyes were everywhere, now finding
+something to interest him in the thick soft carpet of pine-needles over
+which his feet glided.  Then he caught sight of a squirrel which ran up
+a fir-tree, and stopped high up to watch the intruder.  Then he came to
+an open place where trees had been felled; the stumps and chips dotted
+the ground, and bluebells had sprung up abundantly, along with patches
+of briar and heath revelling in the sunshine.
+
+Here the sandy ground was showing soft and yellow in places, where it
+had been lately turned over, and in a minute or two he knew what by, for
+a rabbit sprang up from close to his feet, ran some fifty yards, and
+disappeared in a burrow; while from the trees beyond came a series of
+harsh cries, and he caught sight of half-a-dozen jays jerking themselves
+along, following one another in their soft flight, and showing the pure
+white patch just above their tails.
+
+"There must be snakes and hedgehogs, and all kinds of wild things here,"
+thought Tom, with all a boy's eagerness for country sights and sounds;
+"and look at that!"
+
+He obeyed his own command, stopping short to watch, as he heard first a
+peculiar squealing sound, and directly after saw another rabbit come
+loping into sight, running in and out among the pine stumps, and keeping
+up the pitiful squealing sound as it ran.
+
+"Must have been that," he thought; and he was about to run after it,
+when he suddenly saw something small and elongated appear among the
+bluebells.  For a moment it appeared to be a large snake making its way
+unnaturally in an undulating, vertical way, instead of horizontally; but
+he directly after made out that it was a weasel in pursuit of the
+rabbit, going steadily along, evidently hunting by scent, and the next
+minute it had disappeared.
+
+"I must not go much further," thought Tom after a while.  "I ought to be
+back punctually to breakfast, and get my boots cleaned first."
+
+He looked down at them, to see that the dew and sand had taken off all
+the polish, and stepping out now, he hurried for a mound, intending to
+make it the extent of his journey, and walk back from there to the
+village.
+
+The mound was pine-crowned, and he had nearly reached the top, noting
+that the sand was liberally burrowed by rabbits, when all at once one of
+the little white-tailed creatures darted over the top into sight and
+rushed towards him; there was another rush, a big dog came into sight,
+overtook the rabbit before it could take refuge in a hole; there was a
+craunch, a squeal, and the dog was trotting back with the little animal
+drooping down on each side from its steel-trap jaws, quite dead.
+
+"Poor rabbit," muttered Tom.  "Why, it's that boy's dog."
+
+He increased his pace, following the dog up the sandy mound; while the
+animal paid no heed to him, but went steadily on, with its thin,
+greyhound-like, bony tail hanging in a curve, till reaching the highest
+part of the eminence, the forepart with the rabbit disappeared, and then
+the tail curved up for a moment in the air and was gone.
+
+Tom Blount felt interested, and hurried up now over the sand and
+fir-needles, till his head was above the top of the slope; and the next
+minute he was looking down at the back of the dog's master, as he was
+calmly stuffing the body of the defunct rabbit inside the lining of his
+coat, a slit in which served for a pocket.  The dog was looking on, and
+just in front lay another rabbit, while a couple of yards away there was
+a hole scratched beneath the root of a tree, and the clean yellow sand
+scattered all about over the fir-needles.
+
+The next moment Tom's sharp eyes detected that a couple of holes near at
+hand were covered with pieces of net, one of which suddenly began to
+move, and the dog drew its master's attention by giving a short low
+bark.
+
+The warning had its effect, for the lad rose from his knees, stepped to
+the hole, and picked up something which Tom saw at once to be a long,
+reddish, writhing ferret.  This snaky animal the lad thrust into his
+breast, stuffed the little piece of net into his pocket, picked up three
+more scraps from the mouths of other holes, and finally took the rabbit
+from the ground to pack inside his jacket lining, when the dog caught
+sight of Tom, and gave a sharp, angry bark.
+
+The boy looked round, saw that he was observed, and started to run.  But
+realising the next moment who it was, he hesitated, stopped, and
+hurriedly getting the second rabbit out of sight, put on a defiant air.
+
+Tom smiled to himself.
+
+"Poaching, or he wouldn't have begun to run.--I say," he said aloud,
+"whose wood is this?"
+
+"What's that got to do with you?" cried the lad insolently.  "'Tain't
+yours.  And just you lookye here, if I ketches you sneaking arter and
+watching me again, I'll give you something as'll make that other side o'
+your face look swelled."
+
+Tom involuntarily raised his hand to a tender spot on his right cheek,
+left from his encounter with his cousin, and the lad grinned.
+
+"No, not that side, t'other," said the fellow.  "Now then, just you hook
+it.  You 'ain't no business here."
+
+"As much business as you have," said Tom stoutly, for the lad's manner
+made his blood begin to flow more freely.
+
+"No, you 'ain't; you're only a stranger, and just come."
+
+"Anybody must have a right to come through here so long as he isn't
+poaching."
+
+The lad gave a sharp look round, and then turned menacingly to Tom, with
+his fist doubled, and thrust his face forward.
+
+"Just you say as I've been poaching agen, and I'll let you know."
+
+His manner was so menacing that the dog read war, and set up a few hairs
+on the back of his neck, and uttered a low snarl.
+
+"Yes, and I'll set the dog at yer too.  Who's been poaching?  Just you
+say that again."
+
+"You look as if you had," said Tom stoutly, but with a very
+uncomfortable feeling running through him, for the dog's teeth were
+white and long, and looked just the kind to get a good hold of a running
+person's leg.
+
+"Oh, I do, do I?" said the lad.  "I'll soon let you know about that.
+Just you tell tales about me, and I'll half smash yer.  I don't know as
+I won't now."
+
+His manner was more menacing than ever, and Tom was beginning to feel
+that he would be compelled to place himself upon his defence, and
+signalise his coming to Furzebrough with another encounter, when,
+faintly-heard, came the striking of a church clock, borne on the soft
+morning breeze, arousing Tom to the fact that he must be a good way on
+towards an hour's walk back to his uncle's, and bringing up memories of
+his punctuality.
+
+"Mustn't be late the first morning," he thought, just as the young
+rabbit poacher gave him a thrust back with his shoulder, and turning
+sharply he darted among the trees, and began to run toward his new home.
+
+"Yah! coward!" was yelled after him, and a lump of sandy iron-stone
+struck him full in the back, making him wince; but he did not stop, only
+dodged in and out among the pine-trees, taking what he believed to be
+the right direction for the village.  Then he ran faster, for he heard
+his assailant's voice urging on the dog.
+
+"Ciss!  Fetch him, Bob!" and glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the
+mongrel-looking brute was in full pursuit, snarling and uttering a low
+bark from time to time.
+
+Tom's first and natural instinct was to run faster, in the hope that the
+dog would soon weary of the pursuit, and faster he did run, suffering
+from an unpleasant feeling of fear, for it is by no means pleasant to
+have a powerful, keen-toothed dog at your heels, one that has proved its
+ability to bite, and evidently intending to repeat the performance.
+
+Tom ran, and the dog ran, and the latter soon proved that four legs are
+better for getting over the ground than two; for the next minute he was
+close up, snapping at the boy's legs, leaping at his hands, and sending
+him into a profuse perspiration.
+
+"Ciss! fetch him down, boy!" came from a distance, and the dog responded
+by a bark and a snap at Tom's leg, which nearly took effect as he ran
+with all his might, and made him so desperate that he suddenly stopped
+short as the dog made a fresh snap, struck against him, and then from
+the effort rolled over and over on the ground.
+
+Before it could gather itself up for a fresh attack Tom, in his
+desperation, stooped down and picked up the nearest thing to him--to
+wit, a good-sized fir-cone, which he hurled at the dog with all his
+might.  It was very light, and did not hit its mark, but the young
+poacher's dog was a bad character, and must have known it.  Certainly it
+had had stones thrown at it before that morning, and evidently under the
+impression that it was about to have its one eye knocked out or its head
+split, it uttered a piercing whining cry, tucked its thin tail between
+its legs, and began to run back toward its master as fast as it could
+go, chased by another fir-cone, which struck the ground close by it, and
+elicited another yelp.
+
+Tom laughed, and at the same time felt annoyed with himself.
+
+"Why didn't I do it at first?" he said; "and that isn't the worst of
+it--that fellow will think I ran away because I was afraid of him."
+
+This last thought formed the subject upon which Tom dwelt all the way
+back, and he was still busy over an argument with himself as to whether
+he had been afraid of the young poacher or no, when, after missing the
+way two or three times among the firs, he caught sight of the church
+clock pointing to a quarter to eight.
+
+"Just time to get in," he said, as he increased his pace; and
+then--"Yes, I suppose it was afraid of him, for he is a good deal bigger
+and stronger than I am."
+
+"Hullo, Tom! been for a walk?" saluted him, as he was hurrying at last
+along the lane which divided his uncle's grounds from the new purchase.
+
+Tom looked up quickly, and found that Uncle Richard was looking over the
+wall of the mill-yard.
+
+"That's right," continued his uncle.  "What do you think of the place?"
+
+"Glorious!" said Tom.
+
+"Hungry?"
+
+"Terribly, uncle."
+
+"That's right.  Come along, Mrs Fidler's waiting for us by now."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+Directly after breakfast Tom followed his uncle to the coach-house, and
+from there up a ladder fastened to the side into the loft, where he
+looked around wonderingly, while his companion's face relaxed into a
+grim smile.
+
+"It was originally intended for botanical productions, Tom," he said;
+"for a sort of _hortus siccus_, if you know what that means."
+
+"_Hortus_--garden; _siccus_--I don't know what that means, uncle, unless
+it's dry."
+
+"That's right, boy.  Glad you know some Latin beside the legal.  Dry
+garden, as a botanist calls it, where he stores up his specimens.  But
+only a few kinds were kept here: hay, clover, oats, and linseed, in the
+form of cake.  Now, you see, I've turned it into use for another
+science."
+
+"Astronomy, uncle?"
+
+"To be sure; but it's _very_ small and inconvenient.  But wait till we
+get the windmill going."
+
+"Is this your telescope?" cried Tom.
+
+"Yes, Tom; but it's too small.  You'll have to work hard on my big one."
+
+"Yes, uncle," said Tom, with quiet confidence, as he eagerly examined
+the glass with its mounting, and the many other objects about the place,
+one of which was a kind of trough half full of what seemed to be
+beautifully clear water, covered with a sheet of plate-glass.
+
+"There, as soon as you've done we'll go to the mill, for I don't want to
+lose any time."
+
+"I could stay here for hours, uncle," said Tom.  "I want to know what
+all these things are for, and how you use them; but I'm ready now."
+
+"That's right.  The men are coming this morning to begin clearing away."
+
+"So soon, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, so soon.  Life's short, Tom; and at my age one can't afford to
+waste time.  Come along."
+
+Tom began thinking as he followed his uncle, for his words suggested a
+good deal, inasmuch as he had been exceedingly extravagant with the time
+at his disposal, and much given to wishing the tedious hours to go by.
+
+"Here they are," said Uncle Richard; for there was the sound of a
+horse's hoofs, and the crushing noise made by wheels in the lane.
+
+"But I thought you were going to make the place into an observatory
+yourself, uncle, with me to help you?"
+
+Uncle Richard smiled.
+
+"It would be wasting valuable time, Tom," he said, "even if we could do
+it; but we could not.  I've thought it over, and we shall have to
+content ourselves with making the glass."
+
+On reaching the mill-yard it was to find half-a-dozen people there with
+ladders, scaffold-poles, ropes, blocks, and pulleys.  There was a short
+consultation, and soon after the men began work, unbolting the woodwork
+of the sails, while others began to disconnect the millstones from the
+iron gearing.
+
+This business brought up all the idlers of the village, who hung about
+looking on--some in a friendly way, others with a sneering look upon
+their countenances, as they let drop remarks that contained anything but
+respect for the owner of the place.  But though they were careful not to
+let them reach Uncle Richard's ears, it seemed to Tom that more than
+once an extra unpleasant speech was made expressly for him to hear; and
+he coloured angrily as he felt that these people must know why the mill
+was being dismantled.
+
+The work went on day after day, and first one great arm of the mill was
+lowered in safety, the others following, to make quite a stack of wood
+in a corner of the yard, but so arranged that one side touched the
+brickwork, as there was no need to leave room now for the revolution of
+the sails.
+
+By this time the building had assumed the appearance of a tower, whose
+sides curved up to the wooden dome top, and the resemblance was
+completed as soon as the fan followed the sails.
+
+Meanwhile the iron gearing connected with the stones had been taken down
+inside; then the stones had followed, being lowered through the floors
+into the basement, and from thence carefully rolled, to be leaned up
+against the wall.
+
+"Hah!" said Uncle Richard, "at the end of a week," as he went up to the
+top-floor of the mill with his nephew.
+
+"Is it only a week, uncle?" said Tom.  "Why, it seems to me as if I had
+been here for a month."
+
+"So long and tedious, boy?"
+
+"Oh no, uncle," said Tom confusedly.  "I meant I seem to have been here
+so long, and yet the time has gone like lightning."
+
+"Then you can't have been very miserable, my boy?"
+
+"Miserable!" cried Tom.
+
+That was all; and Uncle Richard turned the conversation by pointing to
+the roof.
+
+"There," he said, "that used to swing round easily enough with the
+weight of those huge sails, which looked so little upon the mill, but so
+big when they are down.  It ought to move easily now, boy."
+
+Tom tried, and found that the whole of the wooden top glided round upon
+its pivot with the greatest ease.
+
+"Yes, that's all very well," said his uncle, "but it will have to be
+disconnected from the mill-post.  I shall want that to bear the new
+glass."
+
+"That?" said Tom, gazing at the huge beam which went down through the
+floor right to the basement of the mill.
+
+"Yes, boy; that will make a grandly steady stand when wedged tight.  To
+a great extent this place is as good as if it had been built on purpose
+for an observatory.  I shall be glad though when we get rid of the
+workmen, and all the litter and rubbish are cleared away."
+
+That afternoon a couple of carpenters began work, devoting themselves at
+first to the wooden dome-like roof, which they were to furnish from top
+to bottom with a narrow shutter, so formed that it could be opened to
+turn right over on to the roof, leaving a long slip open to the sky.
+
+That night, after he had gone up to his bedroom, Tom threw open his
+window, to sit upon the ledge, reaching out so as to have a good look at
+the sky which spread above, one grand arch of darkest purple spangled
+with golden stars.  To his right was the tower-like mill, and behind it
+almost the only constellation that he knew, to wit, Charles's Wain, with
+every star distinct, even to the little one, which he had been told
+represented the boy driving the horses of the old northern waggon.
+
+"How thick the stars are to-night," he thought, as he traced the light
+clusters of the Milky Way, noting how it divided in one place into two.
+Then he tried to make out the Little Bear and failed, wondered which was
+the Dog Star, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, and ended by giving his ear a
+vicious rub.
+
+"A fellow don't seem to know anything," he thought.  "How stupid I must
+seem to Uncle Richard.  But I mean to know before I've done.  Hark!"
+
+He listened attentively, for in the distance a nightingale was singing,
+and the sweet notes were answered from somewhere beyond, and again and
+again at greater distances still, the notes, though faint, sounding
+deliciously pure and sweet.
+
+"Who would live in London?" he said to himself; and a curiously mingled
+feeling of pleasure and sadness came over him, as he dwelt upon his
+position now, and how happy life had suddenly become.
+
+"And I thought of running away," he said softly, as he looked down now
+at the dimly-seen shrubs about the lawn.  "Uncle Richard doesn't seem to
+think I'm such a fool.  Wonder whether I can learn all about the stars."
+
+Just then he yawned, for it was past ten, and the house so quiet that he
+felt sure that his uncle had gone to bed.
+
+"Yes, I'll learn all about them and surprise him," he said.  "There are
+plenty of books in the study.  Then I shall not seem so stupid when we
+begin.  What's that?"
+
+He had put out his candle when he opened the casement to look at the
+stars, so that his room was all dark, and he was just about to close the
+window, and hurry off his clothes, when a faint clinking sound struck
+upon his ear.
+
+The noise came from the mill-yard to his right, where he could dimly
+make out the outlines of the building against the northern sky; and it
+sounded as if some of the ironwork which had been taken down--bolts,
+nuts, bands, and rails--and piled against the wall had slipped a little,
+so as to make a couple of the pieces clink.
+
+"That's what it is," thought Tom, and he reached out to draw in his
+casement window, when he heard the sound again, a little louder.
+
+"Cat walking over the iron," thought Tom; but the noise came again, only
+a faint sound, but plain enough in the stillness of the night.
+
+All at once a thought came which sent the blood flushing up into the
+boy's cheeks, and nailed him, as it were, to the window.
+
+"There's some one in the yard stealing the old iron."
+
+The lad's heart began to beat heavily, and thoughts came fast.  Who
+could it be?  Some one who knew where it all was, and meant to sell it.
+Surely it couldn't be David!
+
+Tom leaned out, gazing in the direction of the sounds, which still
+continued, and he made out now that it was just as if somebody was
+hurriedly pulling bolts and nuts out of a heap, and putting them in a
+bag or a sack.
+
+Hot with indignation, as soon as he had arrived at this point, against
+whoever it could be who was robbing his uncle, Tom half turned from the
+window to go and wake him.
+
+No, he would not do that.  It must be some one in the village, and if he
+could find out who, that would be enough, and he could tell his uncle in
+the morning.
+
+Tom had only been a short time at Furzebrough, but it was long enough to
+make him know many of the people at sight, and, in spite of the
+darkness, he fancied that he would be able to recognise the marauder if
+he could get near enough.
+
+He did not stop to think.  There was a heavy trellis-work covered with
+roses and creepers all over his side of the house, and the sill of his
+window was not much over ten feet from the flower-beds below.
+
+He had no cap up-stairs, and he was in his slippers, but this last was
+all the better, and with all a boy's activity he climbed out of the
+window, got a good hold of the trellis, felt down with his feet for a
+place, and descended with the greatest ease, avoided the narrow flower
+border by a bit of a spring, and landed upon David's carefully-kept
+grass.
+
+Here for a moment or two he paused.
+
+The gate would be locked at night, and it would be better to get out at
+the bottom of the garden.
+
+Satisfied with this, he set off at a trot, the velvety grass deadening
+his steps.  Then, getting over the iron hurdle, he passed through a bit
+of shrubbery, found a thick stick, and got over the palings into the
+lane.
+
+Here he had to be more cautious, for he wanted to try and make out who
+was the thief without being seen, and perhaps getting a crack over the
+head, as he put it, with a piece of iron.
+
+The lane would not do, and besides, the gate would be locked, and the
+wall awkward to climb.
+
+Another idea suggested itself, and stopping at the end of the mill-yard,
+he passed into a field, and with his heart increasing its pulsations,
+partly from exertion, as much as from excitement, he hurried round on
+tiptoe to the back of the mill-yard, and cautiously raising himself up,
+peered over the top of the wall, and listened.
+
+To his disappointment, he found that though he could look over the top
+of the wall, it was only at the mill--all below in the yard was
+invisible, but the place was all very still now.  Not a sound fell upon
+his ear for some minutes, and then a very faint one, which sounded like
+a load being lifted from the top of the wall, but right away down by
+where he had entered the field.
+
+Tom stole back, bending low the while, but saw nothing, nobody was
+carrying a burden, and he was getting to be in despair, when all at once
+there was the sound of a stifled sneeze, evidently from far along the
+lane.
+
+That was enough.  Tom was back in the lane directly, keeping close to
+the hedge, and following, he believed, some one who was making his way
+from the village out toward the open country.
+
+At the end of a minute he was sure that some one was about thirty yards
+in front of him, and perfectly certain directly after that whoever it
+was had turned off to the right along a narrow path between two hedges
+which bounded the bottom of his uncle's field.
+
+The path led round to the outskirts of the village, where there were
+some scattered cottages beyond the church, and feeling sure that the
+thief--if it was a thief--was making for there, Tom followed silently,
+guided twice over by a faint sniff, and pausing now and then to listen
+for some movement which he heard, the load the marauder carried brushing
+slightly against the hedge.
+
+Then all at once the sounds ceased, and though Tom went on and on, and
+stopped to listen again and again, he could hear nothing.  He hurried on
+quickly now, but felt that nobody could be at hand, and hurried back,
+peering now in the darkness to try and make out where the object of his
+search had struck off from the narrow way.
+
+But in the obscurity he could make out nothing, for he was very ignorant
+about this track, never having been all along it before; and at last,
+thoroughly discouraged, he went back, growing more and more annoyed at
+his ill-success, and wishing he had made a rush and seized the thief at
+once.
+
+And now, feeling thoroughly tired, as well as damped in his ardour, Tom
+reached the paling, climbed over into the shrubbery, reached the lawn,
+over which he walked slowly toward the darkened house, where he paused,
+and reached over to grasp the stout trellis, and spare David's
+flower-bed.
+
+It was very easy, almost as much so as climbing a ladder, and in a
+minute he had reached first one arm and then the other over the
+window-sill, and was about to climb in, when he almost let go and nearly
+dropped back into the garden.
+
+For there was a loud scratching noise, a line of light, and a wax-match
+flashed out, and then burned steadily, lighting up Uncle Richard's stern
+face and the little bedroom, as he stood a couple of yards back from the
+window.
+
+"Now, sir, if you please," came in severe tones.  "What is the meaning
+of this?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+It did not mean apples nor pears from the garden, for they were nearly
+as hard as wood, and it did not mean going out to carry on some game
+with a companion, for Tom knew no one there.
+
+Uncle Richard was aware of this when he heard Tom stealing down the
+trellis, and peeped at him from a darkened window.  Hence his stern
+question.
+
+"Oh, uncle!" said Tom, in a subdued voice, "how you frightened me."
+
+"I'm glad of it, sir," said Uncle Richard, holding the little match to
+the candle and increasing the illumination as Tom climbed in.  "I meant
+to.  Now, sir, if you please, explain."
+
+"Yes, uncle," said Tom calmly, and making his uncle frown.
+
+"The impudent young dog!" he said to himself; and then he stood nodding
+his head, and gradually growing more satisfied that he had after all
+been right in his estimate of his nephew, though the night's business
+had rather shaken his faith.
+
+"Then you didn't make out who it was, Tom," he said, when Tom had
+explained.
+
+"No, uncle; it was very stupid of me, I suppose."
+
+"Very foolish to be guilty of such an escapade."
+
+"Foolish!" said Tom, growing more damped than before; "but he was
+stealing the ironwork."
+
+"Yes, evidently carrying it off; but it was old iron."
+
+"But it was just as bad to steal old iron as new, uncle," said Tom.
+
+"Ahem! yes, of course, my boy; but you must not be so venturesome.  I
+mean that it was not worth while for you to risk being stricken down for
+the sake of saving some rubbish.  Thieves are reckless when caught."
+
+"I wasn't thinking of saving the old iron, uncle; I wanted to see who it
+was, so as to be able to tell you.  I didn't think of being knocked
+down."
+
+"Well, perhaps it was all a mistake, Tom," said Uncle Richard, "for it
+was in the dark."
+
+"Yes, uncle, but I feel sure that some one was helping himself to the
+pieces of iron."
+
+"Look in the morning, my boy.  Get to bed now, and never do such a thing
+as that again.  Good-night."
+
+Uncle Richard nodded to the boy kindly enough and left him, while Tom
+soon turned in to bed, to lie dreaming that the man came back to fetch
+more iron, and kept on carrying it off till it was all gone.  Then he
+came back again, lifted the mill sails as if they were mere twigs, and
+took them away, and lastly he was in the act of picking up one of the
+millstones, and putting it on his head, when Tom awoke, and found that
+it was a bright sunshiny morning.
+
+It did not take him very long dressing, by which time it was nearly six,
+and he hurried down so as to get into the mill-yard before the
+carpenters came to work.
+
+Sure enough, when he reached the heap of iron in the left-hand corner of
+the place, it was plain to see that a number of small pieces had been
+taken away, for not only had the heap been disturbed by some being
+removed, but the surface looked black, and not rusty like the rest,
+showing that a new surface had been exposed.
+
+Satisfied that he was right, and there being no embargo placed upon his
+acting now, Tom went over the ground he had traversed the night before,
+and upon reaching the corner of the yard close to the lane, he came upon
+the spot where the bag must have been rested in getting it over; and as
+ill-luck would have it for the thief, the head of a great nail stuck out
+from between two bricks, a nail such as might have been used for the
+attaching of a clothes-line.  This head had no doubt caught and torn the
+bag, for an iron screw nut lay on the top of the bricks.
+
+Tom seized it, leaped the wall, and got into the lane, to find another
+nut in the road just where his uncle's field ended, and the narrow path
+went down between the two hedges.
+
+This was a means of tracking, and, eager now to trace the place where
+the thief must have turned off, Tom went on with his hunt, to find the
+spot easily enough just at the corner of a potato field, where the hedge
+was so thin that a person could easily pass through.
+
+"This must have been the place," thought Tom.  "Yes, so it is.  Hurrah!"
+he cried, and pressing against the hedge the hawthorn gave way on each
+side, and he pounced upon a piece of iron lying on the soft soil between
+two rows of neatly earthed-up potatoes.  Better still, there were the
+deeply-marked footprints of some one who wore heavy boots, running
+straight between the next two rows, and following this step by step, Tom
+found two more nuts before he reached, the hedge on the other side of
+the field, and passed out into the lane in front of the straggling patch
+of cottages, from one of which the blue wood smoke was rising, and a
+little way off an old bent woman was going toward the stream which ran
+through this part of the village.  She was carrying a tin kettle, and
+evidently on her way to fill it for breakfast.
+
+Tom stopped in this lane undecided as to which way to go, for the thief
+might just as likely have passed to the left or right of these to
+another part of the village as have entered one of them.
+
+He looked for the footprints, but they were only visible in the
+freshly-hoed field.  There was not a sign in the hard road, and feeling
+now that he was at fault, he walked slowly down the lane, and then
+returned along the path close in front of the cottages.  Just as he
+reached the gate leading into the patch of garden belonging to the one
+with the open door, and from which came the crackling of burning wood,
+his attention was taken by the loud yawning of some one within, and a
+large screw lying upon the crossbar of the palings which separated this
+garden from the next.
+
+This screw was about four yards from the little gate, and it might have
+belonged to the occupants, but, as Tom darted in, certain that it was
+part of the plunder, he saw that it was muddy and wet, and just in front
+of him there was its imprint in the damp path, where it had evidently
+been trampled in and then picked out.
+
+Tom felt certain now; and just then the little gate swung to, giving a
+bang which brought the yawner to the doorway in the person of the big
+lad who had shouted after Uncle Richard on the afternoon of Tom's first
+arrival, and next morning had been caught poaching.  In fact, there was
+a ferrets' cage under the window with a couple of the creatures
+thrusting out their little pink noses as if asking to be fed.
+
+The boys' eyes met, and there was no sleepiness in the bigger one's eyes
+as he caught sight of the screw in Tom's hand.
+
+"Here!" he cried, rushing at him and trying to seize the piece of iron;
+"what are you doing here?  That's mine."
+
+"No, it isn't," cried Tom sturdily.  "How did it come here?"
+
+"What's that to you?  You give that here, or it'll be the worse for
+you."
+
+"Where did you get it?" cried Tom.
+
+"It's no business of yours," cried the lad savagely.  "Give it up, will
+yer."
+
+He seized Tom by the collar with both hands, and tried then to snatch
+away the screw, but Tom held on with his spirit rising; and as the
+struggle went on, in another minute he would have been striking out
+fiercely, had not there been an interruption in the arrival of the old
+woman with the newly-filled kettle.
+
+"Here, what's this?" she croaked, in a peculiarly hoarse voice; and as
+Tom looked round he found himself face to face with a keen-eyed,
+swarthy, wrinkled old woman, whose untended grey hair hung in ragged
+locks about her cheeks, and whose hooked nose and prominent chin gave
+her quite the aspect of some old witch as fancied by an artist for a
+book.
+
+"Do you hear, Pete, who's this?" she cried again, before the lad could
+answer.  "What does he want?"
+
+"Says that old iron screw's his, granny."
+
+"What, that?" cried the old woman, making a snatch with her thin
+long-nailed finger at the piece of iron Tom held as far as he could from
+his adversary.
+
+She was more successful than the lad had been, for she obtained
+possession of it, and hurriedly thrust it into some receptacle hidden by
+the folds of her dirty tea-leaf-coloured dress.
+
+"Mine!" she cried, "mine!  Who is he?  Want to steal it?"
+
+"Yes.  D'yer hear?  Be off out of our place, or I'll soon let you know."
+
+"I shall not go," cried Tom, who was now bubbling over with excitement.
+"You stole the iron from our place--from the mill last night."
+
+The old woman turned upon him furiously.
+
+"The mill," she cried; "who pulled the poor old mill down, and robbed
+poor people of their meal?  No corn, no flour.  I know who you are now.
+You belong to him yonder.  I know you.  Cursed all of you.  I know him,
+with his wicked ways and sins and doings.  Go away--go away!"
+
+She raised her hands threateningly, after setting down the kettle; and
+Tom shrank back in dismay from an adversary with whom he could not cope.
+
+"Not till he brings out the iron he came and stole," cried Tom.
+
+"Stole?--who stole?  What yer mean?" cried the lad.  "Here, let me get
+at him, granny.  He ain't coming calling people stealers here, is he?
+It's your bit o' iron, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes, mine--mine," cried the old woman; "send him away--send him away
+before I put a look upon him as he'll never lose."
+
+"D'yer hear? you'd better be off!" cried the lad; and, completely
+beaten, Tom shrank away, the old woman following him up, with her lips
+moving rapidly, her fingers gesticulating, and a look in her fiercely
+wild eyes that was startling.  He was ready in his excitement to renew
+his struggle with the lad, in spite of a disparity of years and size;
+but the old woman was too much, and he did not breathe freely till he
+was some distance away from the cottages, and on his way back to
+Heatherleigh.
+
+The first person he encountered was his uncle, who was down the garden
+ready to greet him with--
+
+"Morning, Tom, lad; I'm afraid you were right about the iron."
+
+"Yes, uncle; and I found who stole it.  I traced it to one of the
+cottages," and he related his experience.
+
+"Ah!" he said; "so you've fallen foul of old Mother Warboys.  You don't
+believe in witches, do you, Tom?"
+
+"No, uncle, of course not; but she's a horrible old woman."
+
+"Yes, and the simple folk about here believe in her as something no
+canny, as the Scotch call it.  So you think it was Master Pete Warboys,
+do you?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I feel sure it was; and if you sent a policeman at once, I
+dare say he would find the bag of iron."
+
+"Hardly likely, Tom; they would have got rid of it before he came there
+if I did send one, which I shall not do."
+
+"Not send--for stealing?"
+
+"No, Tom," said Uncle Richard quietly.  "Police means magistrates,
+magistrates mean conviction and prison.  Master Pete's bad enough now."
+
+"Yes, uncle; he poaches rabbits."
+
+"I dare say," said Uncle Richard; "and if I sent him to prison, I
+should, I fear, make him worse, and all for the sake of a few pieces of
+old iron.  No, Tom, I think we'll leave some one else to punish him.
+You and I are too busy to think of such things.  We want to start upon
+our journey."
+
+"Are we going out, uncle?" said Tom eagerly.
+
+"Yes, boy, as soon as the great glass is made: off and away through the
+mighty realms of space, to plunge our eyes into the depths of the
+heavens, and see the wonders waiting for us there."
+
+Tom felt a little puzzled by Uncle Richard's language, but he only said,
+"Yes, of course," and did not quite understand why Master Pete Warboys,
+who seemed to be as objectionable a young cub as ever inhabited a
+pleasant country village, should be allowed to go unpunished.
+
+That day was spent in the mill, where the carpenters were working away
+steadily; and as the time sped on, the wooden dome-like roof was
+finished, the shutter worked well, and a little railed place was
+contrived so that men could go out to paint or repair, while at the same
+time the railings looked ornamental, and gave the place a finish.  Then
+some rollers were added, to make the whole top glide round more easily;
+and the great post which ran up the centre of the mill was cut off level
+with the top chamber floor, and detached from the roof.
+
+"That will be capital for a stand," said Uncle Richard; "and going right
+down to the ground as it does, gives great steadiness and freedom from
+vibration."
+
+A few days more, and white-washing and a lining with matchboard had
+completely transformed the three floors of the mill, a liberal allowance
+of a dark stain and varnish giving the finishing touches, so that in
+what had been a remarkably short space of time the ramshackle old mill
+had become a very respectable-looking observatory, only waiting for the
+scientific apparatus, which had to be made.
+
+The next thing was the clearing out of the yard, where, under David's
+superintendence, a couple of labouring men had a long task to cut up old
+wood and wheel it away, to be stacked in the coach-house and a shed.
+The great millstones were left--for ornament, Uncle Richard said; and as
+for the old iron, he said dryly to Tom, as they stood by the heap--
+
+"Seems a pity that so many of these pieces were too heavy to lift."
+
+"Why; uncle?  Two men can lift one."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard; "but one boy can't, or it would all have been
+cleared away for me."
+
+Tom looked in the dry quaint face, which appeared serious, although the
+boy felt that his uncle was in one of his humorous moods.
+
+"There must be a strange fascination about stealing, Tom," he continued,
+"for, you see, quite half of that old iron is gone."
+
+"More," said Tom.
+
+"Yes, more, my boy.  Strange what trouble rogues will take for very
+little.  Now, for instance, I should say that whatever might have been
+its intrinsic worth, whoever stole that old iron could not possibly
+altogether have sold it for more than five shillings, that is to say,
+about one shilling per week."
+
+"Is it five weeks since the men began to pull down, uncle?"
+
+"Five weeks yesterday; and that amount could have been earned by an
+industrious boy in, say, four days, and by a labouring man in two.  I'm
+afraid, Tom, that dishonesty does not pay."
+
+David, who was close by, helping to load the remainder of the old iron
+into a cart, edged up to Tom as soon as Uncle Richard had gone into the
+mill.
+
+"Strikes me, Master Tom," he said, "as I could put my hand on him as
+stole that there old iron."
+
+"Who do you think it was, David?"
+
+"Not going to name no names, sir," said David, screwing up his lips, and
+tightening a roll of blue serge apron about his waist.  "Don't do to
+slander your neighbours; but if you was to say it was old Mother
+Warboys' hulking grandson, I wouldn't be so rude as to contradick you;
+not as I say it is, mind you, but I've knowed that chap ever since he
+was a dirty little gipsy whelp of a thing, and I never yet knowed him
+take anything as was out of his reach."
+
+Tom laughed.
+
+"But I just give him fair warning, Master Tom, that if he comes after my
+ribstons and Maria Louisas this year--"
+
+"Did he come last year?" said Tom eagerly.
+
+"Never you mind that, Master Tom.  I don't say as he did, and I don't
+say as he didn't; but I will say this, and swear to it: them Maria
+Louisas on the wall has got eyes in their heads, and stalks as does for
+tails, but I never see one yet as had legs."
+
+"Nor I neither, David," said Tom, laughing.
+
+"No, sir; but all the same they walked over the wall and out into the
+lane somehow.  So did lots of the ribstons and my king pippins.  But
+tchah! it's no use to say nought to your uncle.  If somebody was to come
+and steal his legs I don't b'lieve he'd holler `Stop thief!' but when it
+comes to my fruit, as I'm that proud on it grieves me to see it picked,
+walking over the wall night after night, I feel sometimes as it's no
+good to prune and train, and manoor things."
+
+"Ah, it must be vexatious, David!"
+
+"Waxashus is nothing to it, sir.  I tell you what it is, sir: it's made
+me wicked, that it has.  There's them times when I've been going to
+church o' Sundays, and seen that there Pete Warboys and two or three
+other boys a-hanging about a corner waiting till everybody's inside to
+go and get into some mischief.  I've gone to my seat along with the
+singers, sir, and you may believe me when I tell you, I've never heered
+a single word o' the sarmon, but sat there seeing that chap after my
+pears and apples all the time."
+
+"Then you do give Pete Warboys the credit of it, David?"
+
+"No, I don't, sir.  I won't 'cuse nobody; but what I do say is this,
+that if ever I'm down the garden with a rake or hoe-handle in my hand,
+and Pete Warboys comes over the wall, I'll hit him as hard as I can, and
+ask master afterwards whether I've done right."
+
+"David," said Tom eagerly, "how soon will the pears be ripe?"
+
+"Oh, not for long enough yet, sir; and the worst of it is, if you're
+afraid of your pears and apples being stole, and picks 'em soon, they
+s'rivels up and has no taste in 'em."
+
+"Then we must lie in wait for whoever it is, when the fruit is ripe, and
+catch them."
+
+David shut both of his eyes tight, wrinkled his face up, and shook
+himself all over, then opened his eyes again, nodded, and whispered
+solemnly--
+
+"Master Tom, we just will."
+
+Then he went off to the loading of the iron, saw the last load carted
+out, and was back ready, after shutting the gate, to take his master's
+orders about turning the mill-yard into a shrubbery and garden.
+
+A week with plenty of help from the labourers completely transformed the
+place.  Then plenty of big shrubs and conifers were taken up from the
+garden, with what David called good balls to their roots, and planted
+here and there, loads of gravel were brought in, the roller was brought
+into action, and a wide broad walk led with a curve to the mill-door;
+there was a broad border round the tower itself, and a walk outside
+that; and Tom and Uncle Richard stood looking at the work one evening in
+a very satisfied frame of mind.
+
+"There, Tom, now for tying up my money-bag.  That's all I mean to spend.
+Now you and I will have to do the rest."
+
+The next day was devoted to furnishing the interior with the odds and
+ends of scientific apparatus.  The small telescope was mounted in the
+top-floor, the new apparatus, boxes, bottles, and jars were placed on
+tables and shelves in the middle floor, and the two great glass discs
+were carefully carried into the stone-floored basement, where a cask was
+stood up on end, a hole made in the head, and barrowful after barrowful
+of the fine silver sand plentiful in amongst the pine-trees was wheeled
+up and poured in, like so much water, with a big funnel, till the cask
+was full.
+
+"What's that for?" said Uncle Richard, in response to an inquiry from
+his nephew.  "That, Tom, is for a work-bench, meant to be so solid that
+it will not move.  Try if you can stir it."
+
+Tom gave it a thrust, and shook his head.
+
+"I don't think three men could push it over, uncle," he said.
+
+"Two couldn't, Tom.  There, that will do.  We mustn't have any accident
+with our speculum.  Now then, to begin.  Ready?  Tuck up your sleeves."
+
+Tom obeyed, and helped his uncle to lift one of the glass discs on to
+the top of the cask, where it was easily fixed by screwing three little
+brick-shaped pieces of wood on to the head close against the sides of
+the glass.
+
+Uncle Richard paused after tightening the last screw, and stood looking
+at his nephew.
+
+"What a queer boy you are, Tom," he said.
+
+"Am I, uncle?" said the lad, colouring.
+
+"To be sure you are.  Most boys would be full of questions, and ask why
+that's done."
+
+"Oh," cried Tom, who smiled as he felt relieved, "I'm just the same,
+uncle--as full of questions as any boy."
+
+"But you don't speak."
+
+"No, uncle; it's because I don't want you to think I'm a trouble, but I
+do want to know horribly all the same."
+
+"I'm glad of it, boy, because I don't want what the Germans call a
+dummkopf to help me.  I see; I must volunteer my information.  To begin
+with then, that disc of glass is--"
+
+"For the speculum," said Tom eagerly; "and you're going to polish it."
+
+"Wrong.  That's only for the tool.  The other is for the speculum, and
+we are going to grind it upon the tool."
+
+He turned to the other flat disc of ground-glass, where it lay upon a
+piece of folded blanket upon a bench under the window, and laid his head
+upon it.
+
+"Doesn't look much, does it, Tom?" he said.
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"And I'm afraid that all we have to go through may seem rather
+uninteresting to you."
+
+"Oh no, uncle; it will be very interesting to make a telescope."
+
+"I hope you will feel it so, boy, for you do not stand where I do, so
+you must set your young imagination to work.  For my part, do you know
+what I can see in that dull flat piece of glass?"
+
+Tom shook his head.
+
+"Some of the greatest wonders of creation, boy.  I can look forward and
+see it finished, and bringing to our eyes the sun with its majestic
+spots and ruddy corona, fierce with blazing heat so great that it is
+beyond our comprehension; the cold, pale, dead, silver moon, with its
+hundreds of old ring-plains and craters, scored and seamed, and looking
+to be only a few hundred miles away instead of two hundred and forty
+thousand; Jupiter with its four moons--perhaps we shall see the fifth--
+its belts and great red spot as it whirls round in space; brilliant
+Venus, with her changes like our moon; bright little Mercury; Saturn,
+with his disc-like ring, his belts and satellites; leaden-looking
+Neptune; ruddy Mars; the stars that look to us of a night bright points
+of light, opened out by that optic glass, and shown to be double,
+triple, and quadruple.  Then too the different misty nebulas; the comets
+and the different-coloured stars--white, blue, and green.  In short,
+endless wonders, my boy, such as excite, awe, and teach us how grand,
+how vast is the universe in which our tiny world goes spinning round.
+Come, boy, do you think you can feel interested in all this, or will you
+find it dry?"
+
+"Dry, uncle!  Oh!" panted Tom, with his eyes flashing with eagerness,
+"it sounds glorious."
+
+"It is glorious, my boy; and you who have read your _Arabian Nights_,
+and stories of magicians and their doings, will have to own that our
+piece of dull glass will grow into a power that shall transcend
+infinitely anything the imagination of any storyteller ever invented.
+Now, what do you say? for I must not preach any more."
+
+"Say, uncle!" cried Tom.  "Let's begin at once!"
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," said a pleasant voice; "but would you mind having a
+bell made to ring right in here?"
+
+"No, Mrs Fidler," said Uncle Richard; "we will lay down iron pipes
+underground to make a speaking-tube, so that you can call when you want
+me.  What is it--lunch?"
+
+"Lunch, sir!" said Mrs Fidler; "dear me, no; the dinner's waiting and
+getting cold."
+
+"Bother the old dinner!" thought Tom.
+
+"Come, my lad, we must eat," said Uncle Richard, with a smile.  "We
+shall not finish the telescope to-day."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+"Now then, we'll begin," said Uncle Richard; "and the first thing is to
+make our mould or gauge, for everything we do must be so exact that we
+can set distortion at defiance.  We must have no aberration, as
+opticians call it."
+
+"Begin to polish the glass, uncle?"
+
+"Not yet.  Fetch those two pieces of lath."  Tom fetched a couple of
+thin pieces of wood, each a little over twelve feet long.  These were
+laid upon the bench and screwed together, so as to make one rod just
+over twenty-four feet long.
+
+Then at one end a hole was made, into which a large brass-headed nail
+was thrust, while through the other end a sharp-pointed bradawl was
+bored, so as to leave its sharp point sticking out a quarter of an inch
+on the other side.
+
+"So far so good," said Uncle Richard.  "Do you know what we are going to
+do, Tom?"  Tom shook his head.
+
+"Strike the curve on that piece of zinc that we are to make our
+speculum."
+
+"Curve?" said Tom; "why, it's quite round now."
+
+"Yes; the edge is, but we are going to work at the face."
+
+"But arn't you going to polish it into a looking-glass?"
+
+"Yes; but not a flat one--a plane.  That would be of no use to us, Tom;
+we must have a parabolic curve."
+
+"Oh," said Tom, who only knew parabolas from a cursory acquaintance with
+them through an old Greek friend called Euclid.
+
+"Be patient, and you'll soon understand," continued Uncle Richard, who
+proceeded to secure the sheet of zinc to a piece of board by means of
+four tacks at its corners, and ended by carrying it out, and fixing the
+board just at the bottom of the border, close to the window.
+
+A couple of strong nails at the sides of the board were sufficient, and
+then he led the way in.
+
+"Now, Tom, take that ball of twine and the hammer, and go up to the top
+window, open it, and look out."
+
+The boy did not stop to say "What for?" but ran up-stairs, opened the
+window, and looked out, to find his uncle beneath with the long rod.
+
+"Lower down the end of the string," he cried; and this was done, Tom
+watching, and seeing it tied to the end of the rod where the brass nail
+stuck through.
+
+"Haul up, Tom."
+
+The twine was tightened, and the end of the rod drawn up till Tom could
+take it in his hand.
+
+"Now take away the string."
+
+This was done.
+
+"Get your hammer."
+
+"It's here on the window-sill, uncle."
+
+"That's right.  Now look here: I want you to lean out, and drive that
+nail in between two of the bricks, so that this marking-point at my end
+may hang just a few inches above the bottom of my piece of zinc.  I'll
+guide it.  That's just right.  Now drive in the nail."
+
+"Must come an inch higher, so that the nail may be opposite a joint."
+
+"Take it an inch higher, and drive it in."
+
+This was done, and the rod swung like an immensely long wooden pendulum.
+
+"That's right," cried Uncle Richard; "the nail and this point are
+exactly twenty-four feet apart.  Now keep your finger on the head of the
+nail to steady it while I mark the zinc."
+
+Tom obeyed, and looked down the while, to see his uncle move the rod to
+and fro, till he had scored in the sheet of zinc a curve as neatly and
+more truly than if it had been done with a pair of compasses.
+
+"That's all, Tom," he said.  "Take out the nail and lower the rod down
+again carefully, or it will break."
+
+All this was done, and Tom descended to find that both the rod and the
+sheet of zinc had been carried in, the latter laid on the bench, and
+displaying a curve deeply scratched upon it where the sharp-pointed
+bradawl had been drawn.
+
+"There, Tom," said Uncle Richard, "that curve is exactly the one we have
+to make in our speculum, so that we may have a telescope of twelve feet
+focus.  Do you understand?"
+
+"No," said Tom bluntly.
+
+"Never mind--you soon will.  It means that when we have ground out the
+glass so that it is a hollow of that shape, all the light reflected will
+meet at a point just twelve feet distant from its surface.  Now we have
+begun in real earnest."
+
+He now took a keen-edged chisel, and pressing the corner down proceeded
+to deepen the mark scored in the zinc with the greatest care, until he
+had cut right through, forming the metal into two moulds, one of which
+was to gauge the lower disc, the other the upper.  The edges of these
+were then rubbed carefully together as they lay flat upon the bench,
+till their edges were quite smooth; then some of the unnecessary zinc
+was cut away, a couple of big holes punched in them, and they were hung
+upon a couple of nails over the bench ready for use.
+
+"Next thing," cried Uncle Richard, "is to begin upon the speculum
+itself, so now for our apparatus.  Here we have it all: a bowl of fine
+sifted silver sand, a bucket of water, and a sponge.  Very simple things
+for bringing the moon so near, eh?"
+
+"But is that all we want, uncle?"
+
+"At present, my boy," said Uncle Richard, proceeding to wet some of the
+sand and pretty well cover the disc of glass fixed upon the cask-head.
+"That's for grinding, as you see."
+
+"Yes, uncle; but what are you going to rub it with?"
+
+"The other disc.  Here, catch hold.  Be careful."
+
+Tom obeyed, and the smooth piece of plate-glass was laid flat upon the
+first piece, crushing down the wet sand, and fitting well into its
+place.
+
+"Now, my boy, if we rub those two together, what will be the effect?"
+
+"Grind the glass," said Tom.  "I once made a transparent slate like
+that, by rubbing a piece of glass on a stone with some sand and water.
+But I thought you wanted to hollow out the glass?"
+
+"So I do, Tom."
+
+"But that will only keep the pieces flat."
+
+"I beg your pardon, my boy.  If we rub and grind them as I propose, one
+of the discs will be rounded and the other hollowed exactly as I wish."
+
+Tom stared, for this was to his way of thinking impossible.
+
+"Are you sure you are right, uncle?  Because if you are not, it would be
+so much trouble for nothing."
+
+"Let's prove it," said Uncle Richard, smiling.  "Go to the kitchen door,
+and ask the cook for a couple of good-sized pieces of salt and the
+meat-saw."
+
+The cook stared, but furnished the required pieces, which were soon
+shaped into flat slabs with the saw.  Then a sheet of newspaper was
+spread, and one of the flat pieces of salt placed upon the other.
+
+"There you are, Tom," said his uncle.  "I want you to see for yourself;
+then you will work better.  Now then, grind away, keeping the bottom
+piece firm, and the top going in circular strokes, the top passing half
+off the bottom every time."
+
+Tom began, and worked away, while from time to time the lower piece was
+turned round.
+
+"Nice fine salt," said Uncle Richard; "cook ought to be much obliged."
+
+"It will be as flat as flat," said Tom to himself, "but I don't like to
+tell him so."
+
+"There, that will do," said Uncle Richard, at the end of ten minutes.
+"Now then, are the pieces both flat?"
+
+"No, uncle; the bottom piece is rounded and the top hollowed, but I
+can't see why."
+
+"Then I'll tell you: because the centre gets rubbed more than the sides,
+Tom.  There, take paper and salt back, and we'll begin."
+
+Tom caught up the paper, and soon returned, eager to commence; and after
+a little instruction as to how he was to place his hands upon the top
+glass, Uncle Richard placed himself exactly opposite to his nephew, with
+the upturned cask between them.
+
+"Now, Tom, it will be a very long and tedious task with this great
+speculum; hot work for us too, so we must do a bit now and a bit then,
+so as not to weary ourselves out.  Ready?"
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"Then off."
+
+"It will be a tiresome job," thought Tom, as, trying hard to get into
+regular swing with his uncle, the top glass was pushed to and fro from
+one to the other; but at each thrust Uncle Richard made a half step to
+his left, Tom, according to instructions, the same, so that the glass
+might be ground regularly all over.  At the end of a quarter of an hour
+it was slid on one side, and more water and sand applied.  Then on
+again, and the grinding continued, the weight of the glass making the
+task very difficult.  But Tom worked manfully, encouraged by his uncle's
+assurance that every day he would grow more accustomed to the work, and
+after two more stoppages there was a cessation.
+
+"There!" cried Uncle Richard; "one hour's enough for the first day.  It
+wants faith to go on with such a business, Tom."
+
+As he spoke the future speculum was carefully lifted off the lower one,
+sponged with clean water, and on examination proved to be pretty well
+scratched in the middle in a round patch, but the marks grew less and
+less, till at the edge of the glass it was hardly scratched at all.
+
+"There, you see where we bite hardest," said Uncle Richard; "now we'll
+give it a rest, and ourselves too."
+
+"But we shall never get done like this," cried Tom.
+
+"Oh yes, we shall, boy; and I'm not going to leave off our work.  Let's
+see: this we must call the workshop, the floor above our laboratory, and
+the top of course the observatory.  Now then, let's go up into our
+laboratory, and I'll give you a lesson in elutriation."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+"I haven't got a dictionary here, uncle," said Tom, with a smile, as
+they stood at the massive table under the window in the laboratory.  "I
+don't know what elutriation means."
+
+"I dare say not.  I didn't till I was nearly fifty, Tom, but you soon
+shall know.  Fetch that tin off the shelf."
+
+Tom obeyed, and found a label on the top, on which was printed "Best
+Ground Emery."
+
+"Well, you know what that is?"
+
+"Emery?  Powdered glass," said Tom promptly.
+
+"Wrong.  Diamond cuts diamond, Tom, but we want something stronger than
+powdered glass to polish itself.  Emery is a mineral similar in nature
+to sapphire and ruby, but they are bright crystals, and emery is found
+in dull blocks."
+
+"Then it's very valuable?" said Tom.
+
+"Oh, no.  It is fairly plentiful in Nature, and much used.  Now then, we
+want coarse emery to grind our speculum after we have done with the
+sand, and then different degrees to follow, till we get some exquisitely
+fine for polishing.  How are we to divide the contents of that tin so as
+to graduate our grinding and polishing powder?"
+
+"Sift it, of course, uncle."
+
+"And where would you get sieves sufficiently fine at last?"
+
+"Muslin?"
+
+"Oh, no.  Here is where elutriation comes in, Tom; and here you see the
+use of some of the things I brought back from London the other day.  To
+work.  Bring forward that great pan."
+
+This was done.
+
+"Now empty in the contents of this packet."
+
+Tom took up a little white paper of something soft, opened it, and
+poured the contents into the pan.
+
+"Powdered gum arabic?" he said.
+
+"Yes.  Now empty the tin of emery upon it."
+
+Tom opened the tin, and found within a dark chocolate-looking powder,
+which felt very gritty between his finger and thumb.  This he emptied
+upon the gum arabic, and, in obedience to instructions, thoroughly mixed
+both together.
+
+"To make the fine emery remain longer in suspension," said his uncle,
+"keep on stirring, Tom."
+
+"All right, uncle.  What, are you going to pour water in?  It's like
+making a Christmas pudding."
+
+For Uncle Richard took up a can of water, and began to pour a little in
+as Tom stirred, changing the powder first into a paste, then into a
+thick mud, then into a thin brown batter, and at last, when a couple of
+gallons or so had been poured in and the whole well mixed, the great pan
+was full of a dirty liquid, upon the top of which a scum gathered as the
+movement ceased.  This scum Uncle Richard proceeded to skim off till the
+surface was quite clear, and then he glanced at his watch.
+
+"Is that scum the elutriation?" said Tom, with a faint grin.
+
+"No, boy, the impurity; throw it down the sink.  Now, Tom, we want to
+get our finest polishing emery out of that mixture, and it will take an
+hour to form--sixty-minute emery, the opticians call it; so while it is
+preparing, we'll go and have another turn at the speculum."
+
+They descended, leaving the pan standing on the heavy table, and after
+spreading wet sand upon the lower disc of glass, the loose one was once
+more set in motion, and uncle and nephew, with quarter-hour rests for
+examination and wetting the surfaces, patiently ground away for an hour,
+by which time, upon the speculum being sponged, it was found that the
+greater part of the upper glass was deeply scratched.
+
+"This is going to be an awfully long job," thought Tom.
+
+"Yes, it is," said his uncle, who aptly read his thoughts, "a very long
+job, Tom; but good things have to be worked for, boy."
+
+"Oh, I'm not going to be tired, uncle.  It's like working for a grand
+prize."
+
+"It is.  Now then, let's see to the emery.  Our finest must be ready by
+now.  Now I want all the water, from which the emery has settled down to
+the bottom, drawn off into that great white basin.  How is it to be
+done?"
+
+"Pour it off," said Tom.
+
+"No; couldn't be done without disturbing the bottom.  Let's try
+syphoning."
+
+Uncle Richard placed the basin upon a stool below the level of the
+table, took up a glass tube bent somewhat in the shape of a long-shanked
+hook, placed the short end gently beneath the surface of the nearly
+clear water, his lips to the long end, drew out the air, and the water
+followed directly from the atmospheric pressure, and ran swiftly into
+the basin.
+
+As it ran, and Tom watched, Uncle Richard carefully held the short arm
+of the syphon, guiding it till the sediment at the bottom of the pan was
+nearly reached, when he quickly withdrew it, and the basin was then
+placed beside the pan.
+
+"There, Tom," said Uncle Richard, "that's our sixty-minute emery."
+
+"But I thought you said you wanted it very fine.  You've only washed
+it."
+
+"We're playing at cross purposes, Tom," said Uncle Richard.  "You are
+talking about the contents of the pan, I about those of the basin."
+
+"What! the clear water--at least nearly clear?"
+
+"Ah, there you have hit it, boy--nearly clear.  That water contains our
+finest polishing powder, and it will have to stand till to-morrow to
+settle."
+
+"Oh!" said Tom, who felt very much in the dark, and he followed his
+uncle to the neat sink that had been fitted in the laboratory, and
+helped him wash a series of wide-mouthed stoppered bottles, which were
+afterwards carefully dried and labelled in a most methodical way.
+
+"Saves time, Tom, to be careful," said Uncle Richard, who now took up a
+pen and wrote upon the label of the smallest bottle "Emery, 60 min."
+
+"There, that's for the contents of the big basin."
+
+"Want a genii to get a pailful into that little bottle, uncle," said
+Tom, laughing.
+
+"We'll get all we want into it to-morrow, Tom," was the reply.  "Now
+then, how do you feel--ready for one hour's more grinding at the
+speculum, or shall we leave it till to-morrow?"
+
+"I want to finish it, and see the moon," said Tom sturdily, as he rolled
+up his sleeves a little more tightly.  "Let's get on, uncle, and finish
+it."
+
+"Or get an hour nearer," said Uncle Richard; and they went down and
+ground till Mrs Fidler summoned them to their meal.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+The next morning came a letter from Mornington Crescent, announcing that
+James Brandon had met with an accident, and been knocked down by a cab.
+The letter was written by Sam, evidently at his father's dictation, and
+on the fly-leaf was a postscript self-evidently not at James Brandon's
+dictation, for it was as follows--
+
+  "P.S.--Dear Uncle, there isn't much the matter, only a few bruises,
+  only the pater makes such a fuss.  Thought you'd like to know."
+
+"Charming youth, your cousin," said Uncle Richard, as he rose and went
+into his little study to answer the letter, leaving Tom at liberty for a
+few minutes, which he utilised by going down the garden to where David
+was busy.
+
+"Morning, sir.  How's the machine getting on?"
+
+"Capitally, David."
+
+"That's right, sir.  I hope you and the master 'll make some'at out of
+it, for people do go on dreadful about it down the village."
+
+"Why, what do you mean?"
+
+"Well, sir, of course it's their higgorance.  You and me knows better,
+and I shouldn't like master to know, but they lead me a horful life
+about it all.  They say master's got a crack in his head about that
+thing he's making, and that he ought to be stopped."
+
+"Why?" said Tom, laughing.
+
+"Oh, it's nothing to laugh about, sir.  They say the place won't be
+safe, for he'll be having a blow-up one of these days with his
+contrapshums."
+
+"What nonsense!"
+
+"Well, sir, I don't know about that.  He did have one, and singed all
+his hair off, and blew out his libery window."
+
+"Tom!"
+
+"Coming, uncle."
+
+"Don't you say a word to him, sir, please."
+
+"Oh, no; all right, David; and next time the people say anything to you
+about uncle's experiments, you tell them they're a pack of bull-geese!"
+
+"Bull-geese!" said David, turning the word over two or three times as if
+he liked it, "bull-geese!  Yes, sir, I will," and he began to chuckle,
+while Tom joined his uncle, who was already on his way to the mill.
+
+As Tom reached the lane he was just in time to meet Pete Warboys, who
+came slouching along with his hands as far down in his pockets as he
+could reach, his boots, two sizes too large, unlaced, and his dog close
+behind him.
+
+Pete's body went forward as if all together, but his eyes were on the
+move the while, searching in every direction as if for prey, and settled
+upon Tom with a peculiarly vindictive stare, while the dog left his
+master's side, and began to sniff at Tom's legs.
+
+"Not afraid of you now," thought the boy, as he remembered the
+fir-cones, and felt sure that a stone would send the dog flying at any
+time.  But as he met Pete's eye he did not feel half so sure.  For Pete
+was big-boned and strong, and promised to be an ugly customer in a
+battle.
+
+"And besides, he's so dirty," thought Tom, as he passed on to the gate,
+through which his uncle had just passed.
+
+Pete said nothing until Tom had closed the gate.  Then there was the
+appearance of a pair of dirty hands over the coping of the wall, the
+scraping noise made by a pair of boot toes against the bricks, and next
+Pete's head appeared just above the wall, and he uttered the
+comprehensive word expressive of his contempt, defiance, and general
+disposition to regard the boy from London as an enemy whose head he felt
+disposed to punch.  Pete's word was--
+
+"Yah!"
+
+Tom felt indignant.
+
+"Get down off that wall, sir!" he cried.
+
+This roused Pete Warboys, who, as the daring outlaw of Furzebrough,
+desired to play his part manfully, especially so since he was on the
+other side of the said wall; and, wrinkling up his snub nose, he cried--
+
+"She-arn't!  'Tain't your wall."
+
+"Get down!" cried Tom fiercely.
+
+"Get down yerself.  Who are you, I should like to know?"
+
+Tom stooped and picked up a clod of earth, and Pete ducked his head, the
+motion causing his toes to slip out of a crevice between two bricks, and
+he disappeared, but only to scramble up again.
+
+"You heave that at me," he cried fiercely, "and I'll come over and smash
+yer."
+
+Tom felt disposed to risk the smashing, and drew back his hand to throw
+the clod, when his wrist was caught, for his uncle had heard what
+passed, and returned to the door.
+
+"Don't do that, my boy," he said quietly.  Then to Pete, "Get down off
+that wall."
+
+"She-arn't!  Who are you?" cried the great hulking fellow, and he
+scrambled a little more upward, so as to hang over with his elbows on
+the top bricks.
+
+"Then stop there," said Uncle Richard quietly.  "Don't take any notice
+of him, Tom; the fellow is half an idiot."
+
+"So are you!" yelled Pete.  "Yah!  Who pulled the--"
+
+_Whack_!
+
+"Ow! ah!"  A scramble, and Pete disappeared as an angry voice was heard
+on the other side of the wall.
+
+"How dare you, sir?  Insolent young scoundrel!  Be off with you!"
+
+"Don't you hit me!" came in a yelping, snivelling tone.  "Don't you hit
+me!  You hit me, and I'll--Get out!"
+
+There was a dull thud, a yell, and the succession of cries uttered by a
+dog in pain, generally known as "chy-ike."  For, unable to vent his
+spleen upon his aggressor, Pete had turned upon his wretched dog, which
+was unfortunate enough to get between his master's legs, nearly sending
+him down as he backed away from a quivering malacca cane.  The dog
+received an awful kick, and ran down the narrow lane, and Pete followed
+him in a loose-jointed, shambling trot, turned into the pathway between
+the hedges at the bottom of Uncle Richard's field, thrust his head back,
+relieved his feelings by yelling out "Yah!" and disappeared.
+
+By this time Tom and his uncle were down at the yard gate, which they
+threw open, to find themselves face to face with the vicar, a little
+fresh-coloured, plump, grey man of five-and-forty.  His brow was
+wrinkled with annoyance, and his grey hair and whiskers seemed to
+bristle, as he changed the stout cane into his left hand, pulled off his
+right glove, and shook hands.
+
+"Good-morning," he cried; "good-morning--nephew, arn't you?  Glad to
+know you.  Only came back last night, Brandon, and the first thing I
+encounter in my first walk is that young scoundrel insulting you."
+
+"Oh, it's nothing," said Uncle Richard, smiling.
+
+"But it is something, my dear sir.  After all the pains I took with that
+boy at our school--when I could get him there--he turns out like this.
+Really," he continued, laughing very good-humouredly, and looking down
+at his cane, "I ought not to have done it,--not becoming in a
+clergyman,--but the young dog was insulting you, and he was stretched
+over the wall so tightly.  Really--ha, ha!--it was so tempting that I
+felt obliged."
+
+"Yes, it must have been tempting," said Uncle Richard.  "Well, have you
+come back quite strong?"
+
+"Seems like it," said the vicar, laughing.  Then seriously, "Yes, thank
+heaven, I feel quite myself again."
+
+"That's good," said Uncle Richard.  "I am very glad."
+
+"I know you are.  And oh, Brandon, you can't think how glad I am to get
+back to the dear old place again.  My garden looks delightful; and
+yours?"
+
+"Capital."
+
+"But, my dear fellow, what in the world are you doing with the old mill.
+I heard you had bought it.  Sails gone, mended, painted.  Why, surely--
+yes--no--yes, I have it--observatory."
+
+"Right."
+
+"Splendid idea.  Capital.  You ought to have a big telescope for that."
+
+"Making it," said Uncle Richard laconically.
+
+"Glad of it.  Wish I could join you.  There, good-bye, so much to do;
+can't tell me, I suppose, what to do with that lad Pete Warboys?"
+
+Uncle Richard shook his head, and the vicar shook his hand.  Then as he
+went through the same process with Tom, he said--
+
+"Glad to know you; I'm sure we shall be very good friends;" and then he
+hurried away, and the others closed the gate and went into the workshop,
+where the speculum was waiting to be ground.
+
+"You'll like Mr Maxted," said Uncle Richard quietly.  "A thorough,
+true-hearted gentleman, who preserves all the best of his boyhood; but
+come now, work."
+
+"Grinding?" said Tom, stripping off his jacket.
+
+"Not yet--elutriation, Tom," said Uncle Richard, as he led the way up to
+the laboratory, where the big pan was lifted down upon the stool, and
+the syphon used to pour the water in the white basin back again.
+
+But not quite all.  It was clear now, and at the bottom there was just a
+film of chocolate mud, which was most carefully trickled off with some
+of the water into the ready labelled little bottle.
+
+"There, Tom, that tiny spoonful or two of paste is our finest emery, and
+valuable in the extreme--to us.  The next thing is to get a grade
+coarser."
+
+"The same way?" said Tom.
+
+"Nearly.  Stir the whole up again."
+
+This was carefully done, but there was no scum now.
+
+"We left the other sixty minutes, Tom," said Uncle Richard; "this time
+we'll leave it thirty minutes.  Come along; time for two quarter-hour
+grinds at the speculum."
+
+They went down, wetted the sand, and ground away for fifteen minutes;
+washed the glass, started again, and at the end of another fifteen
+minutes went up to repeat the process of drawing off the thick water
+into the basin.  This was left to stand till evening, when the water was
+poured back, and about a double quantity of thin paste to that obtained
+in the morning placed in a size larger bottle, and labelled
+"thirty-minute emery."
+
+Again the whole was well stirred, and left for fifteen minutes; the
+process repeated, and a much larger quantity obtained and bottled.
+
+The next day the emery was stirred, and allowed to settle for five
+minutes; then for two minutes, and the remainder bottled by itself, this
+being by far the largest quantity, and in fact so much strong sharp
+grit.
+
+"There!" cried Uncle Richard; "now, going backwards, we have six
+different grades of material, beginning with the coarse, and going up to
+the fine sixty-minute powder or paste for polishing, for these things
+have to be made exquisitely fine."
+
+At the next attack upon the glass to dig it out into a hollow, the sand
+was all carefully washed away, showing the disc to be thoroughly
+scratched all over, and looking somewhat like the inside of a
+ground-glass globe.
+
+"So far so good, Tom," said Uncle Richard; "now let's try our mould."
+
+He took down the convex-shaped piece of zinc, and placed it upon the
+newly-ground-glass, into whose face it descended a little way, but only
+a very little.
+
+"Not deep enough yet, Tom," he said; "the mould ought to fit into it
+exactly."
+
+"Yes, I understand now," said Tom; "we have got to grind more out of the
+middle."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Shall I fetch the sand back?"
+
+"No, we will use the coarsest emery now; I dare say that will dig out
+enough.  Now then, number one."
+
+The large-stoppered bottle was fetched from its shelf, and a small
+portion of the most coarse ground emery taken out with a spatula, spread
+upon the fixed glass, the speculum carefully laid upon it, and turned a
+little to spread the material more equally, a few drops of water having
+been added, and the slow, tedious grinding went on again.
+
+"Hard work, my boy," said Uncle Richard, as they paused at last from
+their laborious work, the disc they moved to and fro and round and
+round, as they slowly changed their positions, being exceedingly heavy.
+
+But Tom, as soon as he got his breath, was too much interested to mind
+the labour, and after helping to lift one disc from the other, he looked
+on eagerly at his uncle's busy fingers, as he carefully sponged and
+cleaned both glasses.
+
+"See how the coarse emery we began with has become ground down."
+
+"Yes, into a slime," said Tom.
+
+"Partly glass," said Uncle Richard, as he drew attention now to the face
+of the speculum, which was scratched more deeply already, and displayed
+a different grain.
+
+Fresh emery out of the bottle was applied, moistened a little more, and
+the grinding went on for a while.  Then there was a fresh washing, more
+of the coarse emery applied, and so the task went on hour after hour
+that day and the next, when in the afternoon when the zinc mould was
+applied to the surface it fitted in almost exactly, and Tom gave a
+cheer.
+
+"Yes, that will do," said Uncle Richard, whose face glowed with the
+exertion.
+
+"What next then?" said Tom eagerly.
+
+"The next grade of emery, boy," was the reply; "our task is of course
+now not to grind the speculum deeply, but to grind out all these
+scratches till it is as limpid as the surface of pure water."
+
+"Don't look possible," said Tom.  "Well, we will try."
+
+The next morning they worked for an hour before breakfast in precisely
+the same way, gave a couple of hours to the task after breakfast, two
+more in the afternoon, and one in the evening--"a regular
+muscle-softener," Uncle Richard called it; but when for the last time
+the finely-ground emery number two was washed off, and the speculum
+examined, its surface looked much better, the rougher scratchings having
+disappeared.
+
+Tom was all eagerness to begin the next day, when the number three emery
+was tried in precisely the same way.  Then came work with the number
+four, very little of which was used at a time; and when this was put
+aside for number five, Tom again cheered, for the concave surface had
+become beautifully fine.
+
+"Two more workings, and then the finishing," said Uncle Richard.  "Think
+we shall polish out all the scratchings?"
+
+"Why, they are gone now," cried Tom.
+
+"Yes, it shows what patience will do," said Uncle Richard; "a man can't
+lift a house all at once, but he could do it a brick at a time."
+
+The speculum was carefully placed aside after its cleansing, and the
+pair of amateur opticians locked up the place after hanging up their
+aprons.
+
+"Wouldn't do to break that now, Tom, my boy."
+
+"Break it?" cried the boy; "oh, it would be horrible.  Why, we should
+have to make another, and go through all that again."
+
+"Yes, Tom, but we could do it.  I know of a gentleman who made a hundred
+of these specula with his own hands.  But there will be something more
+interesting for you to see to-morrow."
+
+"What, shall we get it done?"
+
+"By no means; but first thing of all I must test it, and to do this
+easily, we must be up early when the sun is shining in at the east
+window of our workshop.  Do you think you can call me by five?"
+
+"I'm sure of it, uncle," cried Tom.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+Tom kept his word, for he started into wakefulness in the grey dawn out
+of an uncomfortable dream, in which he had seen the unfinished speculum
+fall off the bench on to the stone-floor, roll like a wheel out of the
+door, down the slope to the gate, bound over, and then go spinning down
+the lane and across the green, straight for the ragstone churchyard
+wall, where it was shivered to pieces.
+
+"Only a dream," he said, as he leaped out of bed, ran to the window, and
+saw by the church clock that it was only half-past four.
+
+"Time to go over and see if it is all right," he said, as he finished
+dressing, "and then come back and call uncle."
+
+Going down-stairs, he took the keys of the mill from where they hung by
+the front door, went out into the garden, unlocked the gate, and went
+across to the mill, where, on peering through the window, he could see
+the glass lying just as it had been left.
+
+"That's all right," said Tom; and he walked round by the back of the
+tower to see how the flowers and shrubs looked, when, to his startled
+surprise, he found footprints made by a heavy, clumsy pair of boots on
+the border beneath the wall.
+
+Their meaning was plain enough.  Some one had walked along there, and
+got out of the yard over the wall, while, upon a little further search,
+he found the spot where whoever it was had entered the yard by jumping
+down, the prints of two heels being deeply-marked in the newly-dug
+earth.
+
+"That must have been Pete," said Tom, flushing; and he looked over the
+wall, half expecting to see the slouching figure of the lad.
+
+But there was no one within sight, and he looked round the yard in
+search of the visitor's object.  There was nothing but the old
+millstones stealable, and they stood here and there where they had been
+leaned against tower and wall; and at ten minutes to five, after noting
+that the sun was shining brightly, Sam went back to his uncle and called
+him, and at half-past five they went together to the mill-yard, where
+the footprints were pointed out.
+
+"Have to keep the door carefully locked, Tom," said Uncle Richard.
+"Hah! capital! the sun will be shining right through that window in a
+few minutes."
+
+They entered the workshop, where a bench was drawn opposite to the last
+window, and about twelve feet away.  To this, with Tom's help, the
+partly-polished speculum was borne.
+
+"Not very bright for a reflector, Tom," said Uncle Richard.  "What am I
+to do to make it brighter?"
+
+"Go on polishing, uncle."
+
+"Ah, but I want to test it this morning, to see if we have a good
+curve," said Tom's elder, smiling.  "Fill the sponge with clean water
+and bring it here."
+
+This was done, and the finely-ground surface was freely wetted, with the
+effect that it became far more luminous directly.
+
+"Now, Tom," said his uncle, "I'm going to show you something in
+reflection.  The sun is not quite high enough for the speculum, so give
+me that piece of looking-glass."
+
+This was handed to him, and he held it on high, so that the low-down sun
+shone into it, and a reflection was cast from it back upon the wall just
+above the window.
+
+"See that?"
+
+"Yes, uncle.  Done that many a time.  Used to call it making
+jack-o'-lanterns."
+
+"Well, that is the effect of a reflection from a flat or plane surface;
+the rays of light strike back at the same angle as they hit the surface.
+Now then, I'll show you what happens from a curved surface."
+
+He passed the sponge rapidly over the ground speculum again, so as to
+glaze it--so to speak--with water, raised it upon its edge with the
+carefully-ground face directed at the window just as the sun rose high
+enough to shine in; and then by turning the great mirror slightly, the
+light reflected from it struck upon the wall at the side of the window.
+
+"Now, Tom, what do you see?"
+
+"A round spot of light about as big as a two-shilling piece," said the
+boy.
+
+"Yes; all the rays of light which fall upon our mirror, gradually drawn
+together to where they form an image of the sun.  It is only dull, my
+boy, but so far finely perfect, and we can say that we have gone on very
+successfully."
+
+As he spoke he laid the mirror down upon its back.
+
+"Is that all you are going to do?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes; I can test it no better till it is more advanced, my boy.  It may
+seem a little thing to you, but it is enough to show me that we may go
+on, and not begin our work all over again.  Now for a good turn until
+breakfast-time.  Two good hours' work ought to produce some effect."
+
+The lower disc, now become convex, was wetted and lightly touched over
+with number five emery, which seemed soft enough for anything; the
+well-advanced mirror was turned over upon it, fitting now very closely,
+and with the sweet morning air floating in from the pine-woods, and the
+birds singing all around, the monotonous task went on with its
+intermissions till Uncle Richard gave the final wash off, and
+said--"Breakfast!"
+
+They were so far advanced now that Tom was as eager to recommence as his
+uncle, and by that evening so much progress had been made that the
+setting sun was made to shine in upon it, to be reflected back in a
+bright spot on the wall without the aid of water; while two evenings
+later, when the great round glass was stood all dry the polish upon it
+was limpid, and seemed to be as pure as could be.  There was not the
+faintest scratch visible, and Tom cried in triumph--
+
+"There, now it is done!  Oh, uncle, it is grand!"
+
+"Grand enough so far, my boy.  We have succeeded almost beyond my
+expectations; but that is only the first stage."
+
+"First--stage?" faltered Tom, looking at his uncle aghast.
+
+"Yes, boy; we have succeeded in making a beautiful spherical concave
+mirror, which could be of no use whatever for my purpose."
+
+"Then why did we make it?" cried Tom.  "For practice?"
+
+"No, boy; because it is the step towards making an ellipse, or, as they
+call it when shaped for a reflecting telescope, a parabola.  You know
+what an ellipse is?"
+
+"Gooseberry," said Tom bluntly.
+
+"Gooseberry-shaped," said his uncle.  "Well then, what is a parabola?"
+
+"One of those things we used to learn about in geometry."
+
+"Good.  Well, to-morrow we must begin polishing, or rather I must, to
+turn our glass from a spherical-curved mirror into a parabola."
+
+"You'll let me help, uncle?"
+
+"As much as I can, my boy; but the amount I have to polish off, in what
+is called figuring, is so small that it requires the most delicate of
+treatment, and first of all we have to prepare a small polisher to work
+by hand."
+
+This was formed of lead in the course of the next day--a nearly flat but
+slightly convex disc, with a handle upon its back, and when made
+perfectly smooth it was covered with hot pitch, which, as it cooled, was
+made to take the exact curve of the nearly finished mirror, by being
+pressed upon it, the pitch yielding sufficiently for the purpose.
+
+This done the pitch was scored across and across, till it was divided
+into squares, with little channels between them, so that the polishing
+powder and water might run freely between; then a final pressure was
+given upon the mirror and the implement was left to harden till the next
+day.
+
+"Now for a few hours' polishing," said Uncle Richard the next morning,
+as he took up the curved pitch tool and moistened it, no longer with
+emery, but with fine moistened rouge; "and if I am successful in
+slightly graduating off the sides here, and flattening them in an
+infinitesimal degree, we shall have a good reflector for our future
+work."
+
+But upon testing it the result that evening was not considered
+satisfactory.  There were several zones to be corrected.
+
+It was the same the next day, and the next.  But on the fourth Uncle
+Richard cried "Hold: enough!  I think that is as good as an amateur can
+make a speculum, and we'll be content."
+
+That night Tom slept so soundly that he did not dream till morning, and
+then it was of the sun resenting being looked at, and burning his cheek,
+which possessed some fact, for the blind was a little drawn on one side,
+and the bright rays were full upon his face.
+
+"All that time spent in making the reflector!" thought Tom; "and all
+that work.  I wonder what the next bit will be."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+"Now, uncle, what's the next thing to be done?" said Tom at breakfast
+that morning.
+
+"I think we may begin the body of the telescope now, Tom," said his
+uncle.
+
+"The body?"
+
+"Yes; the speculum is what we might call the life of the whole
+instrument, and the rest will be simplicity itself.  We've got to bring
+a little mechanical work to bear, and the thing is done."
+
+"But it will want a lot of glasses fixed about in a big tube, won't it?"
+
+"No; nothing but the flat and eye-pieces, and I have the lenses to make
+these.  By the way, I have some letters to write, and shall be busy all
+the morning.  Your uncle seems to be still unwell, and I must write to
+him, for one thing.  I tell you what I want done.  We have no place
+there for keeping papers or drawings in, and where one can sit down and
+write at times, and lock up afterwards.  I've been thinking that I'll
+have the big old bureau desk with its drawers taken out of the study,
+and carried up into the laboratory.  It can stand beneath the shelves on
+the right of the east window; and you might take up a chair or two, and
+a piece of old carpet as well.  Get David to help you."
+
+"All right, uncle."
+
+So when breakfast was over, Tom went out and found David, who was
+sticking stakes along the outside of the asparagus bed, and tying tarred
+twine from one to the other, so as to keep the plume-like stems from
+blowing about and breaking.
+
+"Mornin', Master Tom," he said.  "I say, my Maria Louisas are swelling
+out fast.  We shall soon have to be on the look-out for pear-ketchers."
+
+"All right, David, I'll help you.  I hope it is Pete Warboys.  I should
+like to give him stick."
+
+"We'll give him stake instead, Master Tom."
+
+"Never mind that now.  I want you to help me move that chest of drawers
+and desk out of uncle's study to the laboratory."
+
+"Very good, sir; but you might call a spade a spade."
+
+"What do you mean?" said Tom, staring.
+
+"Labor hatory, sir! why don't you say windmill?"
+
+"Because it has been made into an observatory, laboratory, and workshop
+all in one," said Tom, rather stiffly.
+
+"Just as you like, Master Tom; but you may take the sails off, and the
+fan, and put all the rattle-traps in it you like, but it can't make it
+anything but what it was born to be, and that was a windmill."
+
+"Well, we won't argue," said Tom.  "Come along."
+
+He led the way to the study, where Uncle Richard was seated at a table
+writing, and it being a particularly dry day, David spent about five
+minutes wiping nothing off his shoes on every mat he passed, to Tom's
+great amusement.  Then after making a bow and a scrape to his master
+which were not seen, he gave his nose a rub with his cuff, and went back
+to put his hat outside the door.
+
+"Come along, David," said Tom.  "This is it."
+
+The gardener went on tiptoe to the end of the old escritoire, stooped,
+lifted it, and shook his head.
+
+"You can't manage one end o' that, Master Tom," he said in a hoarse
+whisper.
+
+"No, too weighty," said his master; and without looking round he passed
+his keys.  "Take out the drawers, they're heavy, and carry them
+separately."
+
+This plan was followed out, each taking a drawer and carrying it out
+through the garden, and across the lane to the yard gate, which Tom
+unlocked after resting his drawer on the wall; leaving it there while he
+ran up and unlocked the tower door, then going back for the load he had
+left.
+
+These two drawers were carried into the stone-floored workshop, where
+the bench under the window was covered with an old blanket, another
+doing duty as cover for the glass tool which had been replaced on the
+head of the cask.
+
+"My word! what a differ there is here," said David, as he glanced round
+with the drawer in his hands.  "What yer put to bed under they blankets,
+sir?"
+
+"Specula, David."
+
+"Speckle-hay?  What, are you forcing on 'em?"
+
+"Forcing?" said Tom, laughing.
+
+"Yes; are they coming up?"
+
+"Nonsense!  Here are those two great pieces of glass uncle brought down.
+We've been polishing one."
+
+"Oh! them," cried David.  "My word!  Wonder what old miller would ha'
+said to see his place ramfoozled about like this?"
+
+"Come along," cried Tom; and the drawers were carried up, each being
+crammed full of papers and books, and laid on the floor close to the old
+mill-post.
+
+"Worser and worser," said David, looking round.  "Dear, dear! the times
+I've been up here when the sacks was standing all about, some flour and
+some wheat, and the stones spinning round, the hopper going tippenny
+tap--tippenny tap, and the meal-dust so thick you could hardly breathe.
+I 'member coming out one night, and going home, and my missus says to
+me, `Why, Davy, old man, what yer been a-doing on?  Yer head's all
+powdered up like Squire Winkum's footman.'  It was only meal, yer know."
+
+"And now you can come and go without getting white, David," said Tom,
+moving a stool from under the newly put up shelves.  "This is where the
+bureau is to go."
+
+"Is it now?" said David, scratching his head.  "Why that's where the old
+bin used to be.  Ay, I've set on that bin many's the time on a windy
+night, when miller wanted to get a lot o' grist done."
+
+"Back again," said Tom; and two more drawers were carried over.  Then
+the framework and desk were fetched, with Mrs Fidler standing ready,
+dustpan and brush in hand, to remove any dirt and fluff that might be
+underneath.
+
+"Tidy heavy now, Master Tom," said David, as they bore the old
+walnut-wood piece of furniture across the garden and up to the mill,
+only setting it down once just inside the yard by way of a rest, and to
+close the gate.
+
+Then the piece of furniture was carried in, and after some little
+scheming, hoisted up the steep ladder flight of steps, David getting
+under it and forcing it up with his head.
+
+"Wonderful heavy bit o' wood, Master Tom," said the gardener.
+
+"It's an awkward place to get it up, David," replied the boy.  "Now
+then, just under those shelves.  It will stand capitally there, and get
+plenty of light for writing."
+
+But the bureau did not stand capitally there, for the back feet were
+higher than the front, consequent upon the floor having sunk from the
+weight of millstones in the middle.
+
+"She'll want a couple o' wedges under her, Master Tom," said David.
+
+"Yes.  I've got a couple of pieces that will just do--part of a little
+box," cried Tom.  "I'll fetch them, and the saw to cut the exact size.
+You wait here."
+
+"And put the drawers in, sir?"
+
+"Not till we've got this right," replied Tom, who was already at the
+head of the steps; and he ran down and across to the house, obtained the
+saw from the tool-chest, and hurried back to the mill, where he found
+David down in the workshop, waiting for him with his hands in his
+pockets.
+
+"Didn't yer uncle ought to leave his tool-chest over here, sir?" said
+the gardener.
+
+"Oh yes, I suppose he will," said Tom.  "It would be handier.  Halloo,
+did you open that window?"
+
+"No, sir.  I see it ajar like when we first came, and it just blowed
+open like when the door was swung back."
+
+Tom said no more, but led the way up-stairs, where the pieces of wood
+were wedged in under the front legs, sawn off square, and the drawers
+were replaced.
+
+"Capital, Master Tom," cried the gardener.  "You'd make quite a
+carpenter.  I say, what's it like up-stairs?"
+
+"Come and see," said Tom, ready to idle a little now the work was done,
+and very proud of the place he had helped to contrive.
+
+David tightened his blue serge apron roll about his waist, and followed
+up into the observatory, smiling, but ready to depreciate everything.
+
+"Ay, but it's a big change," he said; "no sacks o' wheat, no reg'lar
+machinery.  There's the master's tallow scoop; he give me a look through
+it once, and there was the moon all covered with spots o' grease like
+you see on soup sometimes.  Well, it's his'n, and he's a right to do
+what he likes with the place.  Ah, many's the time I've been up here
+too.  Why, Jose the carpenter chap's cut away the top of the post here.
+You used to be able to move a bit of an iron contrapshum, and that would
+send the fan spinning, and the whole top would work round till the sails
+faced the wind."
+
+"Well, the whole top will work round now, David."
+
+"Not it, sir, without the sails."
+
+"But I tell you it will," said Tom, moving a bar, and throwing open the
+long shutter, which fell back easily, letting in a long strip of
+sunshine, and giving a view of the blue sky from low-down toward the
+horizon to the zenith.
+
+"Well, you do get plenty of ventilation," said David oracularly.
+"Nothing like plenty of air for plants, and it's good for humans too.
+Make you grow strong and stocky, Master Tom.  But the top used to turn
+all round in the old days."
+
+"So it does now, so that uncle can direct his telescope any way.  Look
+here!"
+
+The boy moved to the side, and took hold of an endless rope, run round a
+wheel fixed to the side, pulled at the rope, and the wheel began to
+revolve, turning with it a small cogged barrel, which acted in turn upon
+the row of cogs belonging to the bottom of the woodwork dome, which
+began to move steadily round.
+
+"Well, that caps me," said David.  "I thought it was a fixter now."
+
+"And you thought wrong, Davy," said Tom, going up two or three steps,
+and passing out through the open shutter, and lowering himself into the
+little gallery that had once communicated with the fan, and here he
+stood looking out.
+
+"All right there, Master Tom?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"May I move the thing?"
+
+"If you like."
+
+David, as eagerly as a child with a new toy, began to pull at the rope,
+when the top began to revolve, taking the little gallery with it, and
+giving Tom a ride pretty well round the place before the gardener
+stopped, and turned his face through the opening left by the shutter.
+
+"Goes splendid!" he said, as Tom came in and closed the shutter.  "I
+wouldn't ha' believed it.  And so the master's going to build a big
+tallow scoop up there, is he?"
+
+"Yes; and we've got a good deal of it done.  There, let's get down.
+Uncle may want me."
+
+"Ay, and I must get back to my garden, sir.  There's a deal to do there,
+and I could manage with a lot of help."
+
+"Uncle was talking of making this place quite a study, and putting a lot
+of books here, the other day," said Tom, as they descended to the
+laboratory.
+
+"Was he now?  Rare windy place, though, sir, isn't it?  Windy milly
+place, eh?"
+
+"Well, you said air was good," said Tom, laughing; and they went down
+into the workshop.  "Mustn't have that window left open though," said
+Tom; and, going to the side, he reached over the bench with the blanket
+spread over it, drew in the iron-framed lattice window, and fastened it,
+and was drawing back, when the blanket, which had been hanging draped
+over a good deal at one end, yielded to that end's weight, and glided
+off, to fall in a heap upon the stones.
+
+Tom stooped quickly to pick it up, but as his head was descending below
+the level of the great bench-table, he stopped short, staring at its
+bare level surface, rose up, turned, and looked sharply at the gardener,
+and then in quite an excited way stepped to where the upturned cask
+stood covered with its blanket, and raised it as if expecting to find
+something there.
+
+But the glass disc his uncle spoke of as a tool lay there only; and with
+a horrible feeling of dread beginning to oppress him, Tom turned back to
+the heap of blanket lying upon the floor, stooped over it, but feared to
+remove it--to lift it up from the worn flagstones.
+
+"Anything the matter, sir?" said David, looking at him curiously from
+the door.
+
+"Matter?  Yes!" cried Tom, who was beginning to feel a peculiar tremor.
+"David, you--you opened that window."
+
+"Nay, sir, I never touched it," said the gardener stoutly.
+
+"Yes; while I was gone for the saw and wedges."
+
+"Nay, sir, I come down and just looked about, that's all; I never
+touched the window."
+
+"But--but there was the beautiful, carefully-ground speculum there on
+that bench, just as uncle and I had finished it.  We left it covered
+over last night--with the blanket--and--and--" he added in a tone of
+despair, "it isn't there now."
+
+"Well, I never touched it, sir," said the gardener; "you may search my
+pockets if you like."
+
+Tom could not see the absurdity of the man's suggestion, and in his
+agony of mind, feeling as he did what must have happened if any one had
+dragged at the blanket, he stooped down once more to gather it up, but
+paused with his hand an inch or two away from the highest fold, not
+daring to touch it.
+
+"It's broken," he moaned to himself; "I know it is!" and the cold
+perspiration stood out upon his forehead.
+
+"I shouldn't ha' persoomed to touch none o' master's contrapshums, sir,"
+broke in the gardener, rather sharply, "so don't you go and tell him as
+I did.  I know how partickler he always is."
+
+"Broken--broken!" murmured Tom.  "The poor speculum--and after all that
+work."
+
+Then slowly taking the fold of the blanket in his hand he raised it up,
+and drew it on one side, faintly hoping that he might be wrong, but
+hoping against hope, for the next moment he had unveiled it where it
+lay, to see his worst fears confirmed--the beautiful limpid-looking
+object lay upon the flag at the end, broken in three pieces, one of
+which reflected the boy's agitated face.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+"Oh, David!" cried Tom at last, "how could you touch?"
+
+There was so much agony of spirit in the boy's tones that the gardener
+felt moved, and remained for a few moments silent.  Then rousing
+himself--
+
+"I didn't, Master Tom; I never touched it.  Go and swear I didn't 'fore
+all the judges in the land."
+
+"Don't tell a lie to hide it," said Tom bitterly.
+
+"Lie! me tell a lie!  S'elp me, Master Tom, it's as true as true."
+
+"But you reached over to open the window, and knocked it off, David."
+
+"Swear as I never went a-nigh the window, sir.  Don't you go and say it
+was me when it was you."
+
+"I?" cried Tom, flushing.
+
+"Well, sir, you say it was me, and I see you reach out, and the blanket
+all falled down--now didn't I, sir?"
+
+"Yes; the blanket went down, but the speculum was not in it, or we
+should have heard it fall."
+
+"Not if it was all wrapped up in that there blanket, sir."
+
+"I tell you we should," cried Tom, in his angry despair.  "You don't
+know how heavy it was.  What shall I do?  What will uncle say?"
+
+"Well, sir, if you put it like that, and own to it fair, I should say as
+he'll kick up the jolliest row he ever made since I broke the whole of
+the greenhouse light by making it slip right off, and letting it go
+smash.  And then I'd gone straight to him and told him, as I should
+advise you to do, sir, at once.  Master don't like to find things out."
+
+"But I did not break it," cried Tom.
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't say that, sir.  It was an accident, of course; but I'd
+go straight to him and tell him."
+
+"David!" cried Tom fiercely, "you're a miserable, cowardly wretch!  I
+did not break it, and you know it.  How can I go and take all the
+blame?"
+
+"Well, sir, how can I, as am as innocent as one o' my best blooms?"
+cried David.  "Well, in all my born days, I never did."
+
+"Why don't you speak out and own to it, sir?" said Tom indignantly.
+"It's horrible enough after the way we've worked at that speculum to
+have it broken; but you make it ten times worse by denying it."
+
+"I'd say I did it, sir, in a minute," replied David indignantly; "but it
+goes hard to see a young gent like you, master's own nevvy, ready to try
+and bring the whole business down on a poor working-man's head, and so I
+tell you to your face.  If any one's cowardly, it arn't me, and I'm
+ready to come across to master and tell him so.  I'm ashamed of you,
+sir, that I am.  I thought you was a real gentleman, and was beginning
+to like you; but it's all over between us, sir, for you arn't the sort
+of lad I thought you.  Me break it?  You know I never did.  Why, I've
+never been in the place since you and master have been in here busy.
+Shame on you, Master Tom!  Go and tell your uncle, like you ought.  It's
+an accident; but don't you go and make it worse," and with these words
+David stumped out of the lower part of the old mill, and made his way
+back to his garden, leaving Tom hot with indignation against him, and
+half choking with a feeling of misery.
+
+"And uncle has got to know," he said half aloud; "uncle has got to
+know."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+The speculum that was never to reflect the bright face of the moon was
+easily moved now, and Tom stooped down and picked up one by one the
+three triangular pieces, and laid them upon the bench, to find then that
+a good-sized elliptical piece, something in shape like a fresh-water
+mussel-shell, yet remained upon the stones.  This he raised, and found
+that it fitted in at the edge beneath.
+
+There was nothing to be gained in what he did, but Tom stood there
+carefully fitting the fractures together, and spending a great deal of
+time over the task, while the mirror reflected his sorrowful face as he
+bent over it.  And as he ran his fingers along the three lines of union,
+the boy's thoughts went back to the scene that evening at Mornington
+Crescent, when the big china vase was dragged down, to break to shivers
+in the hall.
+
+"And Sam said I broke that, just as David says I broke this, and all to
+escape blame.  I don't want to tell uncle that David broke it, but I
+must; I'm not going to take the blame myself, for it would be cowardly
+as well as lying.  But it is so hard.  He will be so angry."
+
+So Tom communed as he pieced the fragments of the mirror together,
+ending by getting the sponge, rinsing it well, and carefully removing a
+few smears and finger-marks, before taking a clean cloth and wiping it
+quite dry.
+
+"That's no good," he said bitterly.  "I'm only doing it so as to keep
+from going and telling uncle, and I must tell him--I must tell him, and
+the sooner the better."
+
+But still he did not stir.  He picked up the blanket, and folded that up
+neatly, to lay it beside the speculum, and then looked round for
+something else to do.
+
+This he found in the window, which he opened and shut two or three times
+over, before drawing away from it, with a sigh, and going to the door to
+look across at the house, where his uncle would be writing.
+
+"I ought to go and tell him, but it is so hard to do.  Suppose he thinks
+it is my work--suppose David goes and accuses me of having broken it to
+escape himself."
+
+Tom stood aghast at the idea, and was for rushing across at once, but
+something seemed to hold him back, and a good half-hour passed before he
+fully strung himself up to go.
+
+Then, closing and locking the door, he did the same by the gate; and
+now, pale and firm enough, he hung up the keys, and then went straight
+to the study door, paused for a few moments to think what to say first,
+and then walked straight in.
+
+"Uncle, I've come to give you very bad news," he said in a husky voice,
+and then he stopped short.
+
+There was no one in the room, and on going out into the hall, he found
+that his uncle's hat and stick were missing, and consequently he must
+have gone down the village to post his letters, and perhaps drop in at
+the Vicarage on his return.
+
+"Oh, how tiresome!" thought Tom; "just too when I felt I could tell him.
+Now I must begin all over again."
+
+It was not until nearly two o'clock that Uncle Richard returned, looking
+very serious; and as they went into the little dining-room alone, Mrs
+Fidler having stopped back to give some orders respecting the dinner,
+Tom screwed himself up to make the announcement, which would have come
+easily enough if it had not been for David's charge, and a shrinking
+feeling which it had engendered, that Uncle Richard might fancy the same
+thing.  But at last the boy, in his consciousness of innocence, was
+ready to speak, and turned to him.
+
+"Uncle," he said quickly, "I want to say something to you about the
+speculum."
+
+"Not now, my boy; I have something else to think about.  Let that rest."
+
+Tom's lips parted, and he drew a deep breath of relief at what seemed to
+him to be a reprieve.  Then Mrs Fidler entered the room, and dinner
+commenced, with Uncle Richard looking very thoughtful.
+
+It was impossible to say anything before Mrs Fidler, Tom thought, for
+if he was to be in any way blamed, he determined that it should be when
+alone.  In addition, he felt that he should not like to speak of David's
+delinquency before the housekeeper.
+
+It was a delicious dinner, but poor Mrs Fidler soon began to look
+troubled, for her master got on very badly; and Tom, who had felt as if
+his plate had been filled with bitter sand, so hard was the task of
+eating, refused a second help!
+
+This was too much for Mrs Fidler, who looked piteously from one to the
+other, and exclaimed--
+
+"Is there anything the matter with the veal pie, sir?"
+
+"Eh?  Matter, Mrs Fidler?" said Uncle Richard.  "I hope not.  I really
+don't know.  Oh, I see.  I have hardly tasted it.  The fact is, Mrs
+Fidler, I am in trouble."
+
+Tom jumped in his chair.
+
+"David has told him," he said to himself, and he felt hot and cold.
+
+"I have heard something this morning which has disturbed me a good
+deal."
+
+Uncle Richard turned his eyes upon his nephew, who tried to speak, but
+no words would come.
+
+"Dear, dear me, sir," said the housekeeper.  "I am so sorry."
+
+"I know you are," said Uncle Richard.  "The fact is, my brother met with
+an accident some little time ago, and it was thought to be of no
+consequence, but it seems that it is, and the doctors have ordered that
+he should at once have change of air.  He has written to me this morning
+to that effect."
+
+"Then he don't know anything about it," said Tom, with a sigh of relief,
+which gave place to a feeling of annoyance, for he wished now that his
+uncle did know.
+
+"He asks me to have him here for a few days or weeks, and of course I
+have written to beg that he will come.  I hope our air will set him
+right again, and that it is not so serious as he thinks."
+
+"Then you'd like me to get a room ready for him at once, sir?" said Mrs
+Fidler, with alacrity.
+
+"If you please, Mrs F."
+
+"It shall be done, sir.  I am so glad--I mean so sorry.  I was afraid
+something was wrong here."
+
+"No, Mrs Fidler, there is nothing wrong here; but I'm afraid, Tom, that
+the visitor will put a stop to our telescopic work."
+
+Tom seized his opportunity, and blurted out--
+
+"It is stopped, uncle: the speculum is broken in three pieces."
+
+"What!" cried Uncle Richard, turning pale.
+
+"Completely spoiled, uncle."
+
+"How, in the name of all that's unfortunate, did you do that, sir?"
+
+It was Tom's turn to start now, for his uncle had immediately jumped to
+the conclusion that it was his doing, and his words in answer sounded
+lame and inconclusive.
+
+"I didn't break it, uncle; I found it on the floor."
+
+"Found it on the floor!" cried Uncle Richard, sarcastically.  "It was
+the cat, I suppose.  Was the window left open?"
+
+"I found--"
+
+"There, hold your tongue now," said Uncle Richard.  "I have something
+else to think about.  You will have everything ready, Mrs Fidler.  I
+have been so separated from my brother nearly all my life, that I feel I
+owe him every attention."
+
+"I will attend to it all most carefully."
+
+"He may come down to-morrow, for I have written saying he is most
+welcome."
+
+"Make yourself quite easy, sir.  His room shall be ready.  I beg pardon,
+sir; is his good lady coming with him?"
+
+"No, he is coming down alone.  I have told him to telegraph by what
+train, so that I may go and meet him."
+
+The miserable dinner soon came to an end, and Uncle Richard, instead of
+chatting pleasantly, never so much as looked at his nephew.  But Mrs
+Fidler did, with her head on one side; and every time Tom caught her
+eye, which seemed to be nearly every minute, she shook her head at him
+gently, and gave him such appealing looks, that he felt exasperated at
+last, and as if he would like to throw something at her.
+
+"She thinks I did it now," he said to himself; and when his uncle left
+the table and went into his study he had full proof, for Mrs Fidler
+seized the opportunity, and shaking her head at him again, said in a
+whisper--
+
+"Oh, Master Tom, my dear, the truth may be blamed, but can never be
+shamed."
+
+"Well, I know that," cried the boy angrily.
+
+"Hush, my dear!  I know it's very hard, but do--do go and tell your
+uncle the truth, and he'll forgive you."
+
+"I have told him the truth," cried Tom hotly.
+
+"Oh, my dear, my dear, I'm afraid not, or else your face wouldn't be so
+dreadfully red and guilty-like, and I'm sure as your uncle thinks you
+broke it."
+
+"Yes," cried Tom; "everybody seems to think so."
+
+"Then pray, pray, my dear, be open."
+
+"Don't, Mrs Fidler, don't," cried Tom pettishly.  "I feel as if I can't
+bear it."
+
+"Now, sir, I'm waiting," said Uncle Richard, suddenly appearing at the
+open window.  "Come over to the observatory at once."
+
+"Yes, uncle; coming," cried Tom.
+
+"And do, pray, pray tell him all the truth, my dear," whispered Mrs
+Fidler.
+
+"Ugh! you stupid old woman," exclaimed Tom to himself, as he ran out
+into the hall, got his cap, and followed his uncle, who was walking
+sharply on toward the mill-yard, with the keys hanging from his hand.
+
+"And he's thinking all the time that I did it," muttered Tom.  "He might
+have waited."
+
+"Pst! pst!" came from among the bushes, and the boy turned sharply, to
+see David working his arms about like an old-fashioned telegraph.
+
+"Can't stop.  What is it?" said Tom roughly.
+
+"I ain't going to stop you, Master Tom; but you go and tell the truth."
+
+"Bah!" cried Tom.
+
+"The truth may be shamed, sir, but can never be blamed," said the
+gardener oracularly.
+
+"Get out, you topsy-turvy old humbug," cried Tom wrathfully.  "Think I
+don't know you?" and he ran on, and caught up to his uncle as he was
+passing through the yard gate.
+
+He did not speak, but went on toward the observatory door.
+
+"Shall I open it, uncle?" said Tom eagerly.
+
+"No," was the abrupt reply; and Tom shrank within himself like a snail
+touched with the end of a walking-stick on a damp night.  Then the key
+was rattled into the lock, the door was thrown open, and Uncle Richard,
+looking very grave and stern, stalked into the workshop straight to the
+table, glanced at the speculum, and pushed the pieces apart, frowning
+angrily.
+
+"I'd sooner have given a hundred pounds than that should have happened,"
+he said.
+
+"Yes, uncle; it's horrid," said Tom.
+
+"How did you do it?" said Uncle Richard, turning sharply, and fixing him
+with his keen eyes, as he had often fixed some deceitful, shivering
+coolie, who had looked up to him in the past as master and judge in one.
+
+"I didn't do it," cried Tom passionately.  "Everybody misjudges me, and
+thinks it was I."
+
+"Then how did it happen?"
+
+Tom told him briefly.
+
+"Was that window left open last night?"
+
+"I don't think so, uncle; I'm almost sure I fastened it."
+
+"Almost!" said Uncle Richard, in the same cold, hard way in which he had
+spoken before.  "Then, sir, you accuse David of having meddled and
+broken it?"
+
+"No, I don't, uncle," said Tom, speaking quite firmly now.  "I told you
+everything."
+
+"Fetch David."
+
+Tom hurried out, and had no difficulty in finding the gardener, who had
+hardly stirred from where he had left him.
+
+"I knowed the master'd want me.  Did you own up, sir, like a man?"
+
+"No, I didn't," said Tom angrily.  "Come to uncle directly."
+
+"Then--"
+
+David said no more, but gave his old straw hat a smart rap on the crown,
+and walked sharply on before Tom, unrolling and shaking out his blue
+apron, prior to rolling it up again very tightly about his waist.  He
+strode along so rapidly that Tom had hard work to keep up with him; and
+in spite of his efforts, David strode into the workshop first, pulled
+off his hat, dashed it down on the floor, and struck one hand loudly
+with his fist.
+
+"What I say is this here, sir.  I've sarved you faithful ever since you
+come back from the burning Ingies--"
+
+"Silence!"
+
+"And made the garden what it is--"
+
+"Silence!" said Uncle Richard, more sternly.
+
+"And if Master Tom's been telling you a pack o' lies about me--"
+
+"Silence, man!" cried Uncle Richard angrily.
+
+"Why, all I've got to say is--"
+
+"Will you hold your tongue, sir?  My nephew has not even accused you.
+He has merely told me his own version of the accident."
+
+"Oh!" said David, looking from one to the other, thoroughly taken aback.
+
+"Now give me your account, sir," continued Uncle Richard.
+
+David threw in a few pieces of ornamentation about his narrative, but
+its essence was precisely the same as Tom's.
+
+"Humph!" said Uncle Richard.  "It looks as of one of you must be in
+fault."
+
+"I take my solemn--"
+
+"Silence, sir! you have spoken enough.  Tell me this, as the man I have
+always been a good master to, and have always trusted.  I know it is a
+serious thing, but I want the simple truth.  Did you have an accident,
+and break that glass?"
+
+"I wish I may die this minute if I did, sir," cried David; "and that's
+an awful thing to say."
+
+"Thank you, David; I believe you," said Uncle Richard quietly, and the
+gardener's face glowed as he turned his eyes on Tom, and then frowned,
+and jerked his head, and seemed to say--
+
+"Now out with the truth, my lad, like a man."
+
+Tom was darting back an angry look, when his uncle turned to him, with
+eyes that seemed to read him through and through.
+
+"I thought it was your doing at first, Tom, in my vexation," he said.
+"Then I suspected poor David here, very unwillingly.  But you see we are
+at fault."
+
+"Yes, uncle," cried Tom eagerly, for there was something in his uncle's
+tone, stern as it sounded, that was like a friendly grasp of the hand,
+and turning towards him, in quite an excited burst, he cried, "Then you
+don't think I did it?"
+
+"Of course not, my boy.  What have you ever done that I should doubt
+your word?"
+
+Tom could not speak, but he made a snatch at his uncle's hand, to feel
+it close warmly upon his own.
+
+David looked from one to the other, and then stooped and picked up his
+hat, put it on, recollected himself, and snatched it off again.
+
+"Well," he said softly, "it's a rum 'un.  If I didn't feel quite
+cock-sure as it was you, Master Tom, that I did.  Then it warn't you,
+arter all!  Then who was it? that's what I want to know."
+
+"That's what we all want to know, David," said Uncle Richard, as he laid
+his hand now upon his nephew's shoulder, the firm pressure seeming to
+send a thrill of strength and determination through the boy's heart.
+"One thing is very plain--it could not have broken itself."
+
+"But don't you think, Master Tom, as it might have gone down when you
+leaned over the wrapper?"
+
+"Impossible," said Uncle Richard quickly.  "The glass was far too heavy,
+as we well know, eh, Tom?  Here, let's look out outside."
+
+He led the way through the open door, and round to the window beneath
+which the speculum had lain upon the bench, and examined the lately made
+flower-bed, in which various creepers had been planted to run up the
+wall.
+
+"There's no need to be in doubt," said Uncle Richard, pointing; and Tom
+uttered an excited cry, for there, deeply-marked beneath the window were
+the prints of heavy-nailed boots, doubled--by the toes pointing toward
+the mill, and by the appearance as of some one stepping partly into them
+again.
+
+"Are those your footmarks, David?" said his master.
+
+"Mine, sir?  No.  Mine's got tips on the toes.  Look."
+
+He lifted one leg across the other, as if he were going to be shod by a
+blacksmith, showing that his soles would have made a very different
+impression upon the soft earth.
+
+"Why, sir," continued David with a smile, "I never leaves no footmarks.
+Natur' meant a man's hands to be used as rakes, or they would not 'a
+been this shape.  I always gives the place a touch over where I've
+been."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard, nodding.  "I have seen you."
+
+"You ayve, sir, many times," said David, bending down; "and these here
+couldn't have been made by Master Tom, anyhow."
+
+"Lend me your knife, David," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Knife, sir?  Oh, I'll soon smooth them marks out."
+
+"Stop!" cried Uncle Richard, and only just in time, for David's
+finger-rake was within an inch.  "We may want to compare those with
+somebody's boots."
+
+"Why o' course, sir," said the gardener, handing his knife already
+opened; when, placing one foot close against the bricks, Uncle Richard
+leaned across the bed, inserted the blade of the knife beside the iron
+casement frame, and with it lifted the fastening with the greatest ease.
+
+David gave his leg a heavy slap.
+
+"That was some 'un artful, sir, and he got in."
+
+"Slipped in descending inside, and dragged the speculum on the floor,"
+said Uncle Richard, frowning.  "Now the question is, who was it?"
+
+"Ah, who was it, sir?" said David.  "Arn't such a great many folk in
+Furzebrough, and I should say as it lies between Parson Maxted and Pete
+Warboys, and it warn't parson, 'cause of the boots."
+
+"I don't like to suspect unjustly," said Uncle Richard, "so don't say
+anything, David.  I'll go down to the lad's home with my nephew here,
+and we'll see if we can find out whether he has been about here since
+yesterday."
+
+"And you'll have your work cut out, sir," said David; "for that chap
+goes hawking about more like a ferret than aught else; but if it warn't
+him, Master Tom, I'll heat my head."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+David went back to his gardening, giving Tom a smile and a nod, and
+whispering to him as he followed his uncle after locking up the workshop
+and the yard gate--
+
+"You and me's good friends again, arn't we, Master Tom?"
+
+"Yes, of course, David; and I beg your pardon for ever suspecting you."
+
+"Oh, that's all right, sir.  It was six o' one and half-a-dozen o' the
+other.  I thought it was you, and you thought it was me, and--"
+
+"Come, Tom," said Uncle Richard; and the boy hurried forward, and did
+not hear the end of David's speech.
+
+"Mind we put a secure fastening on those lower windows to-morrow
+morning," said Uncle Richard thoughtfully.  "We ought to be able to live
+down in a place like this without nocturnal visitors; but there, one
+never knows."
+
+They walked on pretty sharply till the cottages were reached; and as
+soon as the visitors came up to the gate the curious-looking old woman
+appeared at the open door, shading her eyes with her hand, and peering
+at them as they walked down the path.
+
+"It's of no use to come here," she cried loudly.  "Don't want any.  No
+money to buy anything.  Go to the rich gentlefolk and sech."
+
+"You old impostor!" said Uncle Richard softly.  "You can see who we are
+plainly enough."
+
+"D'yer hear?  Don't want any to-day."
+
+"Now, Mrs Warboys, I want to see your grandson."
+
+"Hey?"
+
+"I say I want to see your grandson."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I want to see your grandson."
+
+"Who are you?  Haven't you got anything to sell?"
+
+"You know I have not.  You can see well enough when you come for help."
+
+"Hey?  Who are you?"
+
+"You know me.  I am from Heatherleigh."
+
+"Oh, it's you.  I thought you wanted to sell calicoes and flannels.
+What did you bring your pack for?  What's in it?  Oh, I see, it arn't a
+pack at all; it's a boy.  What d'yer want?"
+
+"I told you I want to see your grandson."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"I want to ask him a few questions."
+
+"Ah, that's no good.  He says he had so many asked him at school that
+he'll never answer no more."
+
+"Where is he?  Call him," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"He arn't at home, and you can't see him."
+
+"How long will he be?"
+
+"I d'know.  P'raps he won't come back no more, so you needn't come
+poking about here."
+
+"When did he go out last?" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Last week I think, but my mind arn't good now at figgers.  Tell me what
+you want, and if ever I see him again I'll tell him."
+
+"We are wasting time, Tom," said Uncle Richard in a whisper.
+
+"Yes," said the old woman viciously; "you're wasting time.  It's no use
+for you to come here to try and get things to say again my poor boy.  I
+know you and your ways.  You want to get him sent away, I know; and
+you're not going to do it.  I know you all--parson and doctor, and you,
+Brandon, you're all against my poor innocent boy; but you're not going
+to hurt him, for you've got me to reckon with first."
+
+"Your sight and hearing seem to have come back pretty readily, Mrs
+Warboys."
+
+"You never mind that," cried the old woman.  "I know what I'm saying,
+and I'm not afraid of any of you."
+
+Just then one of the women from the next cottages came out and curtseyed
+to them.
+
+"Don't take any notice of what she says, sir.  She's a bit put out
+to-day."
+
+"So it seems," said Uncle Richard.  "Let me see, Mrs Deane, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the woman, smiling.
+
+"You can tell me then where is Pete Warboys?"
+
+The old woman literally shrieked out--
+
+"Let her say a word if she dares.  She'd better.  She hasn't forgotten
+what I did to--Ah! look at that."
+
+She uttered the last words triumphantly, for the woman turned and ran
+hurriedly into her cottage.
+
+"Come along, Tom," said Uncle Richard; "we are doing no good here;" and
+he turned and led the way down toward the gate, with the old woman
+shrieking out a torrent of words after them, and playing an
+accompaniment formed of slaps upon the door till they were out of
+hearing.
+
+"What a terrible old woman!" said Tom at last.  "That Mrs Deane seemed
+quite frightened of her."
+
+"Yes; the poor ignorant people here believe that she has the power to do
+them harm; and in spite of all Mr Maxted tells them, he cannot shake
+their faith."
+
+"What shall you do now, uncle?"
+
+"Nothing, my boy, upon second thoughts.  I am afraid we should not be
+able to prove that this young scoundrel did the mischief without calling
+in the police, and that I am very loth to do."
+
+"But he ought not to be allowed to go about doing such things as that,
+uncle," said Tom warmly.  "It gets the wrong people suspected."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard dryly; "and perhaps we are suspecting the
+wrong person now."
+
+"But who else could it be, uncle?"
+
+"Some tramp perhaps, on the way to London.  No, Tom, I don't think we
+will waste our time in trying to bring the misdoing home to Mr Pete
+Warboys, and then appearing before the magistrates to punish him.  We
+had better set to work and polish a new speculum."
+
+"Then you will make another?" said Tom eagerly.
+
+"Of course, my boy.  I shall write off for two fresh discs to-night."
+
+"One will do, uncle."
+
+"No, boy; we must have two, and begin as before.  The lower one is
+useless now, unless I keep it for a polishing tool."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+"Master Tom, I'd be the last person in the world to find fault, or pick
+people to pieces, and I'm sure master knows that, as it's his brother,
+I'd do anything; but really, my dear, I don't think he's so bad as he
+says."
+
+"Do you think not, Mrs Fidler?"
+
+"I feel sure not, my dear.  Here has he been down here for three weeks
+now, and the nursing up he's had is wonderful.  You look at the beef-tea
+he's had, and the calves'-foot jelly I've made, and the port wine he has
+drunk, let alone the soles and chickens and chops he has every day."
+
+"But what makes you think Uncle James is not so ill?"
+
+"Because he eats and drinks so much, my dear.  I think he's all right,
+only got something on his mind."
+
+"Well, I don't know," said Tom.  "He says he's very bad.  I must be off
+now; it's time he went out in his bath-chair."
+
+"Yes, my dear, it's wonderful what your uncle does for him, what with
+the flys, and pony-carriages, and the invalid chair got down on purpose
+for him.  I only wish I had such a brother as master."
+
+For Uncle James had come down ready to groan when he was helped out of
+the fly, to sigh when he was helped off to bed, and call out when Tom
+led him to his chair at meal-times.  For as soon as he came down he had
+attached himself to his nephew, and was never satisfied without the boy
+was at his side.
+
+"Your noo uncle seems to like you, Master Tom," said David one day.
+
+"Yes; I wish he wouldn't be quite so fond of me," replied Tom.  "He used
+not to be in London."
+
+But Tom's wishes were of no avail, for his uncle would hardly let him
+quit his side; and when they were indoors he would sit and gaze
+wistfully at the boy, and now and then whisper--
+
+"Tom, my boy, I think I ought to tell you, that--"
+
+Then he would stop, and, growing impatient at last, Tom broke out with--
+
+"What is it, uncle, that you want to tell me?"
+
+"Not now, my boy, another time, another time," and then he would utter a
+low groan.
+
+This sort of thing took place in the dining-room, study, garden, or away
+out on the common, or in sandy lanes; and at last, after having his
+curiosity excited a great many times, Tom began to get tired of it, and
+had hard work to keep from some pettish remark.
+
+"But I mustn't be unkind to him, poor fellow, now he's so ill," thought
+Tom; "he was very unkind to me, but I forgive him, and he's very
+affectionate to me now."
+
+This was the case, for Uncle James seemed happier when he could get Tom
+alone, and hold his hand for some time; and he always ended by saying in
+a whimpering voice--
+
+"Bless you, my boy, bless you!"
+
+"Which is very nice," said Tom to himself more than once, "but it will
+sound sickly, and as if he was very weak.  I can't make it out.  It
+seems as if the worse he is, the kinder he gets to me, and as soon as he
+feels better he turns disagreeable.  Oh, I am so tired of it; I wish
+he'd get well."
+
+But all the same Tom never showed his weariness, but tugged and butted
+the invalid chair through the deep sand of the lanes, and sat on banks
+close by it reading the newspaper to his uncle in the most patient way,
+till the invalid was tired, and then dragged him back to Heatherleigh to
+dinner or tea.
+
+One evening, after a week thoroughly devoted to the visitor, who had
+been more than usually exacting in the length of his rides, declining to
+hold the handle and guide himself, making Tom tug him up hills and
+through heavy bits of lane, along which the boy toiled away as
+stubbornly as a donkey, Uncle Richard came upon him in the garden, when
+he was free, for the invalid had gone to lie down.
+
+"Well, Tom," he said.
+
+"Well, uncle," cried the boy, looking up at him rather disconsolately.
+
+"All our telescope-making seems to have come to an end."
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"I suppose you mean to go back with Uncle James to town?"
+
+"Is he going back to London?" cried the boy eagerly.
+
+"Yes, before long; but you need not be so eager to go."
+
+Tom stared at him.
+
+"You are tired of Heatherleigh then?"
+
+"Tired, uncle?"
+
+"Yes; you've made me feel quite jealous.  It's all Uncle James now.  But
+there, it's boy-like to want plenty of change."
+
+"But I don't want change."
+
+"Not want change?  Why, you show it every day."
+
+Tom stared again, and then burst out in his abrupt way--
+
+"Oh, uncle! you don't think I want to go back?"
+
+"You were asking eagerly enough about it just now."
+
+"Yes--because--I--that is--oh, uncle, don't be cross with me; I can't
+help it."
+
+"No, I suppose not, Tom."
+
+"But you don't understand me.  I don't want to leave here; I wouldn't go
+back to London on any consideration.  I--there, I must say it, I--I--
+there, I hate Uncle James."
+
+"What!" said Uncle Richard, looking at the boy curiously.  "You are
+never happy without you are along with him."
+
+"But that's because he is ill, and I thought you wanted me to be
+attentive to him."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Yes, that's it, uncle.  He never liked me, and always used to be cross
+with me, and now when he's very bad he's always so fond of me, and keeps
+me with him, so that I can't get away, and--and I don't like it at all."
+
+"That's curious, isn't it, Tom?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I suppose it is, and I can't make it out.  I don't
+understand it a bit.  It's because he is ill, I suppose, and is sorry he
+used to be so rough with me.  I wish he would get quite well and go back
+to London."
+
+"Humph!  And you would rather not go up to attend to him?"
+
+"I'd go if you ordered me to, but I should be very miserable if I had
+to--worse than I am now.  But, uncle, I am doing my best."
+
+"Of course, Tom.  There, I did not mean it, my boy.  You are doing your
+duty admirably to your invalid relative.  I hope we both are; and sick
+people's fancies are to be studied.  I don't think though you need be
+quite so blunt, Master Blount, though," added Uncle Richard, smiling.
+
+"I'll try not to be, uncle."
+
+"And talk about hating people.  Rather rough kind of Christianity that,
+Tom."
+
+"I beg your pardon, it slipped out.  I hope I don't hate him."
+
+"So do I, my lad.  There, go and do everything you can for him while he
+stays.  He is certainly much better, and fancies now that he is worse
+than he is."
+
+"I'll do everything I can, uncle," said Tom eagerly.
+
+"I know you will, my boy; and as soon as we have set him on his legs
+again, you and I will grind the new speculum.  The case with the two
+discs came down this afternoon while you were out with the chair."
+
+"Oh!" cried Tom eagerly.  "You haven't unpacked them without me, uncle?"
+
+"No, and I do not mean to.  We'll leave them where they are till our
+visitor has gone, and then we shall have to work like black-fellows to
+make up for lost time."
+
+"Yes, uncle," cried Tom, rubbing his hands.
+
+"No; like white-fellows," said Uncle Richard, smiling, "and I think we
+shall get on faster."
+
+The next morning there was a surprise.  It was Saturday, and about
+eleven, just when Tom had dragged round the invalid chair ready for the
+invalid, he saw a sprucely-dressed figure, with a "button-hole" in his
+coat, get down from the station fly, pay the man, and push open the gate
+with a cane, whose ivory crutch handle was held by a carefully-gloved
+hand.
+
+For a few moments Tom was astounded; then he came to the conclusion that
+it was not very wonderful for a son to come down to see his sick father,
+and he left the chair, and went to meet his cousin.
+
+"Hallo, bumpkin," said Sam contemptuously, "how are you?"
+
+"Quite well," said Tom hesitatingly, and then frankly holding out his
+hand.
+
+"All right; quite well, thanks," said Sam, tapping the extended hand
+with the cane.  "Don't want to dirt my glove.  What have you been
+doing--digging potatoes?"
+
+"Only tidying up the chair for Uncle James."
+
+"Hands look grubby.  You should wash 'em.  I say, what a beastly
+out-of-the-way place this is.  Where's Uncle Dick?  I only had a coffee
+and roll before I left London.  Can I have some breakfast?"
+
+"Yes, I suppose so."
+
+"How's dad?"
+
+"Uncle James is better," said Tom quietly; and just then there was a
+loud groaning sound from within the porch.
+
+"Oh--oh--oh!" at regular intervals.
+
+"Hullo!" said Sam; "what's the matter? been killing somebody?"
+
+"No.  That's Uncle James being brought down from his room."
+
+"Why, he wrote up and said he was better."
+
+"It's because his breath is so short first thing in the morning."
+
+"Oh, that's it," said Sam coolly, and he gave a sharp look round.  "Is
+that the old windmill Uncle Dick bought?"
+
+"Yes," said Tom, who felt rather disgusted with his cousin's
+indifference and cavalier airs.
+
+At that moment they had nearly reached the porch from which the low
+groaning sounds issued, and the brothers appeared, with James
+leaning-heavily upon Richard's arm.
+
+Uncle James started on seeing his son, and left off groaning.
+
+"Morning, gov'nor," said Sam.  "Better?  Morning, Uncle Richard."
+
+"Is--is anything wrong at the office?" cried Uncle James excitedly.
+
+"Wrong?  No.  We get on all right."
+
+"Then why have you come?"
+
+"Oh, it was Saturday.  Mother was going down to Brighton, and I thought
+I'd run down here from Saturday to Monday, and see how you were."
+
+"Oh," said Uncle James in a tone of relief; and then he began to moan
+softly again, and moved toward the chair.
+
+"Won't you stop for a bit, and chat with Sam?" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Eh?  Yes, if you like," said his brother, hanging upon him feebly.
+"But it doesn't much matter now."
+
+"Oh yes, it does, Jem, a good deal.  Here, Sam, my lad, try and cheer
+your father up with what news you have of his business."
+
+"All right, uncle; but I say, you've got a pretty place here."
+
+"Glad you like it, my lad."
+
+"But I say, uncle, I haven't had my breakfast.  Started off so early."
+
+"I dare say something is being got ready for you," replied his uncle,
+smiling.  "My housekeeper is very thoughtful."
+
+_Click_! came from through the dining-room window.
+
+"That sounds very much like the coffee-pot lid," continued Uncle
+Richard.  "Take your cousin in, Tom.  I'll lead your uncle round the
+garden while Sam has his breakfast, and then they can have their chat."
+
+"I couldn't do it, Dick--I couldn't do it," groaned his brother
+piteously.  "I'm as feeble as a babe."
+
+"Then the fresh air will strengthen you," said Uncle Richard; and
+moaning softly as he drew his breath, James Brandon went slowly down the
+gravel walk.
+
+"Only does that moaning noise when he thinks about it," said Sam, as he
+entered the house.
+
+"No, I've noticed that," replied Tom; but all the same he felt annoyed
+by his cousin's brutal indifference.  "Let me take your hat."
+
+"No, thanks.  Hang it up myself.  Don't want it spoiled."
+
+Tom drew back while the hat and cane were deposited in their places; and
+then the pair entered the little dining-room, where a luncheon tray was
+already placed at one end of the table, but with coffee-pot and
+bread-and-butter just being arranged by Mrs Fidler.
+
+"Ah, that's your sort," said Sam; "but I say, old lady, I'm peckish;
+haven't you got anything beside this?"
+
+"Some ham is being fried, sir, and some eggs boiled," said Mrs Fidler
+rather stiffly.
+
+"Hah! that's better," said Sam; and Mrs Fidler left the room.  "Well,
+young fellow, how are you getting on?" he continued, as he seated
+himself and began upon the breakfast.  "What do you do here--clean the
+knives and boots?"
+
+"No," said Tom.
+
+"I thought you did.  Hands look grubby enough."
+
+Tom glanced at his hands, and saw that they were as rough and red as his
+cousin's were white and delicate.
+
+"I help uncle do all sorts of things," he said quietly, "and sometimes I
+garden."
+
+"And wish yourself back at Mornington Crescent, I'll bet tuppence."
+
+"I haven't yet," said Tom bluntly.
+
+"No; you always were an ungrateful beggar," said Sam in a contemptuous
+tone.  "But that's about all you were fit for--sort of gardener's boy."
+
+Tom felt a curious sensation tingling in his veins, and his head was
+hot, for times had altered now, and he was not quite the same lad as the
+one who had submitted to be tyrannised over in town.  He was about to
+utter some angry retort, but he checked himself.
+
+"I won't quarrel with him," he said to himself; and just then Mrs
+Fidler appeared with a covered dish, which she placed before the
+visitor.
+
+"Thankye," he said shortly.  "Take the cover away with you."
+
+There was always a line or two--anxious-looking lines--upon Mrs
+Fidler's forehead; now five or six appeared, and her eyebrows suddenly
+grew closer together, and her lips tightened into a thin line, as she
+took off the cover, and then went in a very dignified way from the room.
+
+Sam attacked the ham and eggs directly, and made a very hearty meal,
+throwing a word or two now and then at his cousin, and asking a few
+questions, but in an offhand, assumed, man-about-town style, and without
+so much as glancing at Tom, who sat watching him till he had finished
+his breakfast, when he rose, cleared his voice, rang the bell, brushed a
+few crumbs from his clothes, and took out a cigarette case.
+
+"There!" he said; "I'll join them down the garden now.  Which is the
+way?"
+
+"I'll take you," said Tom; and just as Mrs Fidler entered, followed by
+the maid to clear away, Sam struck a wax-match, lit his cigarette, and
+walked out into the little hall and out into the porch, followed by Tom.
+
+"Not a bad part of the country," said Sam condescendingly; "but who does
+uncle find to talk to?  Precious few decent houses."
+
+"There are plenty," said Tom; "but they are a good way off.  There's
+uncle at the bottom of the field."
+
+"So I see," said Sam.  "I have eyes in my head.  Humph! flowers.
+Halloo! raspberries!"
+
+He stepped off the green path they were on to where several rows of
+neatly-tied-up raspberry canes crossed the garden, and began to pull the
+ruddy thimbles off the tiny white cones upon which they grew; while
+David, who was on the other side busy removing young pear-tree shoots
+from the wall, stared at him aghast.
+
+"Who's that fellow?" said Sam, as he took a whiff, then a raspberry,
+alternately.
+
+"Our gardener."
+
+"_Our_, eh?  Well, tell him to go on with his work.  What's he staring
+at?"
+
+"You," said Tom bluntly.
+
+Sam gave him a sharp look and returned to the path, bore off to his
+right, and began to examine the trained fruit trees on the wall.
+
+"Pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums," said Sam coolly.  "Why,
+they're all green and unripe.  No, they're not; here's an apricot looks
+ready."
+
+David uttered a gasp, for the young visitor stepped on to the neat
+border and took hold of the yellow apricot, whose progress the gardener
+had been watching for days, gave it a tug, and broke off the twig which
+bore it.
+
+"Bah!" he ejaculated, as he dragged away the twig and a wall-nail and
+shred.  "Why, the wretched thing isn't ripe."
+
+He spat out the mouthful he had taken between his lips, and jerked the
+bitten fruit out over the hedge into the lane.
+
+"Well," muttered David, as the two lads went on, "I do call that
+imperdence.  Wonder what master would ha' said if he'd seen."
+
+"Master" had seen his nephew's act as he came from the other side of the
+field with his brother leaning upon his arm, but he made no remark
+respecting it.
+
+"You would like to have a chat now with your boy about business, eh,
+James?"
+
+"Oh, there's nothing to talk about," said Sam carelessly.  "Everything
+is all right.  I have seen to that.  I kept Pringle pretty well up to
+his work."
+
+"Poor old Pringle!" thought Tom.  "I ought to write to him."
+
+"Sam is right," said the lad's father; "and--and--oh, dear me, how weak
+I feel!  I don't want to be troubled about business.  Take me in now,
+Dick."
+
+"Come along, then," said his brother good-humouredly.  "Tom, my lad,
+you'd better show your cousin about the place, and try and interest
+him."
+
+"All right, uncle," was the reply; and the two boys stood watching the
+brothers going towards the house.
+
+"I don't know that I want to be shown about," said Sam haughtily.  "I'm
+not a child.  You country people seem to think that we want to see your
+cabbages and things.  Here, let's go and look at the windmill.  I say,
+did they have a row about it?"
+
+"What--Uncle James and Uncle Richard?"
+
+"Of course, stupid; who did you think I meant?"
+
+"How could they have a row about the observatory?"
+
+"I said windmill, stupid."
+
+"It's an observatory now," said Tom coldly.
+
+"Observatory!  Yes; it looks it.  The gov'nor was awfully wild about it.
+Nice brother, he said, to go and take the legal business to some one
+else instead of to our office.  There, come along."
+
+"I must get the keys first."
+
+"Keys?  Why, I thought you were all so beautifully innocent, that you
+never locked up anything in the country."
+
+"But we do," said Tom.  "Wait a minute.  I'll soon be back."
+
+"Don't hurry yourself, bumpkin.  I'll have some more raspberries."
+
+"I should like to bumpkin him," thought Tom, as he ran in, got the keys,
+and hurried back to where Sam was "worrying the rarsps," as David
+afterwards indignantly said; and then the boys walked together out into
+the lane, and from thence through the gate into the mill-yard.
+
+"Do you ever come here with him moon-shooting?" said Sam contemptuously.
+
+"Uncle has not been doing any astronomy lately," replied Tom; and
+feeling that he could not chat about their private life, he refrained
+from saying anything about the work upon which they had been engaged,
+but contented himself with showing the workshop, and then leading the
+way into the laboratory.
+
+"What do you do here?" said Sam, looking contemptuously round.
+
+"This is the laboratory."
+
+"Dear me, how fine we are!  What's in these bottles on the shelves?"
+
+"Chemicals."
+
+"That your desk where you do your lessons?"
+
+"No; that's uncle's bureau where he keeps his papers.  We're going to
+have another table, and some chemistry and astronomical books up soon.
+Uncle says that he shall make this an extra study."
+
+"Keeps his papers, eh?  His will too, I suppose?"
+
+"I don't know," said Tom.
+
+"Yes, you do.  None of your sham with me, I know you, Master Tom.  That
+the way up-stairs?"
+
+"Yes," said Tom quietly; and they went on up the steps.
+
+"Just as if you wouldn't be artful enough to know all about that.  Bound
+to say you've read it half-a-dozen times over."
+
+"I haven't looked in uncle's drawers, and if I had I shouldn't have read
+any of his papers."
+
+"Not you, of course.  Too jolly good; you are such a nice innocent sort
+of boy.  Halloo! that the telescope? what a tuppenny-ha'penny thing."
+
+"Uncle is going to have a big one soon."
+
+"Oh, is he!  What's that door for?"
+
+"To open and look out at the stars."
+
+"And that wheel?"
+
+"To turn the whole of the roof round."
+
+"Turn it then."
+
+Tom obeyed good-humouredly enough, though at heart he resented the
+hectoring, bullying way adopted by his cousin, and thought how glad he
+would be when Monday came.
+
+Then the shutter was opened, and the lads got out into the little
+gallery, where Tom began to point out the beauty of the landscape, and
+the distant houses and villages to be seen from the commanding height.
+
+"Isn't there a splendid view?" he said.
+
+"Bosh!  I've been at the top of Saint Paul's.  Not a bad place to smoke
+a cigarette."
+
+He lit one with a great deal of nourish, leaned over the rail, and began
+puffing little clouds of smoke into the air; but all the same he did not
+seem to enjoy it, and at the end of a few minutes allowed the little
+roll of tobacco to go out.
+
+"What time do you dine here?" he said; "seven?"
+
+Tom laughed.
+
+"Two o'clock," he said.
+
+"I said dinner, not lunch, stupid."
+
+"I know what you said," replied Tom, rather sharply, but he changed his
+tone directly afterward.  "We don't have lunch, but early dinner, and
+tea at six."
+
+"How horrible!" said Sam.  "Here, let's go down."
+
+He stepped back into the observatory, looking sharply at everything
+while Tom secured the shutter, and then they went down into the
+laboratory, which evidently took the visitor's attention.
+
+"Wouldn't be a bad place with a good Turkey carpet and some easy-chairs.
+I should make it my smoking-room if I lived down here.  I mean if I was
+transported down here."
+
+"You don't think much of the place," said Tom good-humouredly; "but
+you'd like it if you lived here.  There's capital fishing in the river,
+and the fir-woods swarm with rabbits.  Walnut-wood," he added, as his
+cousin examined the bureau.  "Uncle says the brass-work is very old and
+curious, nearly two hundred years, he thinks."
+
+"Got a gun?" said Sam, turning sharply away.
+
+"No."
+
+"Can't you get one?  We might go and shoot a few rabbits."
+
+"I don't know whether we could even if there was a gun.  They are
+preserved about here like the hares and pheasants."
+
+"There are no hares about here?"
+
+"Oh, yes.  I've seen several and made them run."
+
+"But no pheasants?"
+
+"Plenty, and as tame as can be.  I saw one the other day in our field."
+
+"Here, let's go for a walk," said Sam, the real boyish nature coming out
+at last.  "I rather like sport, and shall buy a double gun shortly."
+
+They went down; the place was duly locked up, Tom having refrained from
+making any allusions to the speculum, and the work on hand, feeling as
+he did that his cousin would look upon it with a contemptuous sneer.
+Then the keys were returned to the house, and as the two lads stood in
+the hall they could hear the invalid talking very loudly to Uncle
+Richard, evidently upon some subject in which he took interest, and Sam
+laughed.
+
+"What is it?" said Tom, staring.
+
+"The gov'nor.  Hear him?  He has forgotten how bad he is.  No groans
+now.  Come on."
+
+Tom felt disgusted.  He had often noticed the same thing, and formed his
+own conclusion; but it annoyed him to hear his cousin holding his
+father's weakness up to ridicule; and he followed Sam out into the
+garden, and from thence along the sandy lane, thinking what a long time
+it would be till Monday, when the visitor would return to town.
+
+They had not gone far along the edge of the pine-wood, when all at once
+a dog leaped out, to begin hunting amongst the furze and brambles, and
+dart in again.
+
+"What's he after?" cried Sam.
+
+"Rabbits."
+
+As Tom spoke, his cousin struck a match to light a fresh cigarette; and
+as he lit up, he became aware of the fact that the long slouching figure
+of Pete Warboys was there by a tree, watching his act with profound
+interest.
+
+Sam uttered a low laugh full of contempt, as he noticed the lad's eager
+gaze, and after sending a curl of smoke floating upon the air, he jerked
+the wax-match from him for a few yards, to fall beneath some old dead
+furze.
+
+"Have one, joskin?" he said.
+
+Pete Warboys seemed to forget the presence of Tom, and slouched forward,
+holding out his hand as he uttered a low hoarse "Ah!"
+
+Sam re-opened his cigarette case and held it out.
+
+"Take two," he said; and Pete did so without hesitation, while Tom stood
+frowning.  "Know how to smoke them?" said Sam.
+
+"Ah!" growled Pete; and with a sly grin he took a little dirty black
+clay pipe from his pocket, and held it up before pulling one of the
+cigarettes to pieces and thrusting it in paper and all, without noticing
+that he had drawn something out with the pipe, to fall to the ground.
+
+"Want a light?" said Sam; but Pete made no answer, merely pulling a box
+of matches out of his pocket and putting it back.
+
+"Come along now," said Tom, hesitating though as he spoke.
+
+"Wait a minute.  Like sixpence, joskin?"
+
+"Ah!" replied Pete, showing a set of dirty teeth in a grin.
+
+"Catch then," said Sam, contemptuously tossing the coin through the air;
+but Pete was not active enough to seize it, and it fell amongst the
+herbage, and had to be searched for.  "Got it?"
+
+"Ah!" said Pete, with a grin.  "Chuck us another."
+
+"Not this time," replied Sam, with a forced laugh, as he looked at the
+fellow.  "Like pears?"
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Here then."
+
+Sam took a well-grown hard Marie Louise pear from his pocket, and Tom
+stared.  "Catch."
+
+The pear was thrown, caught deftly, and transferred to a pocket in
+Pete's ragged trousers where a forgotten hole existed, and the fruit was
+seen to run down the leg and re-appear by the lad's boot.  Pete grinned,
+picked it up, and put the fruit in a safer place.
+
+"Catch again!" cried Sam, bringing out another pear, and throwing it
+this time with all his might, evidently with the intention of hitting
+the lad a sharp blow.
+
+But the pear was caught as it struck in Pete's palms with a smart
+_spang_, and was duly transferred to the lad's pocket.
+
+"What a shame!" thought Tom.  "Uncle's choice pears, and they were not
+fit to pick."
+
+"Got any more?" cried Pete.
+
+"Yes, one.  Have it?" said Sam, drawing out the finest yet, but
+disfigured by the marks of teeth, a piece having been bitten out, and
+proving too hard and green to be palatable.  "Now then, catch."
+
+This one was thrown viciously as a cricket-ball by long-field-off.  But
+Pete's eyes were keen; he had seen the white patch on the side of the
+fruit, and instead of trying to catch it, he ducked his head, and let it
+go far away among the fir-trees, the branch of one of which it struck,
+and split in pieces.
+
+"No, yer didn't," said Pete, grinning.  "I say, chuck us another
+sixpence."
+
+"Not this time," said Sam, puffing again at his cigarette and then
+staring at Tom, who suddenly threw off the feeling of hesitation which
+had kept him back, and made a rush forward in the direction taken by the
+pear.
+
+"Where are you going?" cried Sam.  "You've got plenty at home."
+
+But Tom paid no heed; his eyes were fixed on the spot where Pete had
+stood when he took out his pipe, and made for it.
+
+Pete's eyes had grown sharp from the life he led in the woods, and
+amongst the furze of the great heath-like commons, and he saw now the
+object which had fallen from his pocket.  His sluggish manner was cast
+aside, and, as if suddenly galvanised into action, he sprang forward to
+secure the little object lying half hidden upon a tuft of ling.
+
+The consequence was a smart collision, the two lads' heads coming
+violently in contact, and, according to the conclusions of
+mathematicians, flying off at a tangent.  The next instant Tom and Pete,
+half-stunned, were seated amongst the furze gazing stupidly at each
+other.
+
+Tom was the first to recover, and, bending forward, caught up a bit of
+twisted brass wire, secured to a short length of string, before rising
+to his feet.
+
+Then Pete was up, while Sam smoked and laughed heartily.
+
+"Here, that's mine," cried Pete; "give it to me."
+
+"No," cried Tom, thrusting the wire into his pocket; "you've no business
+with a thing like that."
+
+"Give it to me," growled Pete, "or I'll half smash yer."
+
+"_You_ touch me if you dare!" cried Tom fiercely.
+
+"Bravo! ciss!  Have it out!" cried Sam, clapping his hands and hissing,
+with the effect of bringing the dog trotting up, after doing a little
+hunting on its own account.
+
+"You give me that bit of string back, or I'll set the dog at yer," cried
+Pete.
+
+"I shall give it to Captain Ranson's keeper," cried Tom; and Pete took a
+step forward.
+
+"Fetch him then, boy!" cried Pete, clapping his hands, and a fray seemed
+imminent, when Tom unclasped the hands he had clenched, rushed away a
+few yards, and Sam stood staring, ready to cheer Pete on to give his
+cousin a good hiding as he mentally termed it, for his cousin seemed to
+him to have shown the white feather and run.
+
+Then he grasped the reason.  Tom had not gone many yards, and was
+dancing and stamping about in the middle of some smoke rising from among
+the dead furze, and where for a few moments a dull flame rose amidst a
+faint crackling, as the fire began to get hold.
+
+"Here, Sam!  Pete!" he shouted, "come and help."
+
+But Sam glanced at his bright Oxford shoes and well-cut trousers, and
+stood fast, while a malignant grin began to spread over Pete Warboys'
+face, as the dog cowered shivering behind him, with its thin tail tucked
+between its legs.
+
+Pete thrust both hands down into his pockets, but did not stir to help,
+and Tom, after stamping out the fire in one place, had to dash to
+another; this being repeated again and again in the exciting moments.
+Then he mastered it, and a faint smoke and some blackened furze was all
+that was left of what, if left to itself, would have been a great common
+fire.
+
+"All out?" said Sam, as his cousin came up hot and panting.  "Why, what
+a fuss about nothing."
+
+"Fuss!" cried Tom excitedly; "why, if it had been left five minutes the
+fir-wood must have caught."
+
+"Bah! green wood won't burn."
+
+"Oh, won't it?" cried Pete.  "It just will.  Here, you give me my bit o'
+string, or I shall go and say I see yer set the furze alight o'
+purpose."
+
+"Go and say so then," cried Tom.  "No one will believe you.  Come along,
+Sam."
+
+Tom gave one more look at the blackened furze, and then turned to his
+cousin.
+
+"Look here," he said; "you bear witness that this fire is quite out."
+
+"Oh, yes; it's out," said Sam.
+
+"And that Pete Warboys showed us a box of matches."
+
+"Yes, but what of that?"
+
+"Why this," said Tom; "if the fire breaks out again, it will be because
+this fellow has set it alight."
+
+Pete's features contracted, and without another word he slouched away
+into the wood and disappeared, followed by his dog.
+
+"I say, you hit him there, Tom," said Sam, with a laugh.  "Think he
+would have done it?"
+
+"I'm afraid so."
+
+"Well, a bit of a bonfire wouldn't have done much harm."
+
+"What!" cried Tom, looking at his cousin aghast.  "Why, hundreds of
+acres of fir-trees might have been burnt.  Uncle said there was a small
+patch burned one year, and there is so much turpentine in the trees,
+that they roared away like a furnace, and if they had not stood alone,
+the mischief would have been terrible."
+
+"Then you think that chap had set the furze alight before we came."
+
+"No, I don't," cried Tom sharply, "for I saw you throw a burning
+wax-match amongst them, only I was so stupid I never thought of going to
+tread upon it."
+
+"Yes, you always were precious chuckle-headed," cried Sam, with a laugh.
+"But I don't believe it was my match.  If it had gone on burning, and
+there had been a row, I should have laid the blame on him."
+
+Tom gave him a quick look and said nothing, but thought a good deal.
+
+Sam noticed the look, and naturally divined his cousin's thoughts.
+
+"Oh," he said, "if you want to get on in the world, it's of no use to
+give yourself away.  I say, who is that joskin?"
+
+"Pete Warboys, half gipsy sort of fellow.  I've seen him poaching.  Look
+here, this is a wire to catch hares or rabbits with."
+
+Tom took out the wire noose, and held it out to his cousin.
+
+"How do you know? that wouldn't catch a hare."
+
+"It would.  The gardener showed me once with a bit of string.  Look
+here; they drive a peg into the ground if there isn't a furze stump
+handy, tie the string to it, and open the wire, so as to make a ring,
+and set it in a hare's run."
+
+"What do you mean--its hole in the ground?"
+
+"Hares don't make holes in ground, but run through the same openings in
+hedges or amongst the furze and heath.  You can see where they have
+beaten the grass and stuff down.  Then the poachers put the wire ring
+upright, the hares run through, and drag the noose tight, and the more
+they struggle, the faster they are."
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?  I never lived in the country.  Here, catch hold.
+No, Stop; let's set it, and try and catch one."
+
+Tom stared.
+
+"I say," he cried; "why I read all about that in _The Justice of the
+Peace_,--don't you know that it's punishable?"
+
+"Of course for the joskins, but they wouldn't say anything to a
+gentleman who did it for experiment."
+
+Tom laughed.
+
+"I shouldn't like a keeper to catch me doing it."
+
+"I said a gentleman," said Sam coolly.  "So that's a young poacher, is
+it?"
+
+"Yes, and I thought it was a pity for you to give him money."
+
+"Oh, I always like to behave well to the lower orders and servants when
+I'm out on a visit," said Sam.  "Here, let's get back."
+
+"Back! why, I thought we were going for a long walk," cried Tom.
+
+"Well, we've had one.  Suppose we went further, you cannot get a cab
+home, I suppose?"
+
+"No," said Tom quietly, and with a faint smile.  "You couldn't get any
+cabs here."
+
+Sam turned back, and Tom followed his example, thinking the while about
+their adventure, and of what a terrible fire there might have been.
+
+"What are you going to do with that wire?"
+
+"Show it to uncle," said Tom quietly, "and then burn it."
+
+"Bah! brass wire won't burn."
+
+"Oh yes, it will," said Tom confidently.  "Burn all away."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Chemistry," said Tom.  "I've read so.  You can burn iron and steel all
+away."
+
+"No wonder you couldn't get on with the law," said Sam, with a sneer.
+"Here, come on; I'm tired."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+"How long's he going to stop, Master Tom?" said David the next morning
+about breakfast-time, for he had come, according to custom, to see if
+cook wanted anything else on account of the company.
+
+He had stumbled upon Tom, who was strolling about the grounds, waiting
+for his cousin to come down to the meal waiting ready, his uncle sitting
+reading by the window.
+
+"He's going back to-morrow, David."
+
+"And a jolly good job too, sir, I says," cried David, "whether you like
+it or whether you don't."
+
+Tom looked at him wonderingly.
+
+"Yes, sir, you may stare, but I speaks out.  I like you, Master Tom, and
+allus have, since I see you was a young gent as had a respect for our
+fruit.  Of course I grows it for you to heat, but it ain't
+Christian-like for people to come in my garden and ravage the things
+away, destroying and spoiling what ain't ripe.  I know, and your uncle
+knows, when things ought to be eaten, and then it's a pleasure to see an
+apricot picked gentle like, so as it falls in your hand ready to be laid
+in a basket o' leaves proper to go into the house.  You can take 'em
+then; it makes you smile and feel a kind o' pleasure in 'em, because
+they're ripe.  But I'd sooner grow none than see 'em tore off when
+they're good for nowt.  I didn't see 'em go, Master Tom, but four o' my
+chyce Maria Louisas has been picked, and I wouldn't insult you, sir, by
+even thinking it was you.  It wasn't Pete Warboys, because he ain't left
+his trail.  Who was it, then, if it wasn't your fine noo cousin?"
+
+Tom said nothing, but thought of the hard green pears Sam had thrown at
+Pete Warboys.
+
+"Just you look here, Master Tom," continued the gardener, leading the
+way to the wall.  "There's where one was tore off, and a big bit o'
+shoot as took two year to grow, fine fruit-bearing wood, but he off with
+it.  Yes, there it is," he cried, pouncing upon a newly-broken-off twig,
+"just as I expected.  There's where the pear was broke off arterward,
+leaving all the stalk on.  Why, when that pear had been fit to pick,
+sir, it would have come off at that little jynt as soon as you put your
+hand under it and lifted it up.  Why, I've know'd them pears, sir, as
+good as say thankye as soon as they felt your hand under 'em, for they'd
+growed too ripe and heavy to hang any longer.  Dear, dear, dear, who'd
+be a gardener?"
+
+"You would, David," said Tom, smiling.  "Never mind; it's very tiresome,
+and he ought to have known better, if it was my cousin."
+
+"Knowed better, sir?  Why, you'd ha' thought a fine chap like he,
+dressed up to the nines with his shiny boots and hat, and smoking his
+'bacco wrapped up in paper, instead of a dirty pipe, would ha' been
+eddicated up to everything.  There, sir, it's Sunday mornin', and I'm
+goin' to church by-and-by, so I won't let my angry passions rise; but if
+that young gent's coming here much, I shall tell master as it's all over
+with the garden, for I sha'n't take no pride in it no more."
+
+"And that isn't the worst of it," thought Tom; "throwing those pears at
+Pete was telling him that we had plenty here on the walls, and tempting
+him to come."
+
+That day passed in a wearisome way to Tom.  At church Sam swaggered in,
+and took his place after a haughty glance round, as if he were favouring
+the congregation by his condescension in coming.  Then on leaving, when
+Mr Maxted bustled up to ask after Uncle Richard, fearing that he was
+absent from illness, till he heard that it was on account of his invalid
+brother, Sam began to show plenty of assumption and contempt for the
+little rustic church.
+
+"Why don't you have an organ?" he said.
+
+"For two reasons, my dear young friend," said Mr Maxted.  "One is that
+we could not afford to buy one; the other that we have no one here who
+could play it if we had.  We get on very well without."
+
+"But it sounds so comic for the clerk to go _toot_ on that whistling
+thing, and then for people with such bad voices to do the singing,
+instead of a regular choir, the same as we have in town."
+
+"Dear me!" said Mr Maxted dryly, "it never sounds comic to my ears, for
+there is so much sincerity in the simple act of praise.  But we are
+homely country people down here, and very rustic no doubt to you."
+
+"Confounded young prig!" said Mr Maxted, as he walked back to the
+Vicarage.  "I felt as if I could kick him.  Nice sentiments these for a
+clergyman on a Sunday," he added.  "But he did make me feel so cross."
+
+"What does he mean by calling me my dear young friend?" cried Sam, as
+soon as the Vicar was out of sight.  "Nice time you must have of it down
+here, young fellow.  But it serves you right for being so cocky and
+obstinate when you had such chances along with us."
+
+Tom was silent, but felt as if he could have said a great deal, and had
+the satisfaction of feeling that the gap between him and his cousin was
+growing wider and wider.
+
+"I suppose he is a far superior fellow to what I am," the boy said to
+himself; "and perhaps it's my vanity, but I don't want to change."
+
+It was the dreariest Sunday he had ever passed, but he rose the next
+morning in the highest spirits, for Sam's father had told him to get off
+back to town directly after breakfast.
+
+"If Uncle James would only get better and go too," he said to himself as
+he dressed, "how much pleasanter it would be!"
+
+But Uncle James came down to breakfast moaning at every step, and
+murmuring at having to leave his bed so soon.  For he had been compelled
+to rise on account of two or three business matters with which he wished
+to charge his son; and he told every one in turn that he was very much
+worse, and that he was sure Furzebrough did not agree with him; but he
+ate, as Tom observed, a very hearty breakfast all the same.
+
+David had had his own, and had started off at six o'clock to fetch the
+fly, which arrived in good time, to take Sam off to meet the fast
+up-train, Tom thinking to himself that it would not have been much
+hardship to walk across the fields on such a glorious morning.
+
+"Going to see your cousin off?" said Uncle Richard, just as breakfast
+was over.  "You wouldn't mind the walk back, Tom?"
+
+"Oh no, uncle," said the boy, who felt startled that such a remark
+should be made when he was thinking about the walk.
+
+But Tom was not destined to go across to the station, for Uncle James
+interposed.
+
+"No, no, don't send him away," he said.  "I have not had an airing in my
+bath-chair for two days, and I fancy that is why I feel so exhausted
+this morning."
+
+"Oh, I don't mind," said Sam; "and besides," he added importantly, "I
+shall be thinking of business all the time."
+
+"At last," said Tom to himself, as his cousin stepped leisurely into the
+fly and lit a cigarette.
+
+"On'y just time to ketch that there train, sir," said the driver, who,
+feeling no fear of his bony horse starting, was down out of his seat to
+hold open the fly-door.
+
+"Then drive faster," said Sam coolly.
+
+"Wish he'd show me how," muttered the driver, as he closed the door and
+began to mount to his seat, scowling at his slow-going horse.
+
+"Good-bye, clodhopper," said Sam, toying with his cigarette, as he threw
+himself back in the fly without offering his hand.
+
+"Good-bye, Sam," replied Tom.  "All right, driver;" and the wheels began
+to revolve.
+
+"He thinks Uncle Richard 'll leave him all his money," muttered Sam, as
+they passed out of the swing-gate.  "All that nice place too, and the
+old windmill; but he don't have it if I can do anything."
+
+"There's something wrong about me, I suppose," said Tom to himself, as
+he turned down the garden, and then out into the lane, where he could
+look right away over the wild common-land, and inhale the fresh warm
+breeze.  "Poor old chap though, I'm sorry for him!" he muttered.  "Fancy
+having to go back to London on a day like this."
+
+Then from the bubbling up of his spirits consequent upon that feeling of
+release as from a burden which had come over him, Tom set off running--
+at first gently, then as hard as he could go, till at a turn of the lane
+he caught sight of Pete Warboys prowling along with his dog a couple of
+hundred yards away.
+
+The dog caught sight of Tom running hard, uttered a yelp, tucked its
+tail between its legs, and began to run.  Then Pete turned to see what
+had startled the dog, caught sight of Tom racing along, and, a guilty
+conscience needing no accuser, took it for granted that he was being
+chased; so away he ran, big stick in hand, his long arms flying, and his
+loose-jointed legs shambling over the ground at a pace which kept him
+well ahead.
+
+This pleased Tom; there was something exhilarating in hunting his enemy,
+and besides, it was pleasant to feel that he was inspiring dread.
+
+"Wonder what he has been doing," said the boy, laughing to himself, as
+Pete struck off at right angles through the wood and disappeared,
+leaving his pursuer breathless in the lane.  "Well, I sha'n't run after
+him.--Hah! that has done me good."
+
+Tom had another good look round where the lane curved away now, and ran
+downhill past the big sand-pit at the dip; and then on away down to
+where the little river gurgled along, sending flashes of sunshine in all
+directions, while the country rose on the other side in a beautiful
+slope of furzy common, hanging wood, and closely-cut coppice, pretty
+well filled with game.
+
+"Better get back," thought Tom; and then he uttered a low whistle, and
+broke into a trot, with a new burden on his back in the shape of the
+bath-chair, for he had suddenly recollected Uncle James's complaint
+about not having been out for a ride.
+
+Sure enough when he reached the garden David met him.
+
+"Master's been a-shouting for you, sir.  Yes, there he goes again."
+
+"Coming, uncle," cried Tom; and he ran into the house, and encountered
+Uncle Richard.
+
+"Oh, here you are at last.  Get out the bath-chair quickly, my boy.
+Your uncle has been complaining bitterly.  Little things make him fret,
+and he had set his mind upon a ride."
+
+"All right, uncle--round directly," cried Tom, running off to the
+coach-house.  "Phew! how hot I've made myself."
+
+In two minutes he was running the chair round to the front door, and as
+he passed the study window a doleful moaning greeted his ear; but it
+ceased upon the wheels being heard.
+
+"All right, uncle, here it is," cried Tom; and James Brandon came out
+resting upon a stick, and moaning piteously, while his brother came
+behind bearing a great plaid shawl.
+
+"Here, take my arm, Jem," he said.
+
+"I can walk by myself," was the pettish reply.  "Then you've come back,
+sir.  Tired of your job, I suppose.  Oh dear! oh dear!"
+
+"I really forgot it for a bit, uncle," said Tom humbly.
+
+"Forgot!  Yes, you boys do nothing else but forget.  Ah!  Oh!  Oh!  I'm
+a broken man," he groaned, as he sank back in the chair and took hold of
+the handle.
+
+"I'll pull you, uncle," said Tom, looking at him wonderingly.
+
+"You pull it so awkwardly.--Oh dear me! how short my breath is!--And you
+get in the way so when I want to see the country.  Go behind."
+
+"All right, uncle.  Which way would you like to go?  Through the
+village?"
+
+"What! down there by the churchyard?  Ugh!  No; go along that upper lane
+which leads by the fir-wood and the sand-pits.  The air is fit to
+breathe there."
+
+"Yes, glorious," said Uncle Richard cheerily.  "Off you go, donkey, and
+bring your uncle back with a good appetite for dinner."
+
+"All right, uncle.  Now, Uncle James, hold tight."
+
+"Be careful, sir, be careful," cried the invalid; and he kept up his
+regular moaning as Tom pushed the chair out into the lane, and then
+round past the mill, and on toward the woods.
+
+"How much did your uncle spend over workpeople for that whim of his?"
+said the invalid, suddenly leaving off moaning and looking round.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, uncle; a good deal, I believe."
+
+"Yes, yes; oh dear me!  A good deal, no doubt.  Keep out of the sand; it
+jolts me."
+
+"There's such a lot of sand along here, uncle; the carts cut the road up
+so, coming from the pits."
+
+"Yes; horrible roads.  There--oh--oh--oh!  Go steady."
+
+"All right, uncle," said Tom; and he pushed on steadily enough right
+along the lane where he had chased Pete Warboys not so long before.
+Then the fir-wood was reached, and at last the road rose till it was no
+longer down between two high sand-banks crowned with furze and pine, but
+opened out as they reached the top of the slope which ran down past the
+sand-pit to the river with its shallow ford.
+
+"Which are your uncle's woods?" said Uncle James suddenly.
+
+"Right away back.  You can see them when you lean forward.  Stop a
+moment; let's get close to the edge.  That's better," he said, as he
+paused just at the top of the slope.  "Now lean forward, and look away
+to the left a little way from the church tower.  That's one of them.
+I'm not sure about the others, for Uncle Richard does not talk about
+them much."
+
+_Whizz!  Rustle_.
+
+"What's that?" said Uncle James, ceasing his tiresome moaning.
+
+"Don't know, uncle.  Rabbit, I think."
+
+_Rap_!
+
+"Yes, it was a rabbit.  They strike the ground with their feet when they
+are startled."
+
+"Ah!  Then that's his wood is it?" said James Brandon, leaning forward.
+"A nice bit of property."
+
+_Crack_!
+
+"What's that, boy?"
+
+"Somebody's throwing stones," cried Tom excitedly, turning to look
+round, but there was nothing visible, though the boy felt sure that the
+thrower must be Pete Warboys hidden somewhere among the trees.  Then he
+felt sure of it, for, glancing toward the clumps of furze in the more
+open part, another well-aimed stone came and struck the road between the
+wheels of the bath-chair.
+
+"Is that some one throwing at me?" cried Uncle James angrily.
+
+"No, uncle," said Tom, as he leaned upon the handle at the back of the
+chair; "I expect they're meant for me--I'm sure of it now," he added,
+for there was a slight rap upon his elbow, making him wince as he turned
+sharply.
+
+"The scoundrel!  Whoever it is I'll have a policeman to him."
+
+"Yes; there: it is Pete Warboys," cried Tom excitedly.  "I saw him dodge
+out from behind one of the trees to throw.  Oh, I say, did that hit you,
+uncle?"
+
+"No, boy, only brushed the cushion.  The dog!  The scoundrel!  He--Stop,
+don't go and leave me here."
+
+Tom did not, for, acting on the impulse of the moment, as he saw Pete
+run out to hurl another stone, he wrenched himself round, unconsciously
+giving the chair a start, and ran off into the wood in chase of the
+insolent young poacher, who turned and fled.
+
+No: Tom Blount did not leave his uncle there, for the chair began to run
+gently on upon its light wire wheels, then faster and faster, down the
+long hill slope, always gathering speed, till at last it was in full
+career, with the invalid sitting bolt upright, thoroughly unnerved, and
+trying with trembling hands to guide its front wheel so as to keep it in
+the centre of the road.  Farther back the land had been soft, and to
+Tom's cost as motive power; but more on the hill slope the soft sand had
+been washed away by many rains, and left the road hard, so that the
+three-wheeled chair ran with increasing speed, jolting, bounding, and at
+times seeming as if it must turn over.  There, straight before the
+rider, was the spot below where the road forked, the main going on to
+the ford, that to the left, deep in sand, diving down into the large
+sand-pit, which had been dug at from time beyond the oldest traditions
+of the village.  A kind of ridge had here been kept up, to form the
+roadway right down into the bottom--a cruel place for horses dragging
+cartloads of the heavy material--and from this ridge on either side
+there was a stiff slope down to where the level of the huge pit spread,
+quite a couple of hundred feet below the roadway straight onward to the
+ford.
+
+And moment by moment Uncle James Brandon sped onward toward the fork,
+holding the cross handle of the bath-chair with both hands, and steering
+it first in one direction then in the other, as he hesitated as to which
+would be the safer.  If he went to the right, there, crossing the road
+at right angles, was the little river, which might be shallow but looked
+deep; and at any rate meant, if not drowning, wetting.  If he went to
+the left from where he raced on, it looked as if he would have to plunge
+down at headlong speed into what seemed to be an awful chasm.
+
+But the time for consideration was very short, though thoughts fly like
+flashes.  One way or the other, and he must decide instantly, for there
+was just before him the point where the road divided--a hundred yards
+away--fifty yards--twenty yards, and the wind rushing by his ears as the
+bath-chair bounded on.
+
+Which was it to be?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+"I don't want to fight," thought Tom Blount, as he rushed off in pursuit
+of Pete Warboys, this time with full intention, and not led into it by
+accident.  "Fighting means knocking the skin off one's knuckles, black
+eyes, nose bleeding, and perhaps getting thrashed.  And I may be, for
+he's a big, strong, heavy fellow, and I don't think I could hit him half
+hard enough to make him care.  But it seems to me as if I must have a go
+at him.  Can't stand there and be pelted by such a fellow, it looks so
+cowardly.  Besides, he's a bit afraid, or he wouldn't run away."
+
+All this and much more thought Tom, as he ran on as fast as he could on
+diving into the wood when he left the road.  An hour or so ago, when
+Pete rushed in among the trees, Tom had soon given up the chase; but he
+felt that it would not do to let the young scoundrel feel that he was a
+kind of modern bold outlaw, with a sanctuary of his own in the woods; so
+clenching his fists hard, Tom sped on, making up his mind to run his
+quarry down.
+
+"Uncle James won't mind my leaving him, if I can go back and say I have
+punched Pete's head for throwing stones at him.--Bother!"
+
+Tom gathered himself up, and stood flinching during a few moments, for
+he had caught his foot against a closely-sawn-off stump, and though the
+earth was covered with pine-needles it was hard.
+
+But the accident did not detain him many moments.  There in front was
+Pete showing from time to time, as he dodged in and out among the tall
+columnar tree-trunks, now in shadow, now passing across some patch of
+sunshine; and Tom ran on faster than before, the pain having made him
+feel angry, and as if he must, to use his own words, "take it out of
+Pete," he being the active cause.
+
+From time to time the great hulking lad glanced back, expecting to see
+that he had shaken off his pursuer, but looked in vain, for Tom was now
+doggedly determined.  His brow was knit, his teeth set, and his clenched
+fists held close to his sides, and after keeping up the high rate of
+speed for some minutes, he now, feeling that it was going to be a long
+chase, settled down to a steady football or hare-and-hound trot, which
+combined fair pace with a likelihood of being able to stay.
+
+Pete Warboys too had been compelled to slacken somewhat in his clumsy
+bovine rush, and Tom observed with satisfaction, as the minutes went on,
+and they must have been--pursuer and pursued--toiling over the slippery
+fir-needles for quite a quarter of an hour, that Pete glanced over his
+shoulder more often than before.
+
+"He's getting pumped out," muttered Tom.  "He's so big that he can't
+keep his wind, and he'll stop short soon.  Oh, I say, why don't I look
+where I'm going!"
+
+For this time the sandy earth had suddenly given way beneath him, just
+in the darkest part of the wood, and he plumped right down to the bottom
+of a rough pit, and went on before he could stop himself right under the
+roots of a great fir-tree, half of which stood out bare and strange,
+over what looked like an enormous rabbit-hole.
+
+Tom looked wonderingly at the hole, and backed out into the pit, climbed
+out, and continued his chase, rather breathlessly now, for the fall had
+not been good for his breathing apparatus.  He had lost ground too, but
+he soon made that up, for Pete was getting exhausted; and, what seemed
+strange, since Tom's last fall he had turned off, and appeared to be
+running in a circle, till all at once he stopped short with his back up
+against a tree, panting heavily, and with the perspiration dripping from
+his forehead.
+
+There was a vicious look in the fellow's countenance, for he was showing
+his teeth, and as Tom drew near, he spat on one hand, and took a fresh
+grip of the thick stick he carried.  Then, taking a step forward, he
+raised the weapon, and aimed a savage blow at his adversary, that would
+in all probability have laid Tom _hors de combat_, at all events for a
+few minutes.
+
+But to give good effect to a blow struck with a stick, the object aimed
+at must be at a certain distance.  If the blow fall when the object is
+beyond or within that distance, its efficacy is very much diminished.
+
+Now as Pete struck at Tom, the latter was for a time at exactly the
+right distance, but as the boy rushed at him, or rather leaped at him at
+last, he was not in the aforesaid position long enough, and the blow did
+not fall till he was right upon Pete, getting a smart rap, but having
+the satisfaction of seeing the young scoundrel go down as if shot, and
+roll over and over at the foot of the tree.
+
+Tom went down too, for he could not check himself; but he was up first,
+and ready enough to avoid another vicious blow from the cudgel, and
+catch Pete right in the mouth a most unscientific blow delivered with
+his right fist.  All the same though it did its work, and Pete went down
+again.
+
+Once more he sprang up, and tried to strike with the stick, but Tom's
+blood was up, and he closed with him, getting right in beyond his guard,
+and for the next few minutes there was a fierce struggle, ending in both
+going down together, Tom unfortunately undermost, and by the time he
+gained his feet his adversary was off again, running as hard as he could
+go.
+
+"A coward!" muttered Tom, after running a few yards and then giving up,
+to stand panting and exhausted.  "Ugh! how my side hurts!" he said, as
+he clapped his hand upon his ribs where the blow from the stick had
+fallen.  "I don't care though; I won, and he has gone."
+
+He stood trying to catch sight of Pete again, but could not see him, for
+the simple reason that the lad had dropped down behind a clump of
+bracken growing silver-leaved in the sunshine in an opening in the wood,
+and here he crept on, watching as, after hesitating, Tom began to retire
+hastily, so as to return to his uncle in the chair.
+
+Tom did not go far though without stopping, for he had aimed to reach
+the pit into which he had fallen, and here he stood gazing down,
+evidently puzzled, for there was something particular about the place
+which attracted him; while, to increase his interest, all at once there
+was a rustling noise, and Pete Warboys' long lean dog thrust out its
+head from the side hole beneath the fir-tree roots, which hung out quite
+bare, looked up, saw who was gazing down, turned, and thrust out its
+long bony tail instead.  This, however, was only seen for a moment and
+then gone.
+
+"That's strange," thought Tom, as he walked on back pretty fast now, for
+it suddenly occurred to him that his uncle must be out of patience, and
+that he had been longer than he thought for.
+
+He found too that he had run farther than he thought, and he was getting
+pretty hot and breathless by the time he trotted out of the wood, and
+into the sandy lane, where, instead of his uncle's face as he sat
+looking back impatiently in the chair, there was the bare road and
+nothing more, save a red admiral butterfly flitting here and there and
+settling in the dust.
+
+"He must have asked somebody passing to wheel him back," thought Tom,
+who immediately began to play Red Indian or Australian black, and look
+for the trail--to wit, the thin wheel-marks left by the chair.  But
+though he found those which had been made in coming plainly lining the
+soft sandy road, and ran in different directions toward home, there were
+no returning tracks.
+
+"Then he must have gone on," thought Tom; and he ran back to where he
+had left his uncle, to see now faintly in the hard road a continuation
+of the three wheel-marks, so very distinct from any that would have been
+left by cart or carriage, being very narrow, and three instead of two or
+four.
+
+He went on slowly trying to trace the wheel-marks, but the road soon
+became so hard that he missed them; a few yards farther on he saw the
+faint mark made by one, then again two showed, and then they ceased, but
+he was on the right track, he knew; and walking rapidly on down the
+hill, with his eyes now on the road, now right ahead toward the river
+and the ford, he began wondering who could have come along there, and
+where his uncle had made whoever it was take him.
+
+"Why it would be miles round to get home this way," thought Tom.
+"Perhaps he was thirsty, and asked some one to take him down to the
+river, and is waiting."
+
+It was not a good solution of the problem, and he was not satisfied, for
+there was no sign of the chair near the ford.  But there were traces
+again in the sand which had been washed to the side, and here the chair
+had made a curve and run close to the bank for a few yards; then out
+into the hard road, and he saw no more for a couple of hundred yards,
+and then they were on the left-hand side, and Tom's blood began to turn
+cold, as they say, for the tracks bore off to the side road leading down
+into the sand-pit.
+
+"Why the chair ran away with him, and perhaps he's killed."
+
+At this thought Tom's legs ran away with him down into the thick sandy
+road, where the wheel-marks were deeply imprinted, showing that the
+chair had been that way.
+
+Now he had never been down into the pit, and only once as far as the
+edge, into which he had peered from the road above, whence he had looked
+down upon a colony of martins darting in and out of their holes in the
+sand-cliff.  He had determined to examine the place, but that morning he
+was compelled to hurry back to breakfast.  Now he had to explore the
+depths of the pit in a very different mood; and he was not half-way down
+the slope when he found that the wheels had suddenly curved off, and
+then, from the marks on the smooth sand, it had evidently turned over.
+And there, sixty or seventy yards away, and fully a hundred feet below
+him, it lay bottom upwards, while away to its right sat its late
+occupant, making signs with his stick.
+
+Tom did not attempt to go on down the roadway, which meant quite a
+journey, but began to descend at once, slipping, scrambling, falling and
+rolling over in the loose sand, which gave way at every step, and took
+him with it, till at last, hot and breathless, he reached the invalid's
+side.
+
+"Hurt, uncle?" he panted.
+
+"Hurt, sir?" cried Uncle James angrily.  "I'm nearly killed.  I don't
+think I've a whole bone left in my body.  You dog!  You scoundrel!  You
+did it on purpose.  You knew it was not safe to leave that miserable,
+wretched wreck of a thing.  It was all out of revenge, and you wanted to
+kill me."
+
+"Oh no, uncle," cried Tom, staring in astonishment at the vigour his
+uncle had displayed.  For there was no moaning, no holding the hand to
+the breast, and complaining of shortness of breath, but an undue display
+of excitement and anger, which had made cheeks burn and eyes glisten.
+
+"I'm very sorry, uncle; it was that young scoundrel's fault."
+
+"I don't believe it, sir.  It was a trick.  Disgraceful!"
+
+"Wait a minute, uncle, and I'll fetch the chair.  I'll get it here, and
+then help you up to the top before I take it up."
+
+"Fetch the chair!" stormed James Brandon.  "It's a wreck, sir; one
+wheel's off, and the front one's all bent sidewise.  Here, give me your
+hand."
+
+He caught hold of the extended wrist, and with that and the stick,
+toiled up the steep slope, to the boy's astonishment; and when they had
+reached the road, jerked the wrist from him, and walked on without a
+word till they came in sight of the house, when Tom plucked up the
+courage to speak.
+
+"Really, uncle, I did not think of anything but running after that lad."
+
+"I want no excuses, sir," cried Uncle James fiercely.  "I know what it
+means.  You are too idle--you are sick of wheeling the chair.  It was
+all a planned thing.  But mind, I shall take a note of it, and you will
+find out that you've made the great mistake of your life.  Here, you
+sir!"
+
+This was to David, who was in the garden; and he hurried up.
+
+"Go and order me a fly to come here directly."
+
+"From the station, sir?  It's over there all day now."
+
+"From anywhere, only make haste."
+
+"Yes, sir," said David; and he gave Tom a sharp look as much as to say,
+"Rather too much of a good thing to go over there twice."  Then he
+fetched his coat and went off.
+
+"Hallo!  Walking?" cried Uncle Richard, coming out of the observatory.
+"Where's the chair?"
+
+"Broken, smashed, thanks to this young scoundrel; and it's a mercy I'm
+alive.  But I'll have no more of this."
+
+Uncle James strode into the house, and his brother turned to Tom for an
+explanation, and had it.
+
+"But he did not walk back all the way?"
+
+"Every step, uncle, and didn't seem to mind it."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Uncle Richard, frowning, as he locked up the yard
+gate and followed his brother into the house.
+
+Half-an-hour later Mrs Fidler announced dinner, when Uncle James came
+down looking black as thunder, and answered his brother in
+monosyllables, refusing to speak once to Tom, at whom he scowled
+heavily.
+
+"I'm sorry you had such an upset, James," said Uncle Richard at last.
+
+"Thank you," was the cold reply.
+
+"But I don't think you are any the worse for it."
+
+"Thank you!" said Uncle James again, but more shortly.
+
+"Tom, my lad, tell David as soon as dinner is over to borrow the Vicar's
+cart, and go to the sand-pit and fetch the broken chair."
+
+"David has gone to the station, uncle," said Tom.
+
+"Station?  What for?"
+
+"Uncle sent him for the fly."
+
+"Fly?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Uncle James.  "I sent your gardener for the fly, and if
+there's any charge for his services I will pay him.  I see I have
+outstayed my welcome, and the sooner I am off the better."
+
+"My dear James, don't be absurd," said Uncle Richard.  "What you say is
+childish."
+
+"Of course, sir; sick and helpless men are always childish."
+
+"There, don't take it like that.  Tom assures me it was an accident.  If
+you are upset by it, let me send for the doctor to see you."
+
+"Thank you; I'll send for my own doctor as soon as I get back to town."
+
+"You're not going back to town to-day," said Uncle Richard, smiling.
+
+"We shall see about that," said Uncle James, rising from his place, for
+the dinner was at an end, and walking firmly enough out of the room.
+
+Uncle Richard frowned and looked troubled.  Mrs Fidler looked at Tom,
+and as soon as they were alone she began to question him, and heard all.
+
+"Well," she said, "I'm not going to make any remarks, my dear, it isn't
+my duty; but I will say this, I don't like to see your dear uncle
+imposed upon even by his brother, and I hope to goodness Mr James will
+keep his word, for I don't believe you upset him on purpose."
+
+Uncle James did keep his word, for an hour later he was in the fly with
+his portmanteau on his way to the station.
+
+"And never give me so much as a shilling, Master Tom, and me been twice
+to fetch that fly.  If he wasn't your uncle, sir, I'd call him mean.
+But what did you say?  I'm to fetch the chair, as is lying broken at the
+big sand-pit?"
+
+"Yes, in Mr Maxted's cart."
+
+"Did it fall over?"
+
+"Yes, right over, down the slope from top to bottom."
+
+"And him in it, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I'll forgive him, and young Mr Sam Brandon too.  My word, sir,
+I'd ha' give something to ha' been there to see."
+
+"But he must have hurt himself, David."
+
+"What there, sir?  Tchah! that sand's as soft as silk.  Wouldn't like to
+come and help fetch the chair, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I should, David; I should like the ride."
+
+"Then come on, sir, and we'll go round the other way from the Vicarage
+gates.  Right from top to bottom, eh, sir?  Well, I would have give
+something to ha' been there to see."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Uncle Richard, as he finished his inspection of the
+bath-chair just taken out of the Vicar's cart.  "See that the carrier
+calls for it, David, to take it back to Guildford; and you, Tom, write
+for me to the man it was hired from, pointing out that we have had an
+accident, and tell him to send in his bill."
+
+"And it'll be a big 'un, Master Tom," said David, chuckling and rubbing
+his hands as soon as his master was out of hearing.  "My word, it's got
+it, and no mistake.  One wheel right off, the front all twissen, and the
+axle-tree bent.  It'll be like making a new 'un.  Tck!"
+
+"You wouldn't laugh like that, David, if you'd got it to pay for," said
+Tom.
+
+"True for you, Master Tom; but I wasn't laughing at the ravage, but at
+the idee of your uncle, who creeps about thinking he's very bad when he
+arn't thinking o' nothing else, going spinning down the hill, and
+steering hisself right into the old sand-pit."
+
+"And I don't see that you have anything to laugh at in that," said Tom
+stiffly.
+
+"More don't I, Master Tom, but I keep on laughing all the more, and
+can't help it.  Now if he had been very badly, I don't think I could ha'
+done it."
+
+"My uncle is very ill, and came down here for the benefit of his
+health," said Tom sternly.
+
+"Then your nursing, Master Tom, and my vegetables and fruit's done him a
+lot o' good, for the way he walked home after being spilt did us a lot
+o' credit.  I couldn't ha' walked better."
+
+Tom thought the same, though he would not say so, but helped the
+gardener place the wrecked chair in the coach-house, and then found his
+uncle coming that way.
+
+"Get the wheelbarrow, Tom," he said, "and we'll take the new discs of
+glass into the workshop."
+
+"And begin again, uncle?" cried Tom excitedly.
+
+"What, are you ready to go through all that labour again?"
+
+"Ready, uncle?" cried the boy reproachfully.  "Why, all the while Uncle
+James has been down here it has seemed to be like so much waste of
+time."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Uncle Richard; "then we must work over hours to win
+back the loss.  Help him on with the case carefully, David, and I'll go
+first to open the door."
+
+"Say, Master Tom," said the gardener, "ain't it more waste o' time to go
+glass-grinding and making contrapshums like this?  Hey, but it's
+precious heavy," he continued, as he helped to lift one end of the case
+on to the long barrow.
+
+"Waste of time to make scientific instruments?" cried Tom.
+
+"Ay.  What's the good on it when it's done?"
+
+"To look at the sun, moon, and stars, to be sure."
+
+"Well, you can do that without tallow-scoops, sir; and you take my
+advice, don't you get looking at the sun through none o' them things,
+sir.  Hey, but it be a weight!" he continued, raising the handles of the
+barrow.
+
+"Never mind; I can manage it," cried Tom.
+
+"Then I arn't going to let you, sir."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"'Cause my muskles is hard and yours is soft, and may get stretched and
+strained.  Hold that there door back.  It's all up-hill, you know;
+master never thought o' that."
+
+David wheeled the heavy case up to the door of the old mill, helped to
+carry the case in, and then in a whisper said--
+
+"Let's have a look at him when you've done, Master Tom."
+
+"Look at whom?" said the boy wonderingly.
+
+"Man in the moon," replied David, with a chuckle, as he trotted back
+with the barrow, and Uncle Richard came down from the observatory to
+take out the screws and unpack the two discs.
+
+Within an hour they were at work again, and day after day passed--wasted
+days, David said.
+
+"Master and you had a deal better set to work and build me a vinery to
+grow some more grapes," he grumbled; but Tom laughed, and the speculum
+gradually began to assume its proper form.
+
+There had only been one brief letter in answer to two sent making
+inquiries, and this letter said that Uncle James was much better, and
+regularly attending the office.
+
+"My vegetables," said David, when he was told.  "Nothing like 'em, and
+plenty o' fresh air, Master Tom, to set a man right.  But just you come
+and look here."
+
+He led the way down the garden to where, the Marie Louise pear-tree
+spread its long branches upon the wall, each laden with the soft green
+fruit hanging to the long thin stalks, which looked too fragile to bear
+so great a weight.
+
+"Pears?" said Tom.  "Yes, I was looking at them yesterday, and thinking
+how good they must be."
+
+"Nay, but they am't, Master Tom; that's just it.  If you was to pick one
+o' they--which would be a sin, sir--and stick your teeth into it, you'd
+find it hard and tasting sappy like chewed leaves."
+
+"Why I thought they were ripe."
+
+"Nay, not them, sir.  You want to take a pear, sir, just at the right
+moment."
+
+"And when is the right moment for a pear?"
+
+David laughed, and shook his head.
+
+"Tends on what sort it is, sir.  Some's at their best in September, and
+some in October.  Then you goes on to December and January, and right on
+to April.  Why the round pears on that little tree yonder don't get ripe
+till April and May.  Like green bullets now, but by that time, or even
+June, if you take care on 'em, they're like brown skins' full o' rich
+sugary juice."
+
+"But these must be ripe, David."
+
+"Nay, sir, they're not.  As I told you afore, if you pick 'em too soon
+they srivels.  When they're quite ripe they're just beginning to turn
+creamy colour like."
+
+"Well, they're a very nice lot, David."
+
+"Yes, sir; and what am I to do?"
+
+"Let 'em hang."
+
+"I wish I could, sir, but I feel as if I dursn't."
+
+"Dare not!  Why?"
+
+"Fear they might walk over the wall."
+
+"What, be stolen?"
+
+"Ay, my lad.  I come in at that gate at six this morning, and was going
+gently down the centre walk, when it was like having a sort o' stroke,
+for there was a head just peeping over the wall."
+
+"A stranger?"
+
+"I couldn't quite see, sir; but I'm 'most ready to swear as it was Pete
+Warboys, looking to see if they was ready to go into his pockets."
+
+"Then let's pick them at once," cried Tom.
+
+"Dear lad, what is the use o' my teaching of you," said David
+reproachfully.  "Don't I keep on telling o' you as they'd srivel up; and
+what's a pear then?  It ain't as if it was a walnut, where the srivel's
+a ornyment to the shell."
+
+"Then let's lie wait for my gentleman with a couple o' sticks."
+
+David's wrinkled face expanded, and his eyes nearly-closed.
+
+"Hah!  Now you're talking sense, sir," he said, in a husky whisper, as
+if the idea was too good to be spoken aloud.  "Hazel sticks, sir--thick
+'uns?"
+
+"Hazel!  A young scoundrel!" cried Tom.
+
+"Nay, he's an old 'un, sir, in wickedness."
+
+"Hazel is no good.  I'd take old broomsticks to him," cried Tom
+indignantly.  "Oh, I do hate a thief."
+
+"Ay, sir, that comes nat'ral, 'speshly a thief as comes robbin' of a
+garden.  House-breakers and highwaymen's bad enough; but a thief as come
+a-robbin' a garden, where you've been nussin' the things up for years
+and years--ah! there's nothing worse than that."
+
+"You've got some old birch brooms, David," cried Tom, without committing
+himself to the gardener's sentiments.
+
+"Birch, sir?  Tchah!  Birch would only tickle him, even if we could hit
+him on the bare skin."
+
+"Nonsense!  I didn't mean the birch, I meant the broomsticks."
+
+"Oh, I see!" said David.  "But nay, nay, sir, that wouldn't do.  You
+see, when a man's monkey's up he hits hard; and if you and me ketched
+Pete Warboys over in our garden, and hit as hard as we could, we might
+break him; and though I says to you it wouldn't be a bit o' consequence,
+that there old rampagin' witch of a granny of his would come up here
+cursing every one, and making such filliloo that there'd be no bearing
+it."
+
+"Well, that wouldn't harm anybody."
+
+"I dunno, sir; I dunno," said David thoughtfully.
+
+"Why, David, you don't believe in witches and ill-wishing, and all that
+sort of stuff, do you?"
+
+"Me, sir?" cried the gardener; "not likely.  But it's just as well to be
+the safe side o' the hedge, you know, in case there might be something
+in it."
+
+Tom laughed, and David shook his head solemnly.
+
+"Why, I believe you do believe in it all," said Tom.
+
+"Nay, sir, I don't," cried the old fellow indignantly; "and don't you go
+saying such things."
+
+"Ha--ha--ha!" laughed Tom.
+
+"Ah, you may laugh, sir; but Parson Maxted's handsome young Jarsey cow
+did die."
+
+"Well, all cows die some time," cried Tom.
+
+"Ay, sir, that's true; but not after old Mother Warboys has stood
+cussin' for ever so long about the milk."
+
+"And did she?"
+
+"Ay, that she did, sir, right in the middle o' the road, because the
+cook give her yes'day's skim-milk instead o' to-day's noo."
+
+Tom laughed again.
+
+"I say, what about the pears?"
+
+"Ay, what about the pears?  You wouldn't come down in the dark and keep
+watch."
+
+"Wouldn't I!" cried Tom excitedly.
+
+"Besides, we might ketch him, and him fly at you."
+
+"I wish he would," said Tom.
+
+"And then it would be in the dark."
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Not till late at night, perhaps."
+
+"Well, what of that?"
+
+"And maybe he wouldn't come in the night at all, but steal over the wall
+just before it gets light, when you'd be in your bed.  Yes, that's just
+the sort of time when he would come."
+
+"I should have to ask uncle to let me sit up with you, David."
+
+"Ah, I thought that would be it," said David; "ask your uncle."
+
+"Look here, David," cried Tom, flushing.  "I shouldn't say I'd like to
+come if I didn't mean it.  I'm not going to get into trouble by slipping
+out on the sly."
+
+"It's all over," said David.  "I thought so.  Master'd never let you sit
+up and watch, sir.  I thought you wouldn't."
+
+"Well, we'll soon prove that," cried Tom.  "Here is uncle."
+
+"Yes; what is it?" said Uncle Richard, coming across the garden.
+
+"David's afraid of the pears being stolen, uncle, for he saw some one
+examining them this morning, and he's going to sit up to-night and
+watch.  Do you mind my sitting up too?"
+
+"Sitting up?  No, I think not, Tom, only mind and don't get hurt.  You
+are more likely to catch a thief at daybreak though, I should say."
+
+"Mebbe, sir," said David; "but I think if you didn't mind I'd try
+to-night first."
+
+"By all means, David.  I should be sorry to lose those pears again."
+
+"There!" cried Tom, as soon as they were alone; "do you think I want to
+back out now?"
+
+David laughed, and rubbed his hands together between his knees.
+
+"Come on, Master Tom, and I'll get the billhook.  Then we'll go and cut
+a couple of good young hazel rods in the copse."
+
+"Then you won't have broomsticks, David?"
+
+"Nay, sir, they'd be too heavy and too stiff.  I know the sort--good
+stout young hazels as won't break when you hit with 'em, but wrop well
+round."
+
+The hazels were cut and carried back to the garden, burdened with their
+twigs and greenery.
+
+"He might be about, and think they was meant for him, if we trimmed 'em
+into sticks, Master Tom.  He won't think anything if he sees 'em like
+this."
+
+The hazels were shortened to a convenient length as soon as they were in
+the garden, David chuckling loudly the while.
+
+"I owe that chap a lot, Master Tom, and if I can get a chance I mean to
+pay him this time.  Hit low, sir, if you get a crack at him."
+
+"Not likely to hurt him," said Tom.
+
+"More likely, sir.  Trousers are thin, 'specially hisn, and they've got
+some good holes in 'em generally, where you might reach his skin;
+'sides, you're not likely to cut his face or injure his eyes.  Nothing
+like hitting low.  Now, then, I'm going on with my reg'lar work, and as
+soon as it's dark I shall be down here in among the blackcurrants, with
+a couple of old sacks and a horse-cloth, for us to sit on, so as not to
+ketch rheumatics."
+
+"About what time?" said Tom.
+
+"Arpus eight, sir.  There's no moon to-night so it'll be pretty dark;
+but we shall hear him."
+
+"If he comes," said Tom.
+
+"Course, sir, if he comes.  But we'll chance that, and if he don't, why
+we shall know as my pears is safe."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+Tom Blount did not make a very good tea that evening, for he was excited
+by thoughts of the coming watch.
+
+He was not in the least afraid, but his face felt flushed, and there was
+a curious tingling in the nerves which made him picture a scene in the
+garden, in which he was chasing Pete Warboys round and round, getting a
+cut at him with the stick from time to time, and at last making him turn
+at bay, when a desperate fight ensued.
+
+It seemed a long time too till half-past eight, and though he took up a
+book of natural history full of interest, it seemed to be as hard
+reading as _Tidd's Practice_, in Gray's Inn.
+
+"Seat uncomfortable, Tom?" said his uncle at last.
+
+"No, uncle," said the boy, colouring.  "Why?"
+
+"Because you can't sit still.  Oh, I understand.  You are thinking of
+going out to watch."
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"Humph!  More than the pears are worth, Tom."
+
+"Do you think so, uncle?"
+
+"Decidedly.  But there, the thief deserves to be caught--and thrashed;
+but don't be too hard upon him."
+
+Tom brightened up at this, and looked at the clock on the mantel-piece.
+
+"Why, it's stopped," he said.
+
+"Stopped?  Nonsense," said Uncle Richard, looking at his watch.
+
+"But it must have stopped.  I don't think it has moved lately."
+
+"The clock is going all right, Tom, but not so fast as your desires.
+There, try a little patience; and don't stop after ten.  If the
+plunderer is not here by that time he will not come to-night--if he
+comes at all."
+
+"Very well, uncle," said Tom, and after another glance at the clock,
+which still did not seem to move, he settled down with his head resting
+upon his fists, to study the giraffe, of which there was a large
+engraving, with its hide looking like a piece of the map of the moon,
+the spots being remarkably similar to the craters and ring-plains upon
+the moon's surface, while the giraffe itself, with its long sprawling
+legs, would put him in mind of Pete Warboys.  Then he read how it had
+been designed by nature for its peculiar life in the desert, and so that
+it could easily reach up and crop the leaves of trees from fifteen to
+twenty feet above the ground; but it did not, as he pictured it in his
+mind, seem to be picking leaves, but Marie Louise pears, while David was
+creeping up behind with his elastic hazel stick, and--
+
+_Ting_.
+
+Half-past eight by the dining-room clock, and Tom sprang up.
+
+"Going, my boy?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, David will be waiting."
+
+Uncle Richard nodded, and taking his cap and the hazel stick he had
+brought in, the boy went out silently, to find that it was a very soft
+dark night--so dark, in fact, that as soon as he had stepped on to the
+lawn he walked into one of the great bushes of laurustinus, and backed
+out hurriedly to reconsider which was the way.  Then he stepped gently
+forward over the soft damp grass of the lawn, with his eyes now growing
+more accustomed to the darkness.
+
+Directly after there was a low whistle heard.
+
+"Where are you, David?"
+
+"Here, sir.  Come down between the raspberries."
+
+"Where are they, David?  All right, I see now," whispered Tom, and he
+stepped as far as he could across the flower-bed, which ran down beside
+the kitchen-garden, and the next minute felt the gardener's hand
+stretched out to take his.
+
+"Got your stick, sir?"
+
+"Yes; all right.  He hasn't come then yet."
+
+"Not yet, sir.  Here you are; now you can kneel down alongside o' me.
+Mustn't be no more talking."
+
+Tom knelt on the soft horse-cloth, feeling his knees indent the soil
+beneath; and then with his head below the tops of the black-currant
+bushes, whose leaves gave out their peculiar medicinal smell, he found
+that though perfectly hidden he could dimly make out the top of the
+garden wall, where the pears hung thickly not many feet away, and the
+watchers were so situated that a spring would take them into the path,
+close to any marauder who might come.
+
+"One moment, David," whispered Tom, "and then I won't speak again.
+Which way do you think he'll come?"
+
+"Over the wall from the field, and then up along the bed, so as his feet
+arn't heard.  If I hear anything I nips you in the leg.  If you hear
+anything, you nips me."
+
+"Not too hard," said Tom, and the watch began.
+
+At first there was the rattle of a cart heard coming along the road, a
+long way off, and Tom knelt there sniffing the odour of the
+blackcurrants, and trying to calculate where the cart would be.  But
+after a time that reached the village and passed on, and the tramp of
+the horse and the rattle of the wheels died out.
+
+Then he listened to the various sounds in the village--voices, the
+closing of doors, the rattle of shutters; and all at once the church
+clock began to strike, the nine thumps on the bell coming very slowly,
+and the last leaving a quivering, booming sound in the air which lasted
+for some time.
+
+After this all was very still, and it was quite a relief to hear the
+barking of a dog from some distance away, followed by the faintly-heard
+rattle of a chain drawn over the entrance of the kennel, when the
+barking ceased, and repeated directly after as the barking began again.
+
+Everything then was wonderfully still and dark, till a peculiar cry
+arose--a weird, strange cry, as of something in pain, which thrilled
+Tom's nerves.
+
+"Rabbit?" he whispered.
+
+"Hedgehog," grumbled David hoarsely; "don't talk."
+
+Silence again for a minute or two, and the peculiar sensation caused by
+the cry of the bristly animal still hung in Tom's nerves, when there was
+another noise which produced a thoroughly different effect, for a donkey
+from somewhere out on the common suddenly gave vent to its doleful
+extraordinary bray, ending in a most dismal squeaking yell, suggestive
+of all the wind being out of its organ.
+
+Tom smiled as he knelt there, wondering how Nature could have given an
+animal so strange a cry, as all was again still, till voices arose once
+more in the village; some one said "Good-night!" then a door banged,
+and, _pat pat_, he could hear faintly retiring steps, "Good-night"
+repeated, and then close to his elbow--
+
+_Snor-rr-re_.
+
+"David!" he whispered, as he touched the gardener on the
+shoulder--"David!"
+
+"Arn't better taters grow'd, I say, and--Eh?  Is he comed?"
+
+"No!  Listen," said Tom, thinking it as well not to allude to his
+companion's lapse.
+
+"Oh ay, I'm a-listenin', sir, with all my might," whispered the
+gardener; "but I don't think it's him yet.  Wait a bit, and we'll nab
+him if he don't mind."
+
+Silence again for quite ten minutes, and then David exclaimed--
+
+"_Wuph_!" and lurched over sidewise up against his companion, but jerked
+himself up again, and said in a gruff whisper full of reproach, "Don't
+go to sleep, Master Tom."
+
+"No.  All right, I'm awake," replied the boy, laughing to himself, and
+the watching went on again, the time passing very slowly, and the earth
+which had felt so soft beneath the knees gradually turning hard.
+
+There was not a sound to be heard now, till the heavy breathing on his
+left suggested that David was dozing off again, and set him thinking
+that one was enough to keep vigil, and that he could easily rouse his
+companion if the thief came.
+
+He felt a little vexed at first that David, who had been so eager to
+watch, should make such a lapse; but just in his most indignant moments,
+when he felt disposed to give a sudden lurch sidewise to knock the
+gardener over like a skittle, and paused, hesitating, he had an
+admonition, which showed him how weak human nature is at such times, in
+the shape of a sudden seizure.  One moment he was wakeful and thinking,
+the next he was fast asleep, dreaming of being back at Gray's Inn--
+soundly asleep, in fact.
+
+This did not last while a person could have counted ten.  Then he was
+wide-awake again, ready to continue the watch, and let David rest.
+
+"It's rum though," he said to himself, as he crouched there, and now
+softly picked a leaf to nibble, and feel suggestions of taking a powder
+in a spoonful of black-currant jelly, so strong was the flavour in the
+leaf.  "Very rum," he thought.  "One's wide-awake, and the next moment
+fast asleep."
+
+He started then, for he fancied that he heard a sound, but though he
+listened attentively he could distinguish nothing; and the time went on,
+with David's breathing growing more deep and heavy; and upon feeling
+gently to his left, it was to find that the gardener was now right down
+with his elbows on the ground and his face upon his hands.
+
+"Any one might come and clear all the pears away if I were not here."
+
+But Tom felt very good-humoured over the business, as he thought of
+certain remarks he would be able to make to the gardener next day; and
+he was running over this, and wishing that some one would come to break
+the monotonous vigil, when there was the sound of a door opening up at
+the cottage, and then steps on the gravel path.  Directly after Uncle
+Richard's voice was heard.
+
+"Now, Tom, my lad, just ten o'clock; give it up for to-night.  Where are
+you?"
+
+Before Tom could make answer there was a quick movement on his left, an
+elbow was jerked into his ribs, and David exclaimed in a husky whisper--
+
+"Now, my lad, wake up.  Here's your uncle."
+
+"Yes, uncle, here!" cried Tom, as he clapped his hand to his side.
+
+"Well, have you got him?"
+
+"Nay, sir," said David; "nobody been here to-night, but I shall ketch
+him yet."
+
+"No, no, be off home to bed," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Bime by, sir.  I'll make it twelve first," said David.
+
+"No," cried Uncle Richard decisively.  "It is not likely that any one
+will come now."
+
+"Then he'll be here before it's light," said David.
+
+"Perhaps, but we can't spare time for this night work.  Home with you,"
+cried Uncle Richard.
+
+"Tell you what then, sir, I'll go and lie down for an hour or two, and
+get here again before it's light."
+
+"Very well," said Uncle Richard.  "I'll fasten the gate after you.
+Good-night.  No: you run to the gate with him, Tom."
+
+"All right, uncle," cried the boy; and then, "Oh my! how stiff my knees
+are.  How are yours, David?" he continued, as they walked to the gate.
+
+"Bit of a touch o' rheumatiz in 'em, sir.  Ground's rayther damp.
+Good-night, sir.  We'll have him yet."
+
+"Good-night," said Tom.  "But I say, David, did you have a good nap?"
+
+"Good what, sir?  Nap?  Me have a nap?  Why, you don't think as I went
+to sleep?"
+
+"No, I don't think so," cried Tom, laughing.
+
+"Don't you say that now, sir; don't you go and say such a word.  Come, I
+do like that: me go to sleep?  Why, sir, it was you, and you got
+dreaming as I slep'.  I do like that."
+
+"All right, David.  Good-night."
+
+Tom closed the gate, and ten minutes later he was in bed asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+The church clock was striking six when Tom awoke, sprang out of bed, and
+looked out of the window, to find a glorious morning, with everything
+drenched in dew.
+
+Hastily dressing and hurrying down, he felt full of reproach for having
+overslept himself, his last thought having been of getting up at
+daybreak to continue the watch with David.
+
+There were the pears hanging in their places, and not a footprint
+visible upon the beds; and there too were the indentations made by two
+pairs of knees in the black-currant rows, while the earth was marked by
+the coarse fibre of the sacks.
+
+But the dew lay thickly, and had not been brushed off anywhere, and it
+suddenly struck Tom that the black-currant bushes would not be a
+favourable hiding-place when the light was coming, and that David must
+have selected some other.
+
+"Of course: in those laurels," thought Tom, and he went along the path;
+but the piece of lawn between him and the shrubs had not been crossed,
+and after looking about in different directions, Tom began to grin and
+feel triumphant, for he was, after all, the first to wake.
+
+In fact it was not till half-past seven that the gardener arrived,
+walking very fast till he caught sight of Tom, when he checked his
+speed, and came down the garden bent of back and groaning.
+
+"Morning, Master Tom, sir.  Oh, my back!  Tried so hard to drag myself
+here just afore daylight."
+
+"Only you didn't wake, David," cried Tom, interrupting him.  "Why, you
+ought to have been up after having such a snooze last night in the
+garden."
+
+"I won't have you say such a word, sir," cried David angrily.  "Snooze!
+Me snooze!  Why, it was you, sir, and you're a-shoving it on to me,
+and--"
+
+David stopped short, for he could not stand the clear gaze of Tom's
+laughing eyes.  His face relaxed a little, and a few puckers began to
+appear, commencing a smile.
+
+"Well, it warn't for many minutes, Master Tom."
+
+"An hour."
+
+"Nay, sir, nay; not a 'our."
+
+"Quite, David; and I wouldn't wake you.  I say, don't be a sham.  You
+did oversleep yourself."
+
+"Well, I s'pose I did, sir, just a little."
+
+"And now what would you say if I told you that Pete has been and carried
+off all the pears?"
+
+"What!" yelled David; and straightening himself he ran off as hard as he
+could to the Marie Louise pear-tree, but only to come back grinning.
+
+"Nay, they're all right," he said.  "But you'll come and have another
+try to-night?"
+
+"Of course I will," said Tom; and soon after he hurried in to breakfast.
+
+That morning Tom was in the workshop, where for nearly two hours, with
+rests between, he had been helping the speculum grinding.  Uncle Richard
+had been summoned into the cottage, to see one of the tradesmen about
+some little matter of business, and finding that the bench did not stand
+quite so steady as it should, the boy fetched a piece of wood from the
+corner, and felt in his pocket for his knife, so as to cut a wedge, but
+the knife was not there, and he looked about him, feeling puzzled.
+
+"When did I have it last?" he thought.  "I remember: here, the day
+before the speculum was broken.  I had it to cut a wedge to put under
+that stool, and left it on the bench."
+
+But there was no knife visible, and he was concluding that he must have
+had it since, and left it in his other trousers' pocket, when he heard
+steps, and looking out through the open door, he saw the Vicar coming up
+the slope from the gate.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said Tom cheerily.
+
+"Good-morning, Thomas Blount," was the reply, in very grave tones,
+accompanied by a searching look.  "Is your uncle here?"
+
+"No, sir," said Tom wonderingly; "he has just gone indoors.  Shall I
+call him?"
+
+"Yes--no--not yet."
+
+The Vicar coughed to clear his throat, and looked curiously at Tom
+again, with the result that the lad felt uncomfortable, and flushed a
+little.
+
+"Will you sit down, sir?" said Tom, taking a pot of rough emery off a
+stool, and giving the top a rub.
+
+"Thank you, no."
+
+The Vicar coughed again to get rid of an unpleasant huskiness, and then,
+as if with an effort--
+
+"The fact is, Thomas Blount, I am glad he is not here, for I wish to say
+a few words to you seriously.  I did mean to speak to him, but this is
+better.  It shall be a matter of privacy between us, and I ask you, my
+boy, to treat me not as your censor but as your friend--one who wishes
+you well."
+
+"Yes, sir, of course.  Thank you, sir, I will," said Tom, who felt
+puzzled, and grew more and more uncomfortable as he wondered what it
+could all mean, and finally, as the Vicar remained silent, concluded
+that it must be something to do with his behaviour in church.  Then no,
+it could not be that, for he could find no cause of offence.
+
+"I know," thought Tom suddenly.  "He wants me to go and read with him,
+Latin and Greek, I suppose, or mathematics."
+
+The Vicar coughed again, and looked so hard at Tom that the boy felt
+still more uncomfortable, and hurriedly began to pull down his rolled-up
+shirt-sleeves and to button his cuffs.
+
+"Don't do that, Thomas Blount," said the Vicar, still more huskily;
+"there is nothing to be ashamed of in honest manual labour."
+
+"No, sir, of course not," said the lad, still more uncomfortable, for it
+was very unpleasant to be addressed as "Thomas Blount," in that formal
+way.
+
+"I often regret," said the Vicar, "that I have so few opportunities for
+genuine hard muscular work, and admire your uncle for the way in which
+he plunges into labour of different kinds.  For such work is purifying,
+Thomas Blount, and ennobling."
+
+This was all very strange, and seemed like the beginning of a lecture,
+but Tom felt better, and he liked the Vicar--at least at other times,
+but not now.
+
+"Will you be honest with me, my lad?" said the visitor at last.
+
+"Oh yes, sir," was the reply, for "my lad" sounded so much better than
+formal Thomas Blount.
+
+"That's right.  Ahem!"
+
+Another cough.  A pause, and Tom coloured a little more beneath the
+searching gaze that met his.
+
+"Were you out last night?" came at last, to break a most embarrassing
+silence.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Out late?"
+
+"Yes, sir; quite late."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the Vicar, who looked now very hard and stern.  "One
+moment--would you mind lending me your knife?"
+
+"My knife!" faltered Tom, astounded at such a request; and then, in a
+quick, hurried way--"I'm so sorry, sir, I cannot.  I was looking for it
+just now, but I've lost it."
+
+"Lost it?  Dear me!  Was it a valuable knife?"
+
+"Oh no, sir, only an old one, with the small blade broken."
+
+"Would you mind describing it to me?"
+
+"Describing it, sir?  Of course not.  It had a big pointed blade, and a
+black and white bone handle."
+
+"And the small blade broken, you say?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Had it any other mark by which you would know it?  Knives with small
+blades broken are very general."
+
+"No, sir, no other mark.  Oh yes, it had.  I filed a T and a B in it one
+day, but it was very badly done."
+
+"Very, Thomas Blount," said the Vicar, taking something from his
+breast-pocket.  "Is that your knife?"
+
+"Yes," cried Tom eagerly, "that's it!  Where did you find it, sir?  I
+know; you must have taken it off that bench by mistake when uncle showed
+you round."
+
+"No, Thomas Blount," said the Vicar, shaking his head, and keeping his
+eyes fixed upon the lad; "I found it this morning in my garden."
+
+"You couldn't, sir," cried Tom bluntly.  "How could it get there?"
+
+The Vicar gazed at him without replying, and Tom added hastily--
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir.  I meant that it is impossible."
+
+"The knife asserts that it is possible, sir.  Take it.  A few pence
+would have bought those plums."
+
+The hand Tom had extended dropped to his side.
+
+"What plums, sir?" he said, feeling more and more puzzled.
+
+"Bah!  I detest pitiful prevarication, sir," cried the Vicar warmly.
+"The knife was dropped by whoever it was stripped the wall of my golden
+drops last night.  There, take your knife, sir, I have altered my
+intentions.  I did mean to speak to your uncle."
+
+"What about?" said Uncle Richard, who had come up unheard in the
+excitement.  "Good-morning, Maxted.  Any one's cow dead?  Subscription
+wanted?"
+
+"Oh no," said the Vicar.  "It must out now.  I suppose some one's honour
+has gone a little astray."
+
+"Then we must fetch it back.  Whose?  Not yours, Tom?"
+
+"I don't know, uncle," said the boy, with his forehead all wrinkled up.
+"Yes, I do.  Mr Maxted thinks I went to his garden last night to steal
+plums.  Tell him I didn't, uncle, please."
+
+"Tell him yourself, Tom."
+
+"I can't," said Tom bluntly, and a curiously stubborn look came over his
+countenance.  Then angrily--"Mr Maxted oughtn't to think I'd do such a
+thing."
+
+The Vicar compressed his lips and wrinkled up his forehead.
+
+"Well, I can," said Uncle Richard.  "No, Maxted, he couldn't have stolen
+your plums, because he was out quite late stealing pears--the other way
+on."
+
+"Uncle!" cried Tom, as the Vicar now looked puzzled.
+
+"We apprehended a visit from a fruit burglar, and Tom here and my
+gardener were watching, but he did not come.  Then he visited you
+instead?"
+
+"Yes, and dropped this knife on the bed beneath the wall."
+
+"Let me look," said Uncle Richard.  "Why, that's your knife, Tom."
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"How do you account for that?  Policemen don't turn burglars."
+
+"It seems I lost it, uncle.  I haven't seen it, I think, since I had it
+to put a wedge under that leg of the stool."
+
+"And when was that?"
+
+"As far as I can remember, uncle, it was the day or the day before the
+speculum was broken.  I fancy I left it on the window-sill or bench."
+
+"Plain as a pike-staff, my dear Maxted," said Uncle Richard, clapping
+the Vicar on the shoulder.  "You have had a visit from the gentleman who
+broke my new speculum."
+
+"You suspected your nephew of breaking the speculum," said the Vicar.
+
+"Oh!" cried Tom excitedly:
+
+"Yes, but I know better now.  You're wrong, my dear sir, quite wrong.
+We can prove such an alibi as would satisfy the most exacting jury.  Tom
+was with me in my room until half-past eight, and from that hour to ten
+I can answer for his being in the garden with my man David."
+
+"Then I humbly beg your nephew's pardon for my unjust suspicions," cried
+the Vicar warmly.  "Will you forgive me--Tom?"
+
+"Of course, sir," cried the boy, seizing the extended hand.  "But you
+are convinced now, sir?"
+
+"Perfectly; but I want to know who is the culprit.  Can you help me?"
+
+"We're trying to catch him, sir," said Tom.
+
+"I'm afraid I know," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Yes, and I'm afraid that I know," said the Vicar, rather angrily.
+"I'll name no names, but I fancy you suspect the same body that I did
+till I found our young friend's knife."
+
+"And if we or you catch him," said Uncle Richard, "what would you do--
+police?"
+
+"No," said the Vicar firmly, "not for every scrap of fruit I have in the
+garden.  I don't hold with imprisoning a boy, except as the very last
+resort."
+
+"Give him a severe talking to then?" said Uncle Richard dryly.
+
+"First; and then I'm afraid that I should behave in a very illegal way.
+But he is not caught yet."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+The Vicar stopped and chatted, taking his seat upon the stool Tom had I
+before offered, and watched the process of making the speculum for some
+time before leaving, and then, shaking hands with Tom, he said,
+smiling--
+
+"Shows how careful one ought to be in suspecting people, Tom Blount.  We
+are none of us perfect.  Good-bye."
+
+"That's a hint for us, Tom," said Uncle Richard, as soon as they were
+alone.  "Perhaps you are wrong about Master Pete Warboys too."
+
+Tom thought about the pears thrown at Pete by his cousin, and shook his
+head.
+
+"Pete wouldn't have been peeping over the wall, uncle, if he had not
+meant mischief."
+
+"Perhaps not, Tom; but he may have meant mischief to you, and not to my
+pears."
+
+Tom laughed, and they soon after went in to dinner.
+
+That afternoon, and for an hour and a half in the evening, they worked
+again at the speculum by lamp-light, so that Tom was pretty tired when
+they gave up and returned to the cottage.
+
+"Going to watch for the fruit burglar to-night, Tom?" asked Uncle
+Richard.
+
+"Oh yes, uncle.  I feel ten times as eager now Mr Maxted's plums have
+been stolen;" and, punctual to the moment, he stole down the garden,
+walking upon the velvety lawn, and advancing so silently upon David,
+that the gardener uttered a cry of alarm.
+
+"Quite made me jump, Master Tom, coming on me so quiet like."
+
+"I thought he might be hanging about," whispered back Tom.  "Going to
+watch from the same place?"
+
+"Ay, sir.  Couldn't be better.  Once we hear him at the pears we can
+drop upon him like two cats on a mouse."
+
+"Yes," said Tom; "but we must mind and not scratch ourselves, David."
+
+"Ay, we'll take care o' that, sir.  But mind, no talking.  Got your
+stick?"
+
+"I stuck it upright in the second black-currant tree.  Yes, here it is."
+
+"That's right then, sir.  There's your place, and I've got something
+better for you this time.  I stuffed two sacks full o' hay, and you can
+sit down now like on a cushion, and pull the horse-cloth you'll find
+folded up over you."
+
+"But what about you?"
+
+"Oh, I've got one too, sir.  I'm all right.  Now then--mum!"
+
+The hay made a faint sound as they both sat down after a glance round
+and listening intently.  Then Tom pulled the horse-cloth up over his
+knees, for the night was chilly, and found it very warm and comfortable.
+
+Then the various sounds from the village reached him--the barking of
+dogs, voices, the striking of the clock, the noise of wheels, the
+donkey's braying, with a regularity wonderfully like that of the
+previous night, and then all silence and darkness, and ears strained to
+hear the rustling sound which must be made by any one climbing over the
+wall.
+
+The time glided on; and as it grew colder, Tom softly drew the rug
+cloak-fashion over his shoulders, listened to note whether David made
+any remark about the rustling sound he made, but all the gardener said
+was something which resembled the word _ghark_, which was followed by
+very heavy breathing.
+
+"Gone to sleep again," said Tom to himself.  "What's the good of his
+pretending to sit and watch?"
+
+He secured his hazel, aimed for where his companion sat in the next
+alley between the blackcurrants, and gave him a poke with the point.
+
+But this had not the slightest effect, and another and another were
+administered, but without the least result; and thinking that he would
+have to administer a smart cut to wake up his companion, Tom set himself
+to watch alone.
+
+"Don't matter," he muttered.  "I can manage just as well without him."
+And then he sat in the thick darkness, with his ears strained to catch
+the slightest noise, thinking over the Vicar's visit that day, and about
+how he would like to catch Master Pete.
+
+It was very warm and comfortable inside the horse-cloth, and must have
+been close upon nine o'clock, but he had not heard it strike.  David was
+breathing regularly, so loudly sometimes that Tom felt disposed to rouse
+him up; but each time the breathing became easier, and he refrained.
+
+"I don't mind," thought Tom.  "I dare say he is very tired, and I don't
+want to talk to him.  He's company all the same, even if he is asleep.
+Wonder whether this speculum will turn out all right."
+
+David was breathing very hard now, but if Pete came he would make too
+much noise in moving to notice the sound.  Besides, he would not suspect
+that any one was watching out there in the darkness.
+
+But the breathing was very loud now, and how warm and cosy and
+comfortable it was inside the rug!  The hay, too, was very soft, and the
+stick all ready for Master Pete when he came.  It would be so easy to
+hear him too, for David's heavy breathing, that was first cousin to a
+snore, now ceased, and the slightest sound made by any one coming--and
+then it was all blank.
+
+How long?
+
+Tom suddenly started up with but one thought that seemed to crush him.
+
+"Why, I've been asleep!"
+
+A feeling of rage against himself came over him, and then like a flash
+his thoughts were off in another direction, for, just in front, he could
+hear a rustling sound, as if some one was stirring leaves, and, stealing
+forward, he could just faintly see what appeared like a shadow busy at
+the Marie Louise pear-tree.
+
+"Then he has come," thought Tom, as his hand closed upon the stick he
+still held.  Softly letting the horse-cloth glide from his shoulders, he
+raised himself gently, feeling horribly stiff, but getting upon his legs
+without a sound.
+
+And all the time there was the rustling, plucking sound going on at the
+tree upon the wall, as the shadow moved along it slowly.
+
+All this was only a matter of moments, and included a thought which came
+to Tom's busy brain--should he try to awaken David?
+
+"If I do," he felt, "there will be noise enough to scare the thief, and
+he'll escape."
+
+There was no time to argue further with himself.  He knew that he had
+been asleep, for how long he could not tell; but his heart throbbed as
+he felt that he had awakened just in the nick of time, and he was about
+to act.
+
+Keeping in a stooping position, he crept forward foot by foot without
+making a sound, till he was on the edge of the walk which extended to
+right and left; beyond it there was about six feet of border, and then
+the wall with the tree, and almost within reach the figure, more plain
+to see now, as it bent down evidently searching upon the ground for
+fallen pears.
+
+One stride--a stride taken quick as thought, with the stout hazel stick
+well raised in the air, just as the figure was stooping lowest.  Then--
+
+_Whoosh!  Thwack_!
+
+A stinging blow, given with all the boy's nervous force, as with a bound
+he threw all his strength into the cut.
+
+"Yah!"
+
+A tremendous yell, a rush, and before Tom could get more than one other
+stroke to tell, the pear-seeker was running along the soft border,
+evidently making for the far corner of the garden, where the fence took
+the place of the wall.
+
+The chord is shorter than the arc; and this applies to walks in gardens
+as well as geometry, only people generally call that which amounts to
+the chord the short cut.
+
+Tom took the short cut, so as to meet Pete, but in the darkness he did
+not pause to think.  For a moment all was silent, and the enemy had
+evidently stopped to hide.
+
+"But he must be close here," thought Tom, as he reached the end of the
+cross walk, past which he felt that the boy must come; and to startle
+him into showing where he was Tom made a sudden rush.
+
+That rush was made too quickly; for he felt himself seized, and before
+he could do anything, whack! whack! came two cuts on one leg.
+
+"Got yer then, have I?" was growled in his ear; and then came loudly,
+"Master Tom! here! sharp!"
+
+"I am here," roared Tom.  "What are you doing?  Don't."
+
+"Master Tom!"
+
+"David!  But never mind; look sharp!  He's close to us somewhere.  I saw
+him under the pear-tree, and got one cut at him."
+
+"Got two cuts at him," growled David savagely.  "I know yer did.  That
+was me!"
+
+"Halloo there!  Tom!  David!  Got him?"
+
+"Got him!" growled David.  "Got it, you mean.  Hi!  Yes, sir.  Here we
+are."
+
+Uncle Richard was on the way down the path.
+
+"What was the meaning of that yell I heard?" he said, as he drew near.
+
+Neither replied.
+
+"Do you hear, Tom?  What was that noise?"
+
+"It was a mistake, uncle," cried Tom, rubbing his leg.
+
+"Mistake?  I said that yell.  Oh, here you are."
+
+"Yes, uncle; it was a mistake.  I hit David in the dark, and he holloaed
+out."
+
+"And enough to make any one, warn't it, sir?  Scythes and scithers, it
+was a sharp 'un!"
+
+"I don't think it was any sharper than the two you hit me, David," said
+Tom, who was writhing a little as he rubbed.
+
+"Why, you two have never been so stupid as to attack each other in the
+dark, have you?" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"I'm afraid so, uncle.  I saw something by the tree and heard a
+rustling, and I thought it must be Pete Warboys."
+
+"But you should ha' spoke, sir," cried David, from over the other side
+now.  "Mussy on us, you did hit hard."
+
+"Yes; I thought it was Pete, and that he had come at last."
+
+"Come at last!" grumbled David, as Uncle Richard stood silently shaking
+with laughter.  "Why, he's been--"
+
+Just then there was a scratching sound, a flash of light, and a match
+burned brightly beneath the wall.  Then another was struck, throwing up
+David's figure against the pear-tree, as, shielding the burning splint
+with his hands, he held it quickly up and down.
+
+"What are you doing?" said Uncle Richard, as Tom gave a stamp caused by
+the pain he felt.
+
+"Looking for my pears, sir, as I was when young Master Tom come and hit
+me.  There arn't a single one left."
+
+"What!" cried Tom, forgetting the stinging of the cuts on his leg.  "Oh,
+David, don't say they're all gone!"
+
+"What shall I say then, sir?" grumbled David; and he then drew in his
+breath with a hissing sound, and began to rub too.
+
+"Do you mean to say the pears have been stolen while you two were
+keeping watch?"
+
+"I dunno, sir," grumbled David.  "They're not here now; and I'll take
+half a davy as they was here at arpus eight."
+
+"Then be off home to bed.  Pretty watchmen, upon my word," cried Uncle
+Richard, as he turned off to go up to the house; "it's my belief that
+you have both been asleep."
+
+"And I'm afraid that there's about as near the truth as any one can get,
+Master Tom," whispered David.  "I must ha' been mortal tired to-night.
+But you needn't have hit a fellow quite so hard."
+
+"That's what I feel, David; but being so stupid: that's worse than the
+stick."
+
+"Well, I dunno 'bout that, sir," said David, still rubbing himself;
+"them hazels is werry lahstick, and you put a deal o' muskle into that
+first cut."
+
+"Well," said Tom mournfully, "I did hit as hard as I could, David."
+
+"You did, Master Tom, and no mistake.  Feels to me it must have cut
+right in.  But I don't like the master to talk like that.  It arn't
+nice."
+
+"Come, Tom!  Fasten the gate!" shouted Uncle Richard.
+
+"Yes, uncle; I'm coming.  Now, David, off home."
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm a-goin'; but after all this trouble to lose them pears.
+Oh, Master Tom, it's that there as makes me feel most sore!"
+
+But David kept on rubbing himself gently all the same.
+
+"Pretty pair, 'pon my word!" said Uncle Richard, as Tom came blinking
+into the light just as the clock was striking ten.  "Then you couldn't
+keep awake?"
+
+"No, uncle.  I suppose I must have been very tired to-night."
+
+"The Vicar's plums last night; my pears to-night.  Humph!  It's time
+that young fruit pirate was caught."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+Tom thought the matter over for days as he worked at the speculum now
+approaching completion.  He had met Pete Warboys twice, but the fellow
+looked innocency itself, staring hard and vacantly at him, who longed to
+charge him with the theft, but felt that he could not without better
+evidence.
+
+Then a bright thought came as he was polishing away opposite his uncle,
+and using the finest emery.
+
+"I know," he said to himself, and he waited impatiently to be at
+liberty, which was not until after tea.
+
+"Going for a walk, Master Tom?" said David, whom he encountered in the
+lane.
+
+"Yes; rather in a hurry now."
+
+"Can't tell him yet, because I'm not sure," thought Tom; and he walked
+sharply away for the corner where he had left his uncle in the
+bath-chair, and all the memories of that day came back as the various
+familiar objects came in view.
+
+"I wonder whether he's quite well again now," said the boy to himself;
+"but he can't have been so ill as he thought."
+
+But his walk on that golden orange sunset evening had nothing whatever
+to do with his uncle, for, as soon as he reached the bend where the road
+began to slope, he struck off to the left in among the trees, trying
+hard to follow exactly the same track as that taken by Pete Warboys when
+he was pursued.
+
+It was not easy, for the great lad had dodged about among the great
+fir-trees in quite a zigzag fashion.  Still Tom followed the direction,
+with the scaly, pillar-like trunks looking golden-red in the horizontal
+rays of the sun, which cast their long shadows in wonderful array, till
+it seemed to the boy at last as if he were walking through a quivering
+golden mist barred with great strokes of purply black.
+
+"I shan't get there before it begins to be dark," he thought, "for this
+can't last.  Why, it's like a fiery furnace now burning on great iron
+bars."  Then there was another change, for the dark-green rough
+fir-boughs began to be lit up overhead, and the forest looked brighter
+than ever.
+
+A wood of fir-trees is a puzzling place, from the fact that in a mile or
+two, consequent upon their regular growth, you may find hundreds,
+perhaps thousands, of places exactly alike--the same-looking tall, red,
+scaly columns, the same distance apart, the same grey carpet of
+fir-needles, and the same grey rough-topped, mushroom-shaped fungi
+growing up and pushing the fir-needles aside to make room for them.
+Then too the great natural temple, with its dark column-supported roof,
+has a way of looking different at morning, noon, and eve; and as
+different again according to the state of the weather, so that though
+you may be pretty familiar with the place, it is a difficult task to
+find your way for the second time.
+
+It was so now with Tom Blount.  There was a spot in the wood for which
+he had aimed, and it seemed to be the easiest thing possible to go
+straight there; but the trees prevented any such straight course, and
+after a little dodging in and out the mind refuses to bear all the
+changes of course and repeat them to the traveller, who gradually grows
+more and more confused, and if he does not hit upon the spot he seeks by
+accident, in all probability he has to give it up for what people call a
+bad job.
+
+"Here it is at last," said Tom to himself, after following, as he
+thought, exactly the course he had taken when he chased Pete Warboys for
+throwing stones at the bath-chair, and coming upon a rugged portion of
+the fir-wood.
+
+"Bother!  I made so sure it was," he muttered, for the opening he sought
+beside a great fir-tree was not there, and rubbing one of his ears with
+vexation, he stood looking round again, and down long vistas between the
+straight tree-trunks.
+
+But no, there was not a sign of the spot he wanted, and the farther he
+went the more confused he grew.  It was still gloriously bright
+overhead, but the dark bars of shadow were nearly all gone, and it
+looked as if darkness were slowly rising like a transparent mist out of
+the earth; one minute it was up to his knees, and then creeping up and
+up till the tree-trunks looked as if they were plunged in a kind of
+flood, while their upper portions were glowing as if on fire.
+
+"I'll have one more try," thought Tom, "and then give it up till
+to-morrow morning.  That's the best time, when you've got the whole day
+before you, and not the night.  Let's see, what did uncle say about my
+getting to know a lot about optics and astronomy?  Of course--I
+remember: it was nice to be a boy, for he was in the morning of life,
+and all the long bright day of manhood before him in which to work; and
+the pleasant evening in which to think of that work well done, before
+the soft gentle night fell, bringing with it the great peaceful sleep.
+How serious he looked when he said all that!"
+
+These thoughts in the coming gloom of the autumn evening made Tom feel
+serious too.  Then they passed away as he had that other try, and
+another, and another, pretty well a dozen before he made a rush for what
+he rightly assumed to be the north-east, and finally reached the road
+pretty well tired out.
+
+It was before the sun was far above the horizon the next morning that
+Tom went out of the garden gate, and by the time he reached the spot
+where he had turned into the wood, and gone many yards in amongst the
+trees, he found the appearance of the place almost precisely the same as
+he had seen it on the previous evening.  There was the roof of the
+natural temple all aglow, the dark bars across the tall boughs, and the
+shadows stretching far away crossing each other in bewildering
+confusion.  But everything was reversed, and instead of the shadows
+creeping upwards they stole down lower and lower, till the roof of
+boughs grew dark and the carpet of soft fir-needles began to glow.
+
+Then too, as he went south, the bright light came from his left instead
+of his right.
+
+"How beautiful!" he thought.  "How stupid it is to lie in bed so long
+when everything is so soft and fresh and bright in the morning.  But
+then bed is so jolly snug and comfortable just then, and it is so hard
+to get one's eyes open.  It's such a pity," he mused; "bed isn't much
+when one gets in first, but grows more and more comfortable till it's
+time to get up.  I wish one could turn it right round."
+
+These thoughts passed away, for there were squirrels about, and jays
+noisily resenting his visit, and shouting to each other in jay--"Here's
+a boy coming."
+
+Then he caught sight of a magpie, after hearing its laughing call.  A
+hawk flew out of a very tall pine in an opening, and strewn beneath
+there were feathers and bones suggestive of the hook-beaked creature's
+last meal.
+
+But as he followed the track of the pursuit once more, he had that to
+take up his attention, till he felt sure that he must be close to the
+place he sought, but grew more puzzled than ever as he gazed right round
+him.
+
+"It must be farther on," he muttered; and, starting once more, he
+stopped at the end of another fifty yards or so, to have a fresh look
+round down each vista of trees, which started from where he stood.
+
+It was more open here, and in consequence a patch of bracken had run up
+to a goodly height, spreading its fronds toward the light, but there was
+nothing visible as Tom turned slowly upon his heels, till he was looking
+nearly straight back along the way he had come, and then, quick as
+thought, he dropped down amongst the bracken, and crept on hands and
+knees till, still sheltered by it, he could watch the object he had
+seen.
+
+That object was Pete Warboys, who had suddenly risen up out of the
+earth, and stood yawning and stretching himself, ending by giving one of
+his shoulders a good rasp against a fir-tree.
+
+"Why, he must have been sleeping there," thought Tom, "and I must have
+passed close to his hole.  What an old fox he is.  Hullo! there's the
+dog."
+
+For the big mongrel suddenly appeared, and sprang up so as to place its
+paws upon its master's breast, apparently as a morning greeting.  But
+this was not received in a friendly way.
+
+"Get out!" growled Pete, kicking the dog in the leg.  There was a loud
+yelp, and Pete shook himself and began to slouch away.
+
+Tom watched him till he had disappeared among the trees, and then went
+back over his track till he stood close to the spot whence the lad had
+appeared.  Here Tom looked round, but nothing was visible till he had
+gone a few yards to his right, when, to his surprise, he came to the
+side of the opening down in which was the side hole running beneath the
+roots of the great fir.
+
+Tom had another look back, and, seeing nothing, he leaped down on to the
+soft sand, felt in his pocket, and brought out a tin box of wax-matches.
+Then, dropping upon his knees, he lit one, and holding it before him,
+crept under the roots and into a little cave like a low rugged tunnel
+scooped out of the sandy rock, and in one corner of which was a heap of
+little pine boughs, and an exceedingly dirty old ragged blanket.
+
+By this time Tom's match went out, and he lit another, after carefully
+placing the burnt end of the first in his pocket.
+
+This light gave him another view of the little hole, for it was quite
+small, but there was not much to see.  There were the leaves and
+blanket, both still warm; there was a stick, and a peg driven into the
+side, on which hung a couple of wires; and some pine-tree roots bristled
+from the top and sides.  That was all.
+
+"No pears, not even a plum-stone," said Tom, in a disappointed tone, for
+he had pictured this hole from which he had seen Pete issue as a kind of
+robber's cave, in which he would find stored up quantities of stolen
+fruit, and perhaps other things that would prove to be of intense
+interest.
+
+"Nothing--nothing at all," said Tom to himself, as the last match he had
+burned became extinct.  "All this trouble for that, and perhaps it
+wasn't him after all.  But how comic!" he said to himself after a pause.
+"He comes here so as to be away from that dreadful old woman.  No
+wonder."
+
+He was in the act of placing his last extinct scrap of match in his
+pocket, as he stood in a stooping position facing the mouth of the
+little cave, when he heard a faint rustling sound, and directly after
+something seemed to leap right in at the entrance, disturbing the
+pendulous fringe of exposed roots which hung down, and crouching in the
+dim light close to Tom's feet.
+
+"Rabbit!" he said to himself.
+
+But the next moment he saw that it was not alive, for it lay there in a
+peculiar distorted fashion; and as his eyes grew more used to the gloom,
+he saw that there was a wire about the poor animal cutting it nearly in
+two, and a portion of a strong wooden peg protruded from beneath.
+
+"I begin to see now," muttered Tom.  "I dare say I should find the place
+somewhere about where he cooks his rabbits, unless he sells them."
+
+Tom wanted to get out now.  The poaching was nothing to him, he thought,
+and he seemed to have been wrong about the fruit, so he was ready to
+hurry away, but something within him made him resent the idea of being
+seen prying there; and it was evident that Pete had been out looking at
+his wires, and had just brought this rabbit home.
+
+"Perhaps he has gone now," thought Tom; but he did not stir, waiting
+till he thought all was clear.  Then at the end of a quarter of an hour
+he crept out into the open hole, raised his head cautiously, and got his
+eyes above the edge, when, to his disgust, he saw that Pete was
+approaching hurriedly, swinging another rabbit by the legs.
+
+Tom shot back quickly enough into Pete's lurking-place, and turned to
+face him if the fellow came in.  He did not think he was afraid of Pete,
+but all the same he did not feel disposed to have a tussle before
+breakfast.  Besides, his leg was rather stiff and painful from the blows
+David had given to him.
+
+But he had little time for thinking.  All at once the rushing sound
+began again, accompanied by a shuffling and a hoarse "Get out," followed
+by the sound of a blow, and directly after by a sharp yelp.
+
+Then there was a dull thud as the light was momentarily obscured, and
+another rabbit caught in a wire was thrown in.
+
+"Now for it," thought Tom, and he involuntarily stretched out his hand
+to seize the stick close to the bed, but clenched his fist instead, and
+stood there in his confined stooping position ready to defend himself,
+but sorry that he had not boldly gone out at once.
+
+Suddenly there was a fresh darkening of the light, and Tom did seize the
+stout stick and hold it lance fashion, for the dog had leaped down into
+the hole, and now stood at the little entrance to the cave growling
+savagely.
+
+"Let 'em alone," cried Pete, "d'yer hear?  Let 'em alone."
+
+But the dog paid no heed.  It stood there with its eyes glaring, showing
+its teeth, and threatening unheard-of worryings of the interloper.
+
+Still Pete did not grasp the situation.  The dog in his estimation was
+disobeying him by attempting to worry dead rabbits; and, leaping down
+into the hole, he kicked savagely at it, making it yelp loudly and bound
+out of the hole, Pete, whose legs up to the waist had now been visible
+to Tom, scrambling after the animal, abusing it with every epithet he
+could think of, and driving it before him through the wood.
+
+"My chance," thought Tom, and he sprang out, and making a circuit,
+struck out for home without seeing either Pete or his dog again.
+
+But Tom did not feel satisfied, for it seemed to him that he was
+behaving in a cowardly way; and as he tramped along the lane, he wished
+that he had walked out boldly and confronted his enemy instead of
+remaining in hiding.  Taken altogether, he felt thoroughly grumpy as he
+approached the cottage, and it did not occur to him that his sensation
+of depression had a very simple origin.  In fact it was this.  He had
+risen before the sun, and had a very long walk, going through a good
+deal of exertion without having broken his fast.  When breakfast was
+half over he felt in the highest spirits, for his uncle had made no
+allusion to the adventure in the garden over-night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+Tom saw very little of Pete Warboys during the next fortnight or so.
+The fruit kept on ripening, and twice over raids were made upon the
+garden, but whoever stole the fruit left no clue but a few footmarks
+behind, and these were always made by bare feet.
+
+"It's that there Pete," said David; "but foots is foots, and I don't see
+how we can swear as they marks is hisn."
+
+Meanwhile the telescope progressed, and busy work was in progress in the
+mill, where a large tube was being constructed by securing thin narrow
+boards planed very accurately to half-a-dozen iron hoops by means of
+screws and nuts.
+
+Then came a day when Uncle Richard found that he must go to town again
+to get sundry fittings from an optician, and Tom was left the task of
+grinding three small pieces of plate-glass together, so as to produce
+one that was an accurate plane or flat.
+
+It was understood that Uncle Richard would not be back for three days,
+and after seeing him off, Tom felt important in being left in full
+charge, as he was in the lower part of the mill polishing away when the
+door was darkened.
+
+"How are you getting on, sir?" said David, as he stood there smiling.
+
+"Pretty well; but this is a long job."
+
+"What are you doing, sir?"
+
+"Polishing these glasses together so as to get one of them perfectly
+flat."
+
+"Tchah! that's easy enough.  What d'yer want 'em so flat for?"
+
+"So as to make a reflector that will send back a ray of light quite
+exact--a perfect mirror."
+
+"That's a looking-glass, arn't it, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I wish you'd make one, sir, as would work o' nights, and show us when
+Pete Warboys comes arter my pippins.  That'd bang all yer
+tallow-scoops."
+
+"Impossible, David."
+
+"Yes, sir, s'posed so when I said it.  But I say, Master Tom."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That chap's sure to know as your uncle's gone to London for two or
+three days."
+
+"Yes; you can't move here without its being known, David," said Tom,
+polishing away, and making his fingers dirty.
+
+"Then, don't you see, sir?"
+
+"No; what?"
+
+"Pete'll be coming to-night, as sure as there's meat in eggs."
+
+"Think so?" said Tom, who felt a peculiar thrill run through him.
+
+"I'm sure on it, sir.  There is a deal o' fruit left to pick yet, and
+you and me can do that little job better than Pete Warboys."
+
+"Let's go down and watch then."
+
+"Will you, sir?"
+
+"Yes, David, I'll come.  But don't go to sleep this time."
+
+"Nay, I won't trust you," said the gardener, laughing softly.  "You'll
+get hitting at me again instead of at Pete.  I arn't forgetted that
+swipe you give me that night."
+
+"Well, you gave it back to me with interest," said Tom.
+
+"Ay, that's so, sir; I did.  But it wouldn't do for master to come and
+find all our late apples gone."
+
+"What time shall we begin then?"
+
+"Not a minute later than six, sir."
+
+And punctually to that hour Tom stole down the garden and found David,
+who began to chuckle softly--
+
+"Got yer stick, Master Tom?"
+
+"Yes; got yours?"
+
+"No, sir, I've got something better.  Feel this."
+
+"A rope?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and a noose in it, as runs easy."
+
+"To tie him?"
+
+"To lash-show him, sir.  We'll go down to the bottom where he's most
+likely to come over, and then I'll catch him and hold him, and you shall
+let him have it."
+
+The ambush was made--a gooseberry ambush, Tom called it--and for quite
+an hour Tom knelt on a sack waiting patiently, but there was not a
+sound, and he was beginning to think it a miserably tiresome task, when
+all at once, as they crouched there securely hidden, watching the wall,
+some eight feet away, it seemed to Tom that he could see a peculiar
+rounded black fungus growing out of the top.
+
+It was very indistinct, and the growth was very slow, but it certainly
+increased, and the boy stretched out his hand to reach over an
+intervening gooseberry-bush so as to touch David, but he touched an
+exceedingly sharp thorn instead and winced, but fortunately made no
+noise.
+
+Hoping that David had seen what was before him, Tom waited for a few
+moments, with the dark excrescence still gradually growing, till he
+could contain himself no longer, and reaching this time with his stick,
+he gave the gardener a pretty good poke, when the return pressure told
+him that this time his companion was well upon the alert.
+
+All at once, when the dark object had grown up plainly into a head and
+shoulders, it ceased increasing, and remained perfectly motionless, as
+if a careful observation was being made by some one watchful in the
+extreme.
+
+"Why don't David throw?" thought Tom, who held himself ready to spring
+forward at a moment's notice, "He could not help catching him now."
+
+But David made no signal, and Tom crouched there with his nerves
+tingling, waiting in the darkness for the time when he must begin.
+
+At the end of about ten minutes there was a quick rustling sound, the
+dark shadow altered its shape, and Tom saw that whoever it was lay
+straight along upon the wall perfectly motionless for a few minutes
+longer as if listening intently.  Then very quickly there was another
+motion, a sharp rustling, and the intruder dropped upon the ground.
+
+It was too dark to see what followed, but Tom knew that David had risen
+slowly upright, and uttered a grunt as he threw something, evidently the
+lasso; for there was a dull sound, then a rush and a scrambling and
+crashing, as of some one climbing up the wall, and lastly David
+shouted--
+
+"Got him, sir.  Let him have it."
+
+Tom darted forward and came in contact with the rope, which was strained
+tightly from where David hung back to the top of the wall, the lassoed
+thief having rushed back as soon as touched by the rope, reached the top
+of the wall, and threw himself over, to hang there just below quite
+fast, but struggling violently, and making a hoarse noise like some wild
+beast.
+
+"At him, Master Tom!  Give it him!"
+
+Tom wanted no urging; he seized the rope and tried to draw the captive
+back into the garden, but the effort was vain, so leaving it he drew
+back, took a run and a jump, scrambled on to the top of the wall, so as
+to lean over, and then began thrashing away with his stout hazel as if
+he were beating a carpet.
+
+_Thud, thud--whack, whack_, he delivered his blows at the struggling
+object below, and at every whish of the stick there was a violent kick
+and effort to get free.  Once the stick was seized, but only held for a
+moment before it was dragged away, and then, _thud, thud, thud_, the
+blows fell heavily, while, in an intense state of excitement, the
+gardener kept on shouting--
+
+"Harder, harder, Master Tom!  Sakes, I wish I was there!  Harder, sir,
+harder!  Let him have it!  Stop him!  Ah!"
+
+There was a rustling, scrambling sound on Tom's side of the wall, and
+the cracking of the stick, which had come in contact with the bricks,
+for the prisoner had escaped, and his footsteps could be faintly heard,
+as he dashed over the grassy field into the darkness, where Tom felt it
+would be useless to pursue.
+
+But just then he did not possess the power, for he could only lean there
+over the wall, and laugh in a way that was quite exhausting, and it was
+not until David had been growling and muttering for some minute or two
+that he was able to speak.
+
+"What made you let him go, David?" he panted at last.
+
+"Let him go, sir?  I didn't let him go.  He just jerked the rope out of
+my hands, after dragging me down and over the gravel path.  There's no
+end o' bark off my knuckles and nose."
+
+"Oh, don't say you're hurt, David," said Tom, sitting up astride of the
+wall.
+
+"Why not, sir?  Yes, I shall.  I'm hurt horrid.  Arms feel 'most jerked
+out o' the sockets, and skin's off the palms of my hands, leastwise it
+feels like it.  Going to run arter him?"
+
+"Oh no, it's of no use.  I gave him an awful thrashing though."
+
+"I wish you'd give him ten times as much, my lad--a wagabone.  It was
+Pete Warboys, wasn't it?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know; I couldn't tell.  It was like something in a long
+sack kicking about there.  I hit him nearly every time."
+
+"Well, that's something, sir.  Do him more good than a peck out o' our
+apples.  Better for his morials.  He ought to have had twice as much."
+
+"But he had enough to keep him from coming again."
+
+"Mebbe, sir; but there's a deal o' wickedness in boys, when they are
+wicked, and they soon forgets.  Here, chuck me the rope, and I'll coil
+it up."
+
+"Rope!  I have no rope."
+
+"Why, you don't mean to say as you've let him cut off with it, sir?"
+
+"I!" cried Tom.  "Why you had it."
+
+"Ay, till he snatchered it away, when I was down.  Hff!  My elbows."
+
+"Then he has run away with it, David."
+
+"Ay, and he'll go and sell it; you see if he don't.  Nice nooish bit o'
+soft rope as it were too."
+
+"Never mind the rope, David," said Tom, jumping down, after listening
+intently for a few minutes.
+
+"Ah, that's werry well for you, sir; but what am I to say when master
+arkses me what's become on it?"
+
+"I'll tell him, David.  There, it's nearly ten again.  I say, you didn't
+go to sleep to-night."
+
+"No, nor you nayther, sir," said David, with a chuckle.  "I'm sorry
+'bout that rope, but my word, you did let him have it, sir.  Can't be
+much dust left in his jacket."
+
+David burst into a hoarse fit of laughter, and Tom joined in, laughing
+till the tears ran down his cheeks.
+
+"Say, Master Tom," cried David.  "Pippins!"
+
+There was another burst of laughter, and then David suggested
+Wellingtons, and followed up with Winter Greenings, each time roaring
+with laughter.
+
+"He's got apples this time, and no mistake, sir," he said.
+
+"Yes, David; striped ones."
+
+"Ay, sir, he have--red streaks.  But think he'll come again to-night?"
+
+"No, David; so let's get back and think of bed."
+
+"Yes, and of my bed here, sir.  There's a nice lot o' footprints I know,
+and I come down first over a young gooseberry-bush, and feels as if here
+and there I'd got a few thorns in my skin."
+
+Tom listened again, but all was still, and the garden was as quiet ten
+minutes later, the ripening apples still hanging in their places.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+"And now, Tom," said Uncle Richard one day, "here we have a perfect
+speculum or concave reflector, but it does not reflect enough.  What
+would you do now?"
+
+"Silver it," said Tom promptly; "make it like a looking-glass."
+
+"Exactly; but how would you do that?"
+
+"Oh, it's easy enough, I believe," said Tom.  "You get a sheet of
+tinfoil, lay it on a table, cover it with quicksilver, and then put the
+glass on it, and press it with weights till the tinfoil and quicksilver
+stick to the glass, and then you have a regular mirror."
+
+"You seem to know all about it, Tom," said the Vicar, who had dropped in
+for a chat, and to hear how the telescope was going on.
+
+"I read it somewhere," said Tom.
+
+"And he can always recollect this sort of thing," said his uncle; "but
+never could remember anything to do with the law."
+
+Tom looked at him reproachfully.
+
+"Well," continued Uncle Richard, "your process would do for ordinary
+looking-glasses, Tom, but not for an optical reflector."
+
+"Why, uncle?"
+
+"Because the rays of light would have to pass through the thickness of
+the glass before they reached the reflecting surface,--the
+quicksilver,--and in so doing they would be refracted--broken-up and
+discoloured--so that the reflection would most likely be doubled when it
+came away; that is, you would see one reflection from the silver at the
+back, and another from the surface of the glass."
+
+"Therefore," said the Vicar, "we must decline friend Tom's ingenious
+proposal, and take yours, Brandon, for as usual you have a plan ready."
+
+"Well, yes," said Uncle Richard, smiling; "but it is due to the
+inventor.  We must silver the glass, but on the surface, so as to get a
+reflection at once.  Are you going to stay, Maxted?"
+
+"If I may," was the reply.
+
+"Very well; but for experiment, as it is all new to me, I think we will
+try first to silver one of these pieces of the broken speculum.  Yes;
+that largest piece."
+
+The conversation took place in the workshop, and the triangular piece of
+glass having been brought out, it was first thoroughly washed, and
+rinsed with rain-water, and then further cleaned by rubbing it well with
+a strong acid, so as to burn off any impurity, and after another rinsing
+in clear rain-water it was declared by Uncle Richard to be chemically
+clean.
+
+"A good thing to be chemically as well as morally clean, Tom," said the
+Vicar, smiling; "but I'm not going to stand here without asking
+questions if you don't, Master Tom.  First then, why must the glass be
+chemically clean?"
+
+"So that the silver may adhere to it," said Uncle Richard, who was now
+carefully arranging the freshly-cleaned glass, so that it lay on two
+pieces of wood in a shallow tray half full of water.
+
+"My turn to question," said Tom merrily.
+
+"Yes, go on," said the Vicar.
+
+"Why is the face of the glass put in water, uncle?"
+
+"To keep it wet and thoroughly clean.  Dust or floating spores might
+settle upon it, and then we should have specks.  I want to get a surface
+perfectly clear; and now, Tom, I want the four bottles I prepared
+yesterday--fetch them down."
+
+Tom ran up into the laboratory, and brought down four great stoppered
+bottles, each of which bore a label duly lettered.
+
+These he placed on the broad, table-like bench, and on being requested
+hurried up-stairs again to fetch a large glass jar-shaped vessel, and a
+graduated measuring-glass.
+
+"Now," said Uncle Richard, "this process is a chemical experiment, but
+upon reading it I felt that it was as good as a conjuring trick, and a
+very grand one too.  In fact it is good enough for a magician, for it is
+a wonderful example of the way in which our chemists have mastered some
+of the secrets of Nature."
+
+"Bravo, lecturer!" said the Vicar.  "Come, Tom, my boy, give him some
+applause.  Clap your hands and stamp your feet;" and the visitor led off
+by thumping his umbrella upon the floor.
+
+"Oh, very well," said Uncle Richard, laughing; "it shall be a lecture on
+silver if you like--a very brief one, with a remarkable experiment to
+follow."
+
+"More applause, Tom," said the Vicar; and it was given laughingly.
+
+"I have here," continued Uncle Richard, "immersed in distilled water--"
+
+"Rain-water, uncle."
+
+"Well, boy, rain-water is distilled by Nature, and then condensed from
+the vapoury clouds to fall back upon the earth."
+
+"Good," said the Vicar.  "I am learning."
+
+"Next," said Uncle Richard, "I have here a bottle marked A, containing
+so many grains of pure potash, dissolved in so many ounces of water--a
+strong alkaline solution in fact."
+
+More applause.
+
+"In this next bottle," continued Uncle Richard, "marked B, I have a
+strong solution of ammonia."
+
+"Another alkali?" said the Vicar.
+
+"Exactly," said Uncle Richard.  "In this bottle, marked C, a solution of
+sugar-candy prepared with pure spirit.  Can I have the pleasure of
+offering you a glass, Vicar?"
+
+"Oh no, thanks," was the reply.  "I will not spoil the experiment by
+satisfying my desire for good things."
+
+"Will any other member of the audience?" said Uncle Richard merrily,
+looking round at Tom.
+
+"I won't, uncle, thankye," said the lad.  "You might have labelled the
+bottles wrongly."
+
+"Wise boy," said the Vicar; "but, by the way, where's the lump of
+beaten-out silver to be affixed to the glass?"
+
+"Here it is," said Uncle Richard, laying his hand upon the stopper of
+the fourth bottle, which held the same quantity of liquid as the others.
+
+"But that's clear water," said Tom.
+
+"Yes, clear distilled water, but not alone.  It contains a great deal of
+silver."
+
+"Whereabouts, lecturer?" said the Vicar.
+
+"In solution," said Uncle Richard gravely.  "Here we have one of the
+wonders of science laboriously worked out by experiment, and when
+discovered simplicity itself.  Tom, suppose I take a piece of bright
+clear iron and leave it out exposed to all weathers, what happens?"
+
+"Gets rusty," said Tom.
+
+"Exactly; and what is rust?"
+
+"Red," said Tom.
+
+"So is your face, Tom, for giving so absurd an answer."
+
+"Yes, uncle," said Tom frankly.  "I don't quite know."
+
+"Oxide of iron," said the Vicar.
+
+"Oh yes," cried Tom eagerly; "I'd forgotten."
+
+"Well," said Uncle Richard, "the oxide of iron is Nature's action upon
+the iron.  Man produces iron by heat from the ore, but unless great care
+is used to protect it from the action of the atmosphere, it is always
+going back to a state of nature--oxidises, or goes back into a salt of
+iron.  That by the way; I am not dealing with a salt of iron but with a
+salt of silver.  There it is, so many grains of a salt of silver, which
+looked like sugar-candy when I wetted it in the water, and, as you see
+now, here it is a perfectly colourless fluid.  There, I have nearly done
+talking."
+
+"More applause, Tom," said the Vicar merrily.
+
+"Come, that's hardly fair," retorted Uncle Richard.  "What would you say
+to us if we applauded when you said one of your sermons was nearly at an
+end?"
+
+"But we did not applaud the announcement that you had nearly done," said
+the Vicar, "but the fact that the experiment was nearly at hand."
+
+"Yes; that's it, uncle.  Go on, please," cried Tom.
+
+"Very well then: my experimental magic trick is this," continued Uncle
+Richard.  "I am about not to change a metal into a salt, but a salt--
+that salt in solution in the water--back into a metal--the invisible
+into the visible--the colourless water into brilliant, flashing,
+metallic silver."
+
+"The cannon-ball changed from one hat to the other is nothing to that,
+Tom Blount," said the Vicar; "but we are the audience; let's be
+sceptical.  I'll say it isn't to be done."
+
+"Oh yes," said Tom seriously.  "If uncle says he'll do it, he will."
+
+"Well done, boy," said the Vicar, clapping the lad on the back.  "I wish
+my parishioners would all have as much faith in my words as you have in
+your uncle's.  But silence in the audience.  The lecturer will now
+proceed with the experiment."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard, taking the great glass jar.  "Now watch the
+magical action of Nature, and see what is a great wonder.  See, I pour
+eight ounces--fluid ounces, Tom, not weighed ounces--into the glass
+measure from this bottle.  There: and pour them into this glass jar,
+which will hold eight times as much.  From the next bottle I take an
+equal quantity and pour it into the jar; and from this bottle I take
+another equal quantity and pour it into the others.  Shake them all up
+together, and I have so much liquid which looks like water, but, as you
+may have observed, one of them was the limpid silver solution."
+
+"Yes, I saw that," said Tom.
+
+"I didn't," said the Vicar; "but boys always do see the critical thing
+in the conjuring trick.  But go on, Professor Brandon."
+
+"I must come to a halt here," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"No, no, don't say that, uncle," cried Tom.  "You've raised us up to
+such a pitch of expectation."
+
+"Only for a few moments," said Uncle Richard, "while I prepare my glass.
+Now then, when I lift out the piece, Tom, you take up the tray, and
+empty the water into the sink, and bring the empty tray back, place it
+where it was before, and then come and hold the glass here upon this
+blotting-paper to drain."
+
+All this was done as requested, and then the lecturer was set free by
+Tom holding the three-cornered piece of glass, from which nearly all the
+water had run.
+
+"Now observe," said Uncle Richard, "this is the critical point of the
+experiment.  You see, I take this fourth bottle, and pour the same
+quantity of this clear liquid into my measure.  There--done; and as long
+as I keep them separate no action takes place, but the moment I pour
+this clear liquid into that clear liquid, you will see that a change
+takes place.  Look--I ought to say behold!"
+
+The contents of the measure were poured into the glass jar.
+
+"Gets cloudy and thick," cried Tom.
+
+"And thicker and thicker," said the Vicar, as the contents of the jar
+were well shaken up, and then quickly poured into the tray.
+
+"Now, Tom, the glass," said Uncle Richard sharply; and, taking a couple
+of little pieces of wood, he placed them in the tray at the sides, and
+then seizing the piece of broken glass speculum with the tips of the
+fingers of each hand, he quickly immersed the polished face in the
+fourfold solution, letting one side go in first, and then the rest of
+the face, till the glass rested about half an inch deep in the tray, its
+face being perfectly covered all over.
+
+"Now watch," continued the lecturer; "the magic change has commenced,
+the metallic silver is forming," and as he spoke he kept on rocking the
+glass to and fro upon the two bits of wood.
+
+"Why, it has turned all of a dirty black," said Tom, "and as thick as
+thick," as the rocking went on.  "Why are you doing that, uncle?"
+
+"So as to make a regular film come all over, and cause all the solution
+to be in motion, and give up its silver," was the reply.
+
+"Is it a failure, Brandon?" said the Vicar quietly.
+
+"I hope not," said Uncle Richard; "but of course I am a perfect novice
+at this sort of thing.  It does look though as if I had made a mess
+instead of a grand experiment."
+
+"Yes, the water has turned pretty inky and thick."
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Tom enthusiastically; and he caught up a duster and
+began to wave it in the air.
+
+"What is it, Tom?"
+
+"Hurrah!" yelled the lad.  "Silver!  Look, look!"
+
+"I do not see any," said the Vicar, taking out his eye-glasses to put
+on, "only a greasy look on the top of the dirty water."
+
+"No, sir, silver--silver," cried Tom excitedly.  "I can see no end of
+tiny specks floating.  Look, uncle.  Don't you see?"
+
+"Yes, Tom, you are right," said Uncle Richard, working away at rocking
+the glass to and fro.
+
+"Oh yes, I can see it now, glittering on the surface," cried the Vicar,
+as excitedly as the boy.  "Wonderful! quite large filmy patches
+floating.  My dear Brandon, it really is very grand."
+
+"Let me rock it now, uncle, to rest you," cried Tom.
+
+"No; only a few minutes more, Tom, and then it may rest and finish."
+
+"How long does it take?" said the Vicar.
+
+"Oh, from ten to twenty minutes," said Uncle Richard; and at the end of
+a quarter of an hour, which had passed very quickly, so interested were
+they all, he ceased rocking the glass and left the face immersed in the
+murky solution, which had resembled very dirty blackish water, with
+faint traces of silvery film on the surface.
+
+At the end of another five minutes the film was in larger patches, and
+at the end of another similar lapse of time Uncle Richard declared his
+experiment so far at an end, and lifted the piece of glass out dripping
+and dirty, leaving the water fairly clear, but with a thick sediment at
+the bottom, while the dripping face of the glass, instead of being
+brilliant polished glass, was seen to be coated over with a drabby-white
+or greyish film.
+
+"Double up that piece of blotting-paper, and place it in the window,
+Tom," said Uncle Richard; and while this was being done, the darkened
+glass was critically examined by the Vicar.
+
+"I'm afraid you won't see many stars in that, friend Brandon," he said.
+
+"It does not look like it," replied Uncle Richard.  "But let's get it
+dry in this current of air, and see what it is like then.  Besides,
+there is something else to follow.  That is only the rough surface of
+metallic silver.  It has to be burnished before it is fit for use.
+That's right, Tom.  There!"
+
+The glass had been placed in the sunny window opening, and this being
+done, Uncle Richard washed his discoloured hands at the sink.
+
+"Now," he said, "dinner must be nearly ready.  Stop and have a bit with
+us, Maxted, and see what the experiment says afterwards.  It will be dry
+enough to polish by then."
+
+"Oh, thank you very much, but no, really I ought to--er--I did not mean
+to stay."
+
+"Never mind, stop," cried Uncle Richard warmly.
+
+"Yes, do stay, Mr Maxted," cried Tom.
+
+"It's very good of you, but I think I ought to--"
+
+"Stop," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Really, I should like to see the end of the experiment."
+
+"And hear the end of the lecture directly after dinner," said Uncle
+Richard.  "Tom, run in and tell Mrs Fidler to put another chair to the
+table.  Mr Maxted will stay.  Now let's have a walk down the garden
+till the dinner-bell rings."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+"Now to prove the success of the magical trick," said the Vicar, as they
+all rose from the table, and walked across to the old mill.  "Really,
+Brandon, honestly I never felt so much interest in chemistry before, and
+I feel quite disposed to take it up where one left off at college.  But
+oh, dear, how little time one has!"
+
+"True," said Uncle Richard, "the days always seem too short to a busy
+man.  Now, Tom, let's look and see whether we have succeeded or failed."
+
+"Succeeded," cried Tom excitedly, when the heavy fragment of the
+speculum was lifted out of the hot sunshine perfectly dry, and laid flat
+upon the bench.  "Look, Mr Maxted, you can see that it is silvered all
+over."
+
+"Yes; a dull, dingy coating of silver," said the Vicar, who had put on
+his glasses and was now leaning over the glass.  "Wonderful indeed.  And
+now, I suppose, you polish this metal face, and make it like a
+looking-glass?"
+
+"Yes, with leather and rouge," said Uncle Richard, as he too put on his
+glasses and examined the surface carefully.  "But there is something
+wrong about it."
+
+"Wrong?  Oh no, uncle; that stuff has all turned to silver plainly
+enough," cried Tom.
+
+"True, boy, but my instructions tell me that the result ought to be a
+bright metallic surface of a golden rosy hue, and that a very little
+polishing should make it brilliant."
+
+"Perhaps this will be," said the Vicar, "when it is polished."
+
+"I'm afraid not," said Uncle Richard.  "There is a hitch somewhere.
+Either I have made some error in the quantities of my chemicals, or I
+have left the glass in the solution too long, with the result that the
+silver has become coated with the dirty-looking precipitation left when
+the metallic silver is thrown down.  However, we are very near success,
+and we'll polish and see what result we get.  Now, Tom, up into the
+laboratory, and bring down from the second shelf that small bottle of
+rouge, the packet of cotton-wool, and the roll of fine chamois leather.
+One moment--the scissors too, and the ball of twine."
+
+Tom ran up-stairs, found the articles required, and was about to
+descend, when, glancing from the window, he caught sight of Pete
+Warboys, who had raised himself by getting his toes in some inequality
+of the wall, and was now resting his folded arms upon the top and his
+chin upon them, staring hard at the mill.
+
+"Oh, how I should like to be behind him with a stick!" thought Tom; and
+he laughed to himself as he turned away and went down, to find that his
+uncle had just uncovered the great speculum they had ground and
+polished, where it stood upon a stout shelf at the far side of the
+workshop, and was pointing out its perfections to the Vicar.
+
+"Yes, Brandon," said the latter, "I suppose it is very beautiful in its
+shaping, but to me it is only a disc of glass.  So you are going to
+silver that?"
+
+"When I am sure of what I am doing," replied Uncle Richard.  "I must
+experimentalise once or twice more first.  Here, Tom, set those things
+down and come here.  I don't like this glass to lie upon the shelf.
+We'll lay a board down here, and turn the speculum face downwards upon
+the floor."
+
+Tom hurried to his uncle's side, and after the board had been laid upon
+the floor, and covered with a soft cloth and several sheets of paper,
+the speculum was carefully lifted, turned over face downwards, covered
+with another cloth, and left close to the wall.
+
+"No fear of that falling any farther," said Uncle Richard, smiling, as
+he crossed the workshop deliberately.  "Now for the polishing."
+
+He cut off a piece of the soft, delicate leather, about three inches
+square, made a ball-like pad of cotton-wool, and covered it with the
+leather, and then tied the ends tightly with some of the twine, making
+what resembled a soft leather ball with a handle, and patted it in his
+hand so as to flatten it a little.
+
+"Now then," he said, "this is to be another magic touch.  If I succeed,
+you will see your faces brilliantly reflected in the glass; if I fail--"
+
+"If you fail," said the Vicar, laughing, "I can't apply Lord Lytton's
+words to you.  If it were Tom, I should say, `In the bright lexicon of
+youth, there is no such word as fail.'"
+
+"Very well then, though no longer youthful, I'll take the words to
+myself.  Now then for the magic touch that shall change this dull opaque
+silver to glistening, dazzling light."
+
+He held the leather polisher over the glass for a few moments, and then,
+as the others looked on, he let it fall smartly upon the silvered face,
+covered with greyish powder, and began to rub it smartly, when--
+
+_Crash_!
+
+One cutting, tearing, deafening, sharp, metallic-sounding explosion,
+that seemed to shake the old mill to its foundations; the windows were
+blown out; bottles, vessels, and tray were shivered, and the glass flew
+tinkling in all directions; and then an awful silence, succeeded by a
+strange singing noise in the ears, through which, as Tom struggled
+half-stunned and helpless to his feet, he could hear a loud shrieking
+and yelling for help.
+
+"What has happened? what, has happened?" he muttered, as he clapped his
+hands to his ears, and tried to look about him; but his eyes had been
+temporarily blinded by the brilliant flash of light which had blazed
+through the workshop, and some moments elapsed before he could make out
+whence came a moaning--"Oh dear me, oh dear me!"
+
+Then he dimly saw the Vicar seated on the floor against the wall,
+holding his hands to his ears, and rocking himself gently to and fro.
+
+Hardly had Tom realised this when he caught sight of Richard Brandon
+upon his side in the middle of the place, perfectly motionless; and,
+with his ears singing horribly, the boy ran to his uncle's side, and
+tried to raise his head.
+
+And all the while the shrieking and cries for help came from the
+outside, mingled now with the trampling of feet.
+
+Then, sounding muffled and strange, and as if from a great distance, Tom
+heard David's voice.
+
+"What is it? where are you hurt?"
+
+"Oh, all over," came in Pete's voice; "I was a-lookin' over the wall and
+they shot me with a big gun."
+
+"Yah!" cried David, as if still at a great distance, but his words
+sounded with peculiar distinctness through the metallic ringing.
+"Shootin'!  It was a thunderbolt struck the mill."
+
+"Oh, what is the matter?" came now in Mrs Fidler's voice.
+
+"Thunderbolt, mum; I saw the flash," cried David; and as Tom still held
+up his uncle's head, and knelt there confused, half-stunned and
+helpless, Mrs Fidler's voice rose again.
+
+"Quick! help them before the place falls.  Master! poor master!  Mr
+Maxted--Master Tom!"
+
+Then came the sound of hurrying feet, and as Tom looked up, to see the
+ceiling above him come crumbling down, more questioning voices were
+heard outside, and Pete's voice rose again.
+
+"They shot me with a big gun--they shot me with a big gun."
+
+"Master! master!" shrieked Mrs Fidler.  "Oh, there you are!  Oh, Master
+Tom, don't say he's dead."
+
+Tom shook his head feebly; he could not say anything.  Then, as he felt
+himself lifted up, he heard the Vicar say--
+
+"Oh dear me; I don't know--I'm afraid I'm a good deal hurt."
+
+Then quite a cloud gathered about them, and with his ears still singing,
+Tom felt himself lifted out, water was sprinkled over his face, and he
+began to see things more clearly; but every word spoken sounded small
+and distant, while the faces of David, Mrs Fidler, and the people who
+gathered about them in a scared way looked misty and strange.  Then he
+heard the Vicar's voice.
+
+"Thank you--yes, thank you," he said; "I'm getting better."
+
+"Bones broke, sir?" said David.
+
+"No, I think not; see to poor Mr Brandon.  I was thrown against the
+wall, right across; I can't quite get my breath yet, and I'm as if I was
+deaf.  Ah, Tom, my boy, how are you?"
+
+"I don't know, sir, I don't think I'm hurt; but ask the people not to
+shout so, it goes through my head."  Then, as if he had suddenly
+recollected something, "Where's uncle?"
+
+"He's coming to, my dear," said Mrs Fidler.  "I think he's coming to."
+
+And now Tom saw that they were lying on the newly-made grass-plot
+outside the mill, and that his uncle was being attended by Mrs Fidler
+and another woman.
+
+He tried to get to him, but the slightest effort made his head swim, and
+he was fain to lie still and listen, while David went on talking
+excitedly.
+
+"I was down the garden digging up the first crop o' taters, when I see a
+flash o' lightning, and then came a clap o' thunder as sharp as the
+crack of a whip.  It made my ears sing.  Then as I run to see, I hears
+Pete Warboys yelling out--`They shot me with a big gun--they shot me
+with a big gun.'"
+
+"Hadn't some one better fetch the doctor?" said a fresh voice.
+
+"He's gone out," cried another.
+
+"Shot me with a big gun," yelled Pete again.
+
+"Thank you, yes, thank you," came now in a voice which made Tom Blount's
+heart leap.  "I don't think I am much hurt.  Where is my boy Tom?"
+
+"I'm all right, uncle," cried the boy eagerly, though he felt very far
+from being so; and he heard a few murmured words of thankfulness.
+
+"Where is Mr Maxted?"
+
+"I am here," said the Vicar, "not much hurt.  But tell me, how are your
+eyes?"
+
+"Rather dim and misty.  But what was it?" said Uncle Richard, rather
+feebly; "an explosion?"
+
+"Shot me with a big gun--shot me with a big gun."
+
+"Will some one put a tater in that boy's ugly mouth," cried David
+indignantly.  "I tell yer all it was thunder and lightning.  I saw one
+and heard t'other, both sharp together."
+
+"Yes, yes, yes.  Didn't I always tell you so?" cried a shrill voice; and
+Tom looked round, to dimly make out Mother Warboys bending over her
+grandson, who was now sitting on the grass close under the wall, where
+he had been placed.  "I always said it.  His punishment's come at last
+for all his wicked tricks and evil dealings."
+
+"And one in hers too," cried David.  "A wicked old sinner!  Hold your
+tongue, will you!"
+
+"Nay, nay, I'll hold no tongue," cried Mother Warboys.  "He's a wicked
+man-witch, and allays doing evil and making charms."
+
+"Shot me with a big gun, granny."
+
+"Hold thy tongue, boy.  It's come to him at last--it's come to him at
+last.  I always telled ye that he was a bad, wicked one.  Now he's
+punished."
+
+"Oh dear me!  I cannot put up with this," muttered the Vicar.  "David,
+my good fellow, give me your hand.  Thank you--that's better.  I think I
+can stand now.  Oh, yes.  That's right; but I've lost my glasses."
+
+"Here they are, sir," said a voice, "but they're all crushed to bits."
+
+"Then I must do without them, I suppose."
+
+"An old wicked one, who buys up mills and starves the poor, so that he
+may go on in his evil ways.  I told you all so, but it's come to him at
+last."
+
+"Oh dear me!" ejaculated the Vicar.  "Keep my arm, David.  Here, you
+sir, get up."
+
+"Shot me with a gun--shot me with a gun," yelled Pete, who had got hold
+of one form of complaint, and kept to it.
+
+"Silence, sir!  It's all nonsense; no one fired a gun."
+
+"Yes; shot me, and knocked me off the wall."
+
+"Is he hurt?" asked the Vicar, as Uncle Richard now sat up.
+
+"Don't think so, sir," said one of the village people.  "We can't find
+nothing the matter with him."
+
+"I told you so--I told you all so," continued Mother Warboys, waving her
+stick.
+
+"And I tell you so," cried the Vicar angrily.  "Go along home, you
+wicked old she Shimei.  How dare you come cursing here when your poor
+neighbours are in trouble!"
+
+"I--I--I don't care--I will say it," cried Mother Warboys.
+
+"You dare to say another word, and you shall have no dole next Sunday,"
+cried the Vicar angrily.
+
+"I--I don't care; I say it's come home to him at last.  I always said it
+would."
+
+"Yes, you wicked old creature; and in spite of your vanity you are not a
+prophetess.  Take that old woman home," cried the Vicar fiercely; but no
+one stirred.
+
+"What, are you all afraid of her?"
+
+"She'll get cursing and ill-wishing us if we do, sir," said one of the
+men present.
+
+"I'll take her home, sir," cried David.  "Don't s'pose she'll hurt me
+much if she do.  Come along, old lady, and you, Pete, take hold of her
+other arm."
+
+Pete obeyed, and seemed to forget his injuries, taking Mother Warboys'
+other arm, and helping her out of the yard, she saying no more, but
+shaking her head, and muttering that she "always knowed how it would
+be."
+
+By this time Uncle Richard was sufficiently recovered to walk about;
+and, beckoning Tom to him, he took his arm and went into the workshop,
+where the silvered piece of speculum lay shattered; and in addition to
+the windows being broken, the bench was split from end to end, and a
+table and stools knocked over.
+
+"Look at the speculum, Tom.  Is it hurt?"
+
+Tom's ears were still ringing as he crossed to where they had laid the
+disc of glass face downwards; and on uncovering it, he found it
+uninjured, and said so, making his uncle draw a deep breath as if much
+relieved.
+
+"Now lock up the place, Tom," he said, "and let's go indoors.  I am too
+much shaken to say much, so ask Mr Maxted to request the people to go
+away now, and then you can fasten the gate."
+
+"Think she'll tumble down, sir?" said a voice at the door; and they
+turned to find David back panting and breathless.  "Took her home, sir.
+She kep' on chuntering all the way, but parson frightened her about the
+dole, and she never said a cross word.  But think the mill 'll come
+down?"
+
+"Oh no, David," said Uncle Richard quietly; "there is no fear.  Is that
+boy much hurt?"
+
+"Him, sir?  Tchah!  There's nothing the matter with him.  The shock
+knocked him off the wall, and he lay howling, expecting some one to give
+him a shilling to put him right.  He'd forgotten all about it before he
+got home, and began to quarrel with his granny."
+
+"Help to lock up," said Uncle Richard; and, leaving Tom free to speak to
+the people, and ask them to disperse, he laid his hand on David's arm.
+
+Ten minutes later the people were all out of the yard, and hanging about
+in the lane discussing the thunderbolt, as they called it, that had
+fallen, some declaring that the worst always came out of a clear sky,
+while others declared that they'd "never seed thunder and lightning
+without clouds."
+
+On the whole, they were rather disappointed that more mischief had not
+been done.  The burning of the mill, for instance, or its crumbling
+down, would have made the affair more exciting, whereas there were some
+broken windows to look at, and that was all.
+
+Meanwhile the scientific people had adjourned to the cottage, where warm
+water and clothes-brushes did a good deal to restore them to their
+former state, while a cup of tea hurriedly prepared by Mrs Fidler did
+something toward soothing their shattered nerves.
+
+"But really, sir, I think you ought to let me send over to Buildston for
+Doctor Ranson."
+
+"Not for me, Mrs Fidler," said Uncle Richard.  "I've been a good deal
+shaken, and my ears are full of a sharp singing sound, but I'm rapidly
+coming round.  Send for him to see Mr Maxted."
+
+"Oh dear me, no.  I'm very much better," said the Vicar.  "I was very
+much frightened, and I have a lump on the back of my head, but that is
+all.  You had better send for him, I think, to see Master Tom here."
+
+"I don't want any doctor," exclaimed Tom.  "Mrs Fidler could put me
+right."
+
+"Yes, my dear," cried the housekeeper; "but you never will let me."
+
+"Well, who's going to take prune tea or brimstone and treacle because he
+has been knocked down?"
+
+"There, Mrs Fidler, you hear," said Uncle Richard; "we have had a
+narrow escape, but I don't think any of us are much the worse.  We only
+want rest.  Take the couch, Maxted, and lie down."
+
+"Well--er--really," said the Vicar; "if you will not think it selfish of
+me, I believe it would do my head good if I lay down for an hour.  I am
+a good deal shaken."
+
+Mrs Fidler sighed and left the room as the Vicar took the couch, Uncle
+Richard one easy-chair, and Tom the other, to lie back and listen to the
+murmur of voices out in the lane, where the village people were still
+discussing the startling affair.  Every now and then some excited
+personage raised his voice, and a word or two floated through the window
+about "lightning," and "heared it," and "mussy no one was killed."
+
+Uncle Richard was the first to break the silence by saying dryly--
+
+"I'm afraid Mrs Fidler does not believe in the thunder and lightning
+theory."
+
+"No?" said the Vicar, turning his head.
+
+"No," said Uncle Richard, smiling, but wincing at the same time; "she
+has had experience of me before in my dabblings in other things.  What
+do you say was the cause of the trouble, Tom?"
+
+"Well, I should say, uncle, that the silver was too strong for the
+glass, and made it split all to pieces."
+
+"Not a bad theory," said Uncle Richard.  "What do you say, Maxted?"
+
+"Well," said the Vicar, "do you know, I'm puzzled.  Of course it was not
+an electric shock, and my knowledge of chemistry is so very shallow; but
+really and truly, I feel convinced, that you must have got hold of wrong
+chemicals, and formed some new and dangerous explosive compound."
+
+"Quite right, only it was not new," said Uncle Richard.  "As soon as I
+could collect my shattered thinking powers, I began to consider about
+what I had done, and I think I see correctly now.  The fact is, I forgot
+one very important part of the instructions I have for silvering
+mirrors."
+
+"Indeed!" said the Vicar, in an inquiring tone, while Tom pricked up his
+singing ears.
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard.  "You remember how the silvery surface was
+covered with a greyish powder?"
+
+"Yes, thickly," said Tom.
+
+"That had no business there, and it would not have been if I had been
+more careful to remember everything.  When I took the speculum glass out
+of the silvering bath, I ought to have deluged it with pure water till
+all that greyish powder was washed away, then it would have been fairly
+bright."
+
+"Yes, uncle; but what has that to do with the explosion?"
+
+"Everything, my boy.  If there had been no powder there we should have
+had no explosion."
+
+"But it wasn't gunpowder, uncle," cried Tom, "it couldn't be.  I know
+what gunpowder's made of--nitre, brimstone, and charcoal; and besides,
+we had no light."
+
+"No, Tom, but it was a mixture far stronger than gunpowder, and one
+which will explode with a very slight friction."
+
+"I know," cried the Vicar eagerly, "fulminate of silver."
+
+"Quite right," said Uncle Richard; "and I feel quite ashamed of my
+ignorance.  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing; and I ought to have
+known that in this process I was preparing so dangerous a compound."
+
+"I know," cried Tom now; "fulminate of silver is what they put in
+percussion caps, isn't it, uncle?"
+
+"No; that is a very similar compound, but it is fulminate of mercury.--
+Well, Maxted, what am I to say to you for trying to kill you?"
+
+"I think you had better say nothing," said the Vicar quietly.  "It seems
+to me that the less we talk about it the better, and content ourselves
+with being thankful for our escape."
+
+"It's lucky, uncle, that it missed the big speculum, and a lot more
+stuff being used."
+
+"Fortunate indeed, Tom.  We must be more careful next time."
+
+"But surely you will not try so dangerous an experiment again?" said the
+Vicar anxiously.
+
+"Certainly I shall," said Uncle Richard.  "The experiment is not in the
+least dangerous if properly carried out.  The accident was from my
+ignorance.  I know better now."
+
+"You've paid very dearly for your experience," said the Vicar, smiling.
+"It's rather hard upon your friends, though, to try such risky
+experiments in their presence."
+
+"Next time all will go well.  Will you come and see it?"
+
+"Really, my dear Brandon, I respect you very much, as my principal
+parishioner, and a man after my own heart, but I'm afraid I shall be too
+busy to come next time.  I'll wait till the big telescope is ready for
+use, when I shall want to peep through; but even then I shall approach
+it with fear and trembling.  It will look like a great gun, and I shall
+always feel afraid of its going off."
+
+"And you, Tom," said his uncle, "what do you say?"
+
+"What about, uncle?"
+
+"Shall you be afraid to come and help silver another time?"
+
+"Oh no, uncle, I think not," replied the boy.  "But I say, will my ears
+leave off?"
+
+"What, listening?"
+
+"No, uncle; it's just as if I'd got a little tiny muffin-man ringing his
+bell in each ear as hard as he can go."
+
+"Try a night's rest," said Uncle Richard.  "Yes, I'm very sorry we had
+such a mishap."
+
+"Never mind," said the Vicar; "it will give our little glazier a job.
+And now I feel rested and better, so good-evening, I'm going home."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+Tom gave proof of his readiness a few days later, when the broken
+windows had been replaced, fresh solutions made, and the village had
+again calmed down to its regular natural state of repose; for, upon his
+uncle proposing that they should proceed at once to silver the big
+speculum, he eagerly went off to the workshop to get all ready for his
+uncle's coming.
+
+Short as the distance was though, he did not get away without
+encountering Pete, who hurried up to the wall to shout over at him--
+
+"I know.  Yer did shoot at me, but I shan't forget it, so look out."
+
+Then hearing some one coming from the cottage, he ducked down like a
+wild animal seeking concealment, and hurried away.
+
+Then the whole process was gone through to the smallest minutiae, and
+only an hour after the silvered face of the mirror was deluged with
+rain-water, and uncle and nephew gazed in triumph at their work, for
+there was no sign of greyish-drab powder about the mirror, and it was so
+bright that polishing seemed unnecessary.
+
+The next day it was polished, till by a side light it looked black,
+while in face it was a brilliant looking-glass ready to reflect the
+faintest stars; and after being put away securely, the great tube was
+set about, and in due time this was lightly and strongly made of long
+laths hooped together.  A shallow tray was contrived deep enough to hold
+the speculum, and fitted with screws, so that it could be secured to one
+end.  Next followed the fitting of a properly-constructed eye-piece from
+a London optician, contrived so that it looked at right angles into a
+small reflector, which also had to be carefully fixed in the axis of the
+great speculum.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+"What's the matter, Tom?" said Uncle Richard one day, as they were busy
+at work over the telescope, and Tom was scratching his head.
+
+"There's nothing the matter, uncle, only I'm a bit puzzled."
+
+"What about?"
+
+"Over this great glass.  It's going to be so different to the old one."
+
+"Of course; that is a refractor, and this is going to be a reflector."
+
+"Yes, uncle, but it seems so queer.  The refractor is a tube made so
+that you can look through it, but the reflector will be, if you are
+right, so that you can't look through it, because instead of being at
+the end, the hole will be in the side.  Is that correct?"
+
+"Quite right, and you are quite wrong, Tom, for you do not understand
+the first simple truth in connection with a telescope."
+
+"I suppose not, uncle," replied the lad, with a sigh.  "I am very
+stupid."
+
+"No, you are not, sir, only about as ignorant as most people are about
+glasses.  I have explained the matter to you, but you have not taken it
+in."
+
+"I suppose not, uncle," said Tom, wrinkling his brow.
+
+"Then understand it now, once for all.  It is very simple if you will
+try and grasp it.  Now look here: what do you do with an ordinary
+telescope or opera-glass, single or double?  Hold it up to your eyes, do
+you not?"
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"Look through it at something distant, and it seems to draw it near."
+
+"You do what?"
+
+"Look through it, uncle."
+
+"Nothing of the kind, sir, you do not."
+
+Tom looked puzzled.  What did his uncle mean?  He had, he thought,
+looked through a pair of field-glasses scores of times at home in the
+old days.
+
+"I make you stare, my lad, but I am glad to see it, for it shows me how
+right I am, and that you do think as everybody else does who has not
+studied optics, that you look through a glass at an object."
+
+Tom stared harder, and once more the old idea came to him, and he asked
+himself whether there were times when his uncle did not quite understand
+what he was saying.
+
+"But you do, uncle," he cried at last.  Then he qualified this
+declaration by saying, "Don't you?"
+
+"No, my boy, once for all you do not; and if you take up any telescope,
+and remove the eye-piece before looking along the tube, you will see
+that your eyes will not penetrate the glass at the end.  Then if you try
+the eye-piece alone, you will find that you cannot even look through
+that.  How much less then will you be able to look through both at
+once."
+
+"But it seems so strange, uncle.  You have a big magnifying-glass in a
+tube, and don't look through it?  Then what do you do?"
+
+"Certainly not look through it, my boy."
+
+"But the bigger the glasses are the more they magnify--the moon, say."
+
+"Yes, Tom; and the more light they gather."
+
+"Well, then, why do you say, uncle, that you don't look through the
+glass?"
+
+"Because it is a fact that I want you to understand," said Uncle
+Richard, smiling.  "The big glass, or in our case the reflecting
+speculum, forms a tiny image of the object at which it is pointed, close
+to where we look in, within an inch or so of our eye."
+
+"A tiny image, uncle?"
+
+"Well, picture, then."
+
+"But you say tiny!  It looks big enough when we put our eye to the
+little round hole."
+
+"To be sure it does.  But what do you look through?"
+
+"The eye-piece."
+
+"Well, what is the eye-piece?"
+
+"A little glass or two--lenses."
+
+"These glasses or lenses form a microscope, Tom; and through them you
+look at the tiny image formed in the focus of the great lens or the
+speculum, whichever you use."
+
+"But I thought microscopes were only used to magnify things invisible to
+the eye."
+
+"Well, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring, and the markings on Mars are all
+invisible to the naked eye.  So are the craters in the moon; so we use
+the big speculum to gather the light, and then look at the spot where
+all the rays of light come to their narrowest point, with an eye-piece
+which really is a microscope."
+
+"But I don't understand now," said Tom uneasily.  "I wish I was not
+so--"
+
+"If you say stupid again, Tom, I shall quarrel with you," said Uncle
+Richard sternly.  "I never think any boy is stupid who tries to master a
+subject.  One boy's brain may be slower at acquiring knowledge than
+another, but that does not prove him to be stupid.  What is it you don't
+follow?"
+
+"About our telescope.  If the light from the big speculum is all
+reflected nearly to a point, ought we not to look down at it?"
+
+"No; because then our heads would be in the way, and would cast a shadow
+upon it.  To avoid that, I put the little mirror in the middle, near the
+top, just at the right slant, so that the rays are turned off at right
+angles into the eye-piece, and so we are able to look without
+interrupting the light."
+
+"Oh, I see now," said Tom thoughtfully.  "It's very clear."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard.  "Sir Isaac Newton, who contrived that way,
+was a clever man.  Now then, let's get on with our work."
+
+"I suppose then now we're ready?" said Tom.
+
+"Far from it," replied his uncle; "are you going to hold up a
+twelve-foot tube to your eye, and direct it to a star?  The next thing
+is of course to mount it upon trunnions, and arrange that it shall turn
+upon an axis, so that we can sweep in any direction."
+
+The longest tasks come to an end.  By the help of the village carpenter,
+a strong rough stand was connected with the beam formerly used to bear
+the sails of the mill, the trunnions were fitted to a strong iron ring
+by the smith, and one evening the great telescope was hung in its place,
+and in spite of its weight, moved at the slightest touch, its centre of
+gravity having been so carefully calculated that it swung up and down
+and revolved with the greatest ease.
+
+"There, Tom," said Uncle Richard; "now I think we can sweep the heavens
+in every direction, and when once we have tried, the mirrors, so as to
+set them and the eye-piece exact, we can get to work."
+
+Tom looked at his uncle in dismay.
+
+"Why, you don't mean to say, uncle, that there is more to do after
+working at it like this?"
+
+"Yes, a great deal.  We have to get the glasses to work with one another
+to the most perfect correctness.  That task may take us for days."
+
+It did, and though Tom finished off every evening worn-out and
+discouraged, he recommenced in the morning fresh and eager as ever,
+helping to alter the position of the big speculum, then of the small
+plane mirror.  Then the eye-piece had to be unscrewed and replaced again
+and again, till at last Uncle Richard declared that he could do no more.
+
+"Then now we may begin?" cried Tom.
+
+"We might," said his uncle, "for the moon will be just right to-night in
+the first quarter; but judging from appearances, we shall have a cloudy
+wet evening."
+
+And so it proved, the moon not even showing where she was in hiding
+behind the clouds.
+
+"I do call it too bad," cried Tom, "now, too, that we are quite ready."
+
+"Patience, lad, patience.  A star-gazer must have plenty of that.  Do
+you know that a great astronomer once said that there were only about a
+hundred really good hours for observation in every year."
+
+"What?" cried Tom.  "He meant in a night.  I mean a week.  No, I don't:
+how absurd!  In a month."
+
+"No, Tom," said his uncle quietly, "in a year.  Of course there would be
+plenty more fair hours, but for really good ones no doubt his
+calculation was pretty correct.  So you will have to wait."
+
+The Vicar called again one day, and hearing from Mrs Fidler that her
+master was over at the observatory, he came to the yard gate and thumped
+with his stick.
+
+"What's that?" said Uncle Richard, who was down upon his knees carefully
+adjusting a lens.
+
+"Tramp, I should think," said Tom, who was steadying the great tube of
+the telescope.
+
+"Then he must tramp," said Uncle Richard.  "I can't be interrupted now.
+What numbers of these people do come here!"
+
+"Mrs Fidler says it's because you give so much to them, uncle, and they
+tell one another."
+
+"Mrs Fidler's an old impostor," said Uncle Richard--"there, I think
+that is exactly in the axis--she gives more away to them than I do."
+
+"Bread-and-cheese, uncle; but she says you always give money."
+
+"Well, boy, it isn't Mrs Fidler's money.  That must be exact."
+
+_Bang, hang, hang_ at the gate, and then--
+
+"Anybody at home?" came faintly.
+
+"Why, it's Mr Maxted, uncle.  May I go and speak to him?"
+
+"Yes, you can let go now.  Tell him to come up."
+
+Tom left the telescope and went to the shutter, which he threw open, and
+stepped out into the little gallery.
+
+"Good-morning.  Your uncle there?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  He says you are to come up."
+
+"Come up?" said the Vicar, laughing.  "I don't know.  It was bad enough
+on the ground-floor.  I don't want to be shot out of the top.  Is it
+safe?"
+
+"There's nothing to mind now, sir," cried Tom.  "The door is open."
+
+"Well, I think I'll risk it this time," said the Vicar, entering the
+yard, while Tom stepped back into the observatory.
+
+"What, is he pretending to be frightened?" said Uncle Richard, with a
+grim smile.
+
+"Yes, uncle; he wanted to know if it was safe."
+
+By this time the Vicar's steps were heard upon the lower stairs, and Tom
+lifted the trap-door, holding it open for their visitor, who, after the
+usual greetings, sat down to admire the telescope.
+
+"Hah! that begins to look business-like," he said.  "We shall be soon
+having a look I suppose.  Finished?"
+
+"Very nearly," said Uncle Richard.  "It has been a long job."
+
+"I wanted your advice about one of my difficulties," said the Vicar,
+puckering up his face.
+
+"Shall I go down and see to the glass for the new frames, uncle?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no," cried the Vicar.  "I've nothing to say that you need
+not hear.  I've just come from old Mother Warboys' cottage."
+
+"And how is the old witch?"
+
+"Ah, poor, prejudiced old soul, much the same as ever.  I'm afraid she
+is beyond alteration, but her grandson was there."
+
+"Humph!  And he's beyond mending too," said Uncle Richard gravely.
+
+"Ah, there's the rub," said the Vicar, crossing his legs, and clasping
+his hands about the upper knee.  "They are both of human flesh, but one
+is young and green, the other old and dry.  I can be satisfied that I am
+helpless over the old woman, but I'm very uneasy about that boy."
+
+"Halloo!  He was not seriously hurt over the explosion?"
+
+"Not a bit."
+
+"But he thinks it was my doing to spite him, uncle, and he says he will
+serve me out."
+
+"A young dog!" cried the Vicar.  "I'll talk to him again."
+
+"Labour in vain," said Uncle Richard.  "As you know, I tried over and
+over again to make something of him, but he would not stay.  He hates
+work.  Wild as one of the rabbits he poaches."
+
+"But we tame rabbits, Brandon, and I don't like seeing that boy
+gradually go from bad to worse."
+
+"It's the gipsy blood in him, I'm afraid," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Yes, and I don't know what to do with him."
+
+"A good washing wouldn't be amiss."
+
+"No," sighed the Vicar; "but he hates soap and water as much as he does
+work.  What am I to do?  The boy is on my conscience.  He makes me feel
+as if all my teaching is vain, and I see him gradually developing into a
+man who, if he does what the boy has done, must certainly pass half his
+time in prison."
+
+"Yes, it is a problem," said Uncle Richard.  "Boys are problems.
+Troublesome young cubs, aren't they, Tom?"
+
+"Horrible, uncle," said Tom dryly.
+
+"But to begin with: a boy is a boy," said the Vicar firmly, "and he has
+naturally the seeds of good and evil in him."
+
+"Pete Warboys had all the good left out of him," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"No, I deny that," said the Vicar decisively.
+
+"Well, I've seen him about for some time now, and I've never seen any of
+the good, Maxted."
+
+"Ah, but I have," said the Vicar, while Tom busied himself doing nothing
+to the telescope, and began to take a good deal of interest in the
+discussion about his enemy.  "You will grant, I suppose, that Mother
+Warboys is about as unamiable, cantankerous an old woman as ever
+breathed?"
+
+"Most willingly," said Uncle Richard, smiling.  "She leads that boy
+quite a dog's life.  I've seen her thump him quite savagely with her
+stick."
+
+"And he deserved it," said Uncle Richard.
+
+"No doubt; but instead of showing resentment, the boy is devoted to her;
+and I know for a fact he is always bringing her rabbits and hares to
+cook for herself."
+
+"Poached."
+
+"Yes, I'm afraid so; but I'm firmly convinced that he would fight to the
+death for the poor old creature."
+
+"Nature," said Uncle Richard; "she is his grandmother."
+
+"Then there is some good in him," cried the Vicar; "and what I want is
+to make it grow.  The only question is, how it is to be done."
+
+"Don't you think I have got problems enough over my telescope, without
+your setting me fresh ones?  Get some recruiting serjeant to carry him
+off for raw material to turn into a soldier."
+
+"Hopeless," said the Vicar.  "Too loose and shambling.  As it is,
+metaphorically, every one throws stones at the lad; no one ever gives
+him a kind word."
+
+"No, but who can?  I'm afraid you must give him up, Maxted, as a
+hopeless case."
+
+"I will not," said the Vicar firmly.  "It's my duty to try and make a
+decent member of society of the lad if I can, and I'm sorry you cannot
+give me a hint."
+
+"So am I," said Uncle Richard seriously, "but I look upon him as
+hopeless.  I tried again and again, till I felt that the only thing was
+to chain him up, and beat and starve him into submission, and it seemed
+to me that it would be better to let him run wild than attempt to do
+that."
+
+"Yes; I agree with you," said the Vicar.  "Tom.  Come, Tom, you're a
+boy.  Boys understand one another better than men understand them.
+Can't you help me?"
+
+"I wish I could, sir," said Tom, shaking his head, "but I'm afraid I
+can't."
+
+Then the conversation turned to astronomical matters, and soon after the
+Vicar left.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
+
+That conversation took root in Tom's mind.  He found himself thinking a
+good deal about Pete Warboys and his devotion to his hideous old
+grandmother; but it was hard work to believe that he had any of the good
+in him that the Vicar talked about.
+
+"Wonder whether he really has," Tom said to himself.  "He might have."
+
+The idea began to grow, and it spread.
+
+"What would they say if I tried to alter him, and got him to turn into a
+decent chap?"
+
+He laughed at his own conceit directly after.
+
+"He'd laugh at me too," thought Tom; and then something else took his
+attention.  But the idea was there, and was always cropping up.  He
+found himself talking to David about the lad one day when he was down
+the garden, and David left off digging potatoes, took a big kidney off
+one of the prongs of the potato fork, upon which it was impaled, split
+it in two, and began thoughtfully to polish the tool with the piece he
+retained.
+
+"Do I think as you might make a decent chap out of Pete Warboys, Master
+Tom, by being kind to him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Do I think as you could make a silk puss out of a sow's ear, Master
+Tom; and then cut this here yellow bit o' tater into sovereigns and put
+in it?  No, sir, I don't.  Pete's a bad 'un, and you can't make a good
+'un out of him."
+
+"Not if he was properly taught?"
+
+"Tchah! you couldn't teach a thing like him.  It'd all run through him
+like water through a sieve."
+
+"But he has never been taught better."
+
+"More was I, sir, but I don't go poaching, and stealing apples and eggs,
+and ducks and chickens.  Why, he makes that wicked old woman his grandam
+fat with the things he steals and takes to her."
+
+"Well, that shows there's some good in him," cried Tom, basing himself
+upon the Vicar's speech.
+
+"Master Tom," cried David, digging his fork down into the earth as if to
+impale fierce, evil thoughts with its tines, "I'm surperrised at you.
+Good!  What, to go stealing an' portching to feed up a wicked old woman,
+who spends all her time trying to curse.  That's a shocking sentiment,
+sir, and one that arn't becoming.  It arn't good, and there arn't no
+good in Pete Warboys, and never will be.  He's a bad stock, and if you
+was to take him and plant him in good soil, and then work him with a
+scion took off a good tree, and put on some graftin' wax to keep out all
+the wet and cold, do you think he'd ever come to be a decent fruit tree?
+Because if you do, you're wrong.  He never could, and never would, come
+to anything better than a bad old cankering crab sort o' thing.  No, my
+lad, it would just be waste of time, and nothing else."
+
+Still Tom did not feel at all convinced, but said no more.
+
+David did though.  It was pleasant to the back standing there, with one
+foot resting upon the great five-pronged fork; and as he stood with his
+fingers on the handle, he kept his left arm across his loins, and gave
+Tom a cunning leer.
+
+"It's all right, sir; taters won't hurt.  Tatering's a thing you ought
+to take your time over.  The longer they lie out here without the sun on
+them, the harder the skins will be, and the better they'll keep."
+
+Tom stopped talking to David for some time longer, but his mind was not
+bent upon the vegetable kingdom as represented by the tuber commonly
+known as a "tater," but upon that portion of the animal kingdom familiar
+to him as Pete Warboys.
+
+Now it so happened that a couple of days later, Uncle Richard was going
+out on business in the nearest town, leaving Tom to amuse himself as he
+pleased.
+
+"What shall I do, uncle?" said Tom.  "Is there anything to grind?"
+
+"No; you are not out enough in the open air.  Go and get blackberries,
+or mushrooms, or something to take you for a long walk.  I shall be home
+to tea."
+
+Tom had been indoors so much, that at first he felt unwilling to go; but
+that feeling soon wore off, and he started for a long jaunt out through
+the firs, to the wild common-lands, where Nature revelled undisturbed,
+and he knew that between blackberries and mushrooms he was pretty sure
+of getting something to bring back in the basket Mrs Fidler supplied.
+
+And so it proved.  As soon as he was well through the fir-wood, where
+the closely-growing reddish fir-trunks brought to mind Pete's
+hiding-place, and consequently Pete himself, he found the broken ground
+rich with brambles clustering over the furze-bushes, and hanging down in
+the sandy hollows--hot, sunny spots, where the black fruit, rarely
+gathered, hung in bunches, so that the basket soon began to grow heavy,
+and a division had to be made with bracken fronds to keep them from
+being mixed up with the mushrooms he gathered from time to time--not
+big, flat, dark, brown-gilled fungi, such as grow in moist spots and
+rich old pastures, but delicate, plump little buttons, which he found
+here and there dotted about the soft velvety bits of sheep-cropped
+pasture hidden among the clumps of furze.
+
+Then there were other objects of interest: rabbits darted here and
+there, skurrying into their sandy holes; he caught sight of a weasel,
+which peered at him for a moment, and then glided away like a short
+fur-clothed viper.  Further on he came upon an olive-green,
+regularly-marked snake, which seemed in no hurry to escape; another
+slightly-formed reptile, nearly equal in thickness all along, and
+looking as if made of oxidised silver, being far more active in its
+movements to gain sanctuary under a furze bush.  Soon after, while
+reaching out his hand to get at a cluster of blackberries, he saw
+beneath him in an open sunny patch, where all was yellow sand, a
+curled-up grey serpent, not three feet from his extended hand.  It was
+thick and short, the tail being joined on to the body without the
+graduation seen in the others, while the creature's neck looked thin and
+small behind the flat, spade-shaped head.
+
+"Asleep or awake?"  Tom asked himself, as the reptile lay perfectly
+motionless, with its curiously-marked eyes seeming dull, and as if
+formed of the same material as the scales.
+
+The lad drew his hand back, for there was something repellent about the
+little object, and he knew at once that this was a dangerous little
+viper.
+
+His first instinct was to strike at it, but he had no stick; and he
+stood perfectly still examining it, and comparing its shape and markings
+with what he could recall of his readings respecting the adder.
+
+There was no doubt about it.  The little reptile was an adder, sunning
+itself in its warm home; and that it was not asleep Tom soon saw, for
+the curious tongue was rapidly protruded several times, flickering, as
+it were, outside the horny mouth, which seemed to be provided with an
+opening in front expressly for the tongue to pass through, while the
+jaws remained closed.
+
+"Wish I'd a stick," thought the boy, as the viper now slowly raised its
+head; a couple of coils were in motion, and for the moment it seemed
+about to glide away, but the head sank again, and once more the little
+creature lay perfectly still.
+
+"They're dangerous things, and the bite is very painful," thought Tom;
+but he did not stir to get a stick to kill the reptile, for he was
+interested in its peculiar form, and the dark, velvety markings along
+its body, which glistened in the sun.
+
+And there he stood, peering over into the little opening, in profound
+unconsciousness that he was being silently stalked, till, just as he had
+made up his mind to go to the nearest fir-tree and cut a stick, in the
+hope of finding the adder still there on his return, there was a sharp
+snuffling sound.
+
+Tom started round, to find Pete's ill-looking dog close at hand, but
+ready to spring away over the bushes as if expecting a blow.
+
+Tom's next glance showed him the disturbed viper, with its head raised,
+eyes glittering as if filled with fire, and its body all in motion.
+Then it was gone; but another pair of eyes were gazing into his, for
+Pete Warboys slowly raised himself from where he had crawled to the
+other side of the furze clump.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
+
+"Hulloo!" said Pete, with a sneering grin; "got you then, have I?  Who
+gave you leave to come and pick them?"
+
+"Hulloo, Pete!" said Tom quietly, ignoring the question, for the
+recollection of his thoughts during the past few days came up strongly,
+and all that the Vicar, his uncle, and David had said.
+
+"Who are you a hulloo Peteing?" snarled the fellow.  "Yer ain't got no
+guns now to go shooting at people."
+
+"What nonsense!" said Tom; "that wasn't a gun--it was an explosion."
+
+"Yer needn't tell me; I know," said Pete, edging round slowly to Tom's
+side of the bush.
+
+"I don't believe you were half so much hurt as I was," continued Tom.
+
+"Serve yer right.  Yer'd no business to shoot at a fellow."
+
+"I didn't," cried Tom.  "Don't I tell you it wasn't a gun?"
+
+"Oh, yer can't cheat me.  Here! hi!  Kerm here, will yer, or I'll
+scruntch yer!" he roared to his dog.  "Leave that 'ere rarebut alone.
+Want him to go sneaking an' telling the perlice, and purtendin' it was
+me."
+
+The dog gave up chasing an unfortunate rabbit through the bushes, and
+came trotting up, with hanging head and tail, to his master's side,
+where he crouched down panting and flinching as Pete raised his hand and
+made believe to strike.
+
+"I'll half smash yer if yer don't mind," he snarled.
+
+Then, turning to Tom--
+
+"What yer got there--blackb'rys and mash-eroons?"
+
+"Yes; there are plenty about," replied Tom.
+
+"Know that better than you do."
+
+"I dare say you do," said Tom good-humouredly, as he watched the
+unpleasant looks directed at him, the fellow's whole aspect being such
+as we read was assumed by the wolf who sought an excuse for eating the
+lamb.
+
+All the same, though, Tom's aspect partook more of the good-humoured
+bulldog than that of the lamb; though Pete kept to his character well,
+and more and more showed that he was working himself up for a quarrel.
+
+"Yah!" he exclaimed suddenly, after edging himself up pretty closely,
+and with his hands still in his pockets, thrusting out his lower jaw,
+and leaning forward stared over his raised shoulder at Tom.  "Yah!  I
+feel as if I could half smash yer!"
+
+"Do you?" said Tom quietly.
+
+"Yes, I do.  Don't you get a-mocking me.  Ain't yer feared?"
+
+"No," said Tom quietly, "not a bit.  Have sixpence?"
+
+Pete stared, and leaned over out of the perpendicular, so as to get his
+face closer to Tom's.  "Whort say?"
+
+"Will you have sixpence?" said Tom, thrusting his right hand into his
+pocket, and withdrawing the above coin.
+
+"Yerse; 'course I will," cried Pete, snatching the piece, spitting on
+it, and thrusting it into his pocket.  "Thought your sort allus telled
+the truth."
+
+"Well, so we do," said Tom, smiling.
+
+"None o' yer lies now, 'cause it won't do with me," said the fellow
+menacingly.  "Yer said yer warn't afeard, and yer are.  All in a funk,
+that's what yer are: so now then."
+
+"No, I'm not," said Tom, in the coolest way possible, for he had made up
+his mind to try and carry out the Vicar's plan.
+
+"I tell yer yer are.  What yer got here?  Yer wouldn't ha' give me
+sixpence to let yer alone if yer hadn't been afeard.  What yer got here,
+I say?"
+
+"You can see," said Tom, without showing the slightest resentment at the
+handle of his basket being seized, even though Pete, in perfect
+assurance that he was frightening his enemy into fits, grew more and
+more aggressive.
+
+"Yes, I can see," cried Pete.  "I've got eyes in my head, same as you
+chaps as come from London, and think yerselves so precious sharp.
+Yer've no right to come down and pick what's meant for poor people.
+Give 'em here."
+
+He wrenched the basket from Tom's arm, and scattered its contents away
+amongst the furze-bushes, sending the basket after them.
+
+"There, that's what you'll get if yer comes picking and stealing here.
+How d'yer like that, young blunt 'un?"
+
+"Not at all," said Tom, who looked very white, and felt a peculiar
+tingling about the corners of his lips and in his temples.
+
+"Course yer don't; but yer've got to like it, and so I tell yer.  Smell
+that."
+
+He placed his fist within an inch of Tom's nose, and the boy could not
+help smelling it, for it was strong of pulling onions, or peeling them
+with his nails.
+
+"Now, then, how much money have yer got with yer?"
+
+"Only another sixpence," said Tom a little huskily.
+
+"Hand it over, then, and look sharp about it, 'fore it's the worse for
+yer."
+
+He caught hold of Tom's jacket as he spoke, and gave it a shake, making
+his dog sidle up and growl, "Hear that?  You give me more of yer sarce,
+and I'll set the dorg at you, and see how yer like that.  Now, then,
+where's that sixpence?"
+
+"I'll give it to you if you'll leave go," said Tom quietly.  "Look here,
+Pete, I don't want to quarrel with you."
+
+"That yer don't.  I should like to see you.  Give it here."
+
+"I want to be friends with you, and try to do something for you."
+
+"Yes, I knows you do.  You've got to bring me a shillin' every week, or
+else I'll give it yer, so as you'd wish yer'd never been born.  I'll
+larn yer.  Give me that sixpence."
+
+"Leave go first."
+
+"Give's that sixpence, d'yer hear?" cried Pete, clapping his other hand
+on Tom, and shaking him.
+
+"Don't do that," cried Tom; "it makes me feel queer."
+
+Pete yelled with laughter.
+
+"Course it does; but that arn't nothing.  Hand over that there sixpence,
+or--"
+
+He gave a savage shake, which made Tom turn deadly pale, and shake
+himself free.
+
+"What!" roared Pete.  "Oh, yer would, would yer?  Lay hold on him.
+Ciss! have him there!"
+
+The dog, which had been snuffling and growling about, needed no further
+urging, but sprang at Tom, who received his charge with a tremendous
+kick, which caught the cur under the jaw, knocking it over, and sending
+it in amongst the furze bushes, where it lay howling and yelping
+dismally, till it gave a peculiar sharp cry, sprang out with something
+sticking to its nose, and then dashed off with its tail between its legs
+as hard as it could go, leaving a little viper wriggling back over the
+short grass to get back to the shelter of the furze.
+
+Pete Warboys looked perfectly astounded at Tom's act, and stood staring
+for a few moments.  Then, attributing it to horror and desperate fear,
+he ran at his enemy again, and got a firm grip of his collar, to begin
+see-sawing him to and fro.
+
+"That's it, is it?" he cried; "yer'd kick my dorg, would yer?  Just you
+give me that other sixpence, or I'll break every bone in yer skin 'fore
+yer know where you are."
+
+"Let go!" said Tom huskily; and he struggled to get free.
+
+"Oh no, yer don't.  Yer arn't going to get away till yer've paid me that
+there sixpence."
+
+Tom's fit of philanthropy had nearly all evaporated, like so much mist
+before the intense heat which Pete had set burning, and made all the
+blood in his face and extremities seem to run to his heart, which pumped
+away violently, causing his head to feel giddy, and his hands and feet
+to tingle and jerk.
+
+"Will you leave go?" he cried in a low, hoarse whisper.
+
+"No, I sharn't, yer cowardly sneak," cried Pete triumphantly, for the
+white face and trembling voice were delightful to him.  He had his enemy
+metaphorically upon his knees, and it was pure delight to him to have
+Tom at his mercy.  "Yer've bounced it over me long enough when yer'd got
+any one to help yer, or you was at home; but I've got yer now, and I'm
+going to pay yer, and teach yer, and let yer know what's what.  Where's
+that there sixpence yer owe me?"
+
+"Will you let go?" cried Tom, more huskily than ever, but with his eyes
+blazing.
+
+"No," cried Pete, grinning, and giving his imaginary victim a tremendous
+shake.
+
+The last wreath of Tom's philanthropic mist had evaporated.
+
+_Click--Clack_!
+
+It was the only way in which he could use his fists from the manner in
+which he was being held; so Tom struck sharply upwards, his blows taking
+effect upon Pete's lower jaw, and jerking his head sharply, making him
+loose his hold and stagger back, to go down in a sitting position
+amongst the furze.
+
+He did not stay there a moment, but rebounded as quickly as if he had
+been bumped down violently upon a spring bed.
+
+There the comparison ends, for Pete uttered a yell of agony and rage,
+which made him rush again at the lad, grinning like a dog, and meaning
+to take a savage revenge.  But to his astonishment Tom did not attempt
+to run away.  He flew to meet him, when there was a sharp encounter,
+heavy blows were delivered on either side, and Pete went down, but this
+time on the grass.
+
+He was up again directly, clinging still to the belief that his
+adversary was horribly afraid, and merely fighting in desperation; and
+once more he rushed at Tom, who was quite ready to rush at him.
+
+And then for fully ten minutes there was a succession of desperate
+encounters.  They were not in the slightest degree scientific; they were
+not what people call rounds, and there was no squaring, for everything
+was of the most singular description: arms flew about like windmill
+sails; fists came in contact with fists, arms, heads, faces, chests, and
+at times--in a curly or semi-circular kind of blow--with backs and
+shoulders.  Now they were up, now they were down; then up again to
+close, hitting, wrestling, and going down to continue the hitting on the
+ground.  Sometimes Tom was undermost, sometimes Pete occupied that
+position.
+
+And so the fight went on desperately for the above-named ten minutes, at
+the end of which time they went down together with a heavy thud, after
+Pete had run in with his head down like a ram, receiving a couple of
+heavy cracks, but succeeding in gripping Tom about the waist, and trying
+to lift and throw him.
+
+But the long, big, loose-jointed fellow had miscalculated his strength.
+Far stronger than Tom at the commencement, his powers had soon begun to
+fail, while, though panting heavily, thickset, sturdy, bulldog like Tom
+had plenty of force left in him still, the result being that Pete's
+effort to lift and throw him proved a failure, ending in a dexterous
+wrench throwing him off his balance, and another sending him down with
+his adversary upon his chest.
+
+The next minute Tom had extricated himself, Pete's clutch giving way
+easily; a leg was dragged out from beneath him, and Tom sat panting on
+the grass, ready to spring up if Pete made a movement.
+
+But there was none of an inimical nature, for Pete was completely
+beaten, and lay upon his back wagging his head from side to side, and
+drawing up and straightening his legs slowly, as if he were a frog
+swimming upside down.
+
+Then he began to howl, with the tears streaming out of his eyes; but for
+the time being Tom was still too hot, and there was too much of the
+natural desire in him to injure his adversary for him to feel any
+compassion.
+
+"Do you give in?" he shouted.
+
+"Oh--oh--oh!" yelled Pete, in a hoarse, doleful mingling of cry and
+word.  "Yer've killed me! yer've killed me!"
+
+"Dead people can't talk," cried Tom tauntingly.  "Serve you right if I
+had."
+
+Probably this was a bit of hectoring, and not the real feeling,
+consequent upon the great state of exaltation to which the fight had
+raised him.
+
+"Yer've killed me, yer great coward; yer've killed me!" wailed Pete
+again, excitement having probably acted upon his eyes after the fashion
+attributed to a horse's, which are said to magnify largely, and made Tom
+seem unusually big.
+
+"Coward, am I?" cried Tom, rising.  "You get up, and I'll show you."
+
+"Ow--ow--ow!  Help! help!"
+
+"Get up," said Tom, giving his adversary a thrust with his foot, and
+another and another, feeling a kind of fierce satisfaction in so doing,
+for every thrust brought forth a howl.
+
+"Will you get up?" cried Tom.
+
+"I carn't; yer've broke my ribs and killed me--yer coward."
+
+It could not have been after all any magnification of Pete's eyes that
+caused him to say this, for Tom now saw, that where the
+malicious-looking orbs had been which looked at him so triumphantly a
+short time before, there were two tight-looking slits, from which the
+great tears were squeezing themselves out, as the humbled tyrant went on
+blubbering like a boy of eight or nine.
+
+Tom drew back from his adversary, for the war-fire which Pete had lit in
+him was nearly burned out, and his regular nature was coming back to
+smooth over the volcanic outburst which had transformed him for the time
+being.
+
+"Hope I don't look like that," was his first thought, as he gazed down
+at Pete's face as if it were a newly-silvered mirror, and in it saw a
+reflection of his own.  But as he looked it was dimly, and he felt that
+his eyes must be all swollen up, his lips cut against his teeth, his
+cheeks puffy, and his nose--
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated Tom; "how disgusting!"
+
+He put up his hands to his face as the above thought came into his head,
+and then shuddered with dismay.
+
+There was no mistake about it, for he knew that if anything he was in a
+worse plight than the blubbering young ruffian before him.  His hands,
+too: not only were they sadly smeared and stained, but the skin was off
+his knuckles, and now, as if all at once, he began to tingle, smart, and
+ache all over, while a horrible feeling of repentance came over him, and
+regret for what had happened.
+
+"What a brute I must look!" he thought; and then, "How terribly I have
+knocked him about!"
+
+Then with the feelings of regret and compunction, he began to wonder
+whether Pete was seriously hurt.
+
+"Can't be," he thought the next minute; "he makes too much noise," and
+he recalled the howlings when the explosion took place at the mill.
+
+"He's thoroughly beaten," Tom said to himself, as he dabbed his bleeding
+face and knuckles, growing more sore and stiff minute by minute.
+
+"This is a rum way of trying to make friends, and to improve him," he
+thought dismally, as he went on.  "Oh dear, what a mess I'm in!"
+
+Just then so dismally prolonged a howl came from Pete, that, without
+looking round, Tom cried angrily in his pain--
+
+"Don't make that row; I'm as bad as you.  Come: get up."
+
+He turned then to enforce his order with a little stirring up with his
+foot, but a sharp snarl made him start back in wonder, for there, after
+creeping quietly up among the furze, was Pete's thin cur seated upon his
+master's chest, and ready to defend him now against any one's approach.
+
+"Well done, dog!" thought Tom.  "I never liked you before.  Here then,
+old fellow," he cried aloud, as he thought of the way in which the
+master used the dog, brutally as a rule.  "I'm not going to hurt him.
+Let's get him to sit up."
+
+But the dog barked fiercely as it rose on four legs, and showed its
+teeth, while Tom pressed a hand over one eye, tried to keep the other
+open, and burst out laughing at the sight before him.
+
+"Oh dear!  I mustn't laugh, it hurts so," he cried; and then he laughed
+again.  For there was Pete's distorted comically swollen face in the
+bright sunshine, and in front of it the dog's, puffed up in the most
+extraordinary one-sided manner, making the head look like some fancy
+sketch of a horrible monster drawn by an artist in fun.
+
+"It must be from the adder's bite," thought Tom, as a feeling of
+compassion was extended now to the dog, who, in spite of his menaces,
+looked giddy and half stupefied.
+
+"Here, are you going to lie howling there all day?" cried Tom.
+
+"Ow--ow--ow!  I want a doctor," groaned the lad; and he threw out his
+arms and legs again, nearly dislodging the dog from his chest.
+
+"No, you don't," cried Tom.  "Here then, old fellow, let's look at your
+nose," he said softly, as he advanced closer, and the dog snarled again,
+but not so fiercely.
+
+"Get out!  I don't want to hurt you," said Tom gently.  "Let's have a
+look at your nose then."
+
+The dog looked up at him with one eye,--the other was completely shut,--
+and Tom put his hand closer.  Then the poor animal uttered a faint howl,
+not unlike his master's; and as Tom touched the swollen side of its
+head, it leaned it heavily in his hand, and whined softly, looking up
+piteously the while.
+
+"Poor old chap then!" said Tom, forgetting his own sufferings as the dog
+stepped slowly off its master's chest, staggered, and then leaned up
+against the friendly legs so near, drooping head and tail the while.
+
+"Here, Pete," cried Tom excitedly, "your dog's dying."
+
+"Eh?" cried Pete, sitting up suddenly, and looking very like the poor
+brute as he managed to open one eye.
+
+"That adder bit him.  Look at his swollen head."
+
+"So it has," said Pete.  "Come here, young un!"
+
+But the dog did not stir.
+
+"Where's there some water?" said Tom.
+
+"Down by the ford," replied Pete, quietly enough now.
+
+"People would see us there.  Is there none nearer?"
+
+"There's some in the frog pond," replied Pete.
+
+"Stop a minute; I know," said Tom.  "Ah, poor old chap, then!" he cried
+excitedly, for the dog suddenly gave a lurch and fell upon its side.
+
+"I say," cried Pete wildly, as he rose to his knees, and caught hold of
+one of the forelegs; "he arn't going to croak, is he?"
+
+"I don't know; I'm afraid so.  But look here, the adder's bite was
+poison; wouldn't it do good to let some of the poison out?"
+
+"Does good if you've got a thorn in your foot," said Pete, who seemed to
+have forgotten all about his broken ribs, and the fact that he was
+dying.
+
+"Shall I open the place with my sharp penknife?"
+
+"Couldn't do no harm."
+
+Tom hesitated a moment, and took hold of the dog's muzzle, when the poor
+brute whined softly, looked at him with its half-closed eyes, and made a
+feeble effort to lick his hand.
+
+Tom hesitated no longer.  He opened the keen blade of his penknife,
+raised the dog's head upon his knee, and examined a whitish spot
+terribly swollen round, upon the dog's black nose.
+
+"Mind he don't bite yer," said Pete, in a tone full of caution.
+
+Tom looked at him sharply.  "He has got some good in him after all," he
+thought.
+
+"That's where the adder bit him," continued Pete.  "I was bit once in
+the leg, and my! it was bad for days.  Mind--he'll bite."
+
+"No, he won't," said Tom firmly.  "Poor old fellow, then.  It's to do it
+good."
+
+As he spoke he thrust the knife point right into the centre of the white
+patch, fully half an inch; and the dog, utterly stupefied by the poison,
+or else from some misty knowledge that it was being helped, hardly
+winced, but lay with one eye open, looking up at Tom, who laid the head
+down upon the grass.  For a few moments there was nothing to see but the
+little gaping cut.  Then a tiny drop of black blood appeared, then very
+slowly another, and soon after a little thread of discoloured blood
+trickled gently away.
+
+"He's a-goin' to croak," said Pete hoarsely, and he looked in an
+agonised way at Tom.
+
+"I hope not.  That may do him good."
+
+"But oughtn't you to tie it up with a handkychy?"
+
+"No; that must be better out of him.  I say, look here--can't you carry
+him to that hole of yours under the fir-trees?"
+
+Pete looked at him sharply.
+
+"Well, I know where it is," said Tom.  "If you lay him down there, out
+of the sun, perhaps he'll get better."
+
+Pete nodded, and passing his hands under the dog, lifted it in his arms,
+to begin tramping through the furze-bushes toward the distant pines,
+from which he had seen and stalked Tom not so long before.
+
+"Shall I come with you?" said Tom.
+
+"If yer like," was the reply, and Tom followed; and when after a time
+Pete stopped to rest, he relieved him, and carried the dog for some
+distance, holding it too when the pit was reached, and Pete lowered
+himself down to take it, and creep in with it to place it on his
+fir-needle bed.
+
+Tom followed, and the two lads knelt there in the semi-darkness looking
+at the patient, which lay for some minutes just as it had been placed.
+
+"He is a-going to croak," said Pete suddenly, for the door gave a feeble
+whine, and then stretched itself out.
+
+"No, he isn't--he's going to sleep," said Tom, for the dog yawned, and
+then curled itself up tightly, apparently falling into a stupor at once,
+for it did not stir.
+
+"Perhaps he'll come round," said Tom, backing out of the hole.  "Now,
+show me where the nearest water is."
+
+"It ain't fur now," said Pete, following him.  "It's where I gets water
+to drink;" and starting off for the edge of the fir-wood, Tom followed,
+feeling puzzled at the change that had come over the scene.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
+
+In a few minutes Pete stopped at the edge of a hollow, where, half
+covered by sedge rushes and bog plantain, there lay a good-sized pool of
+clear water, down to which Tom made his way, followed by his companion,
+and after taking a hearty draught, which was wonderfully clear and
+refreshing, he began to bathe his cuts and bruises, and rid himself of
+the half-dried blood.
+
+While Tom bathed his face and hands, Pete stood looking on, till
+suddenly the former raised his head.
+
+"Hulloo!  Why don't you have a wash?" he said sharply.
+
+Pete made no reply, but stepped down to the water's edge, went upon his
+knees, and began to bathe his face.
+
+While he was busy Tom rose, and made the best use he could of his
+pocket-handkerchief by way of a towel, and when he was pretty well dry
+he went along to where the water lay calm and still in a corner of the
+pool.  Here, by approaching cautiously, he was able to lie down upon his
+chest, and gaze into what formed as good a looking-glass as was ever
+owned by his savage ancestors.
+
+The sight the boy saw was startling.
+
+"Oh dear!" he half groaned; "what will Mrs Fidler say--and uncle?"
+
+He stood up thinking for a few minutes, watching Pete, who kept on
+dipping his hands into the cool water, and holding them full up to his
+burning face; and as Tom looked, and thought that there was no one to
+call the rough lad to account, he appeared to be seeing everything about
+him with wonderful clearness--there were the long shadows of the pines
+cast across the pool with streaks of golden sunshine, in which the
+silver water buttercups, with their two kinds of leaves, lay thick above
+and below the surface; along by the edge were the branched bur-reeds,
+with their round spiked stars of seed-vessels; close by the pinky
+flowering rush was growing, and in the shallows the water soldier thrust
+up stiffly its many heads.  And all the time splash--splash--splash--
+there was the faint sound of the water as Pete scooped it up, and bathed
+his battered face.
+
+The scene was very beautiful and attracted Tom; but there were dark
+shadows in his mind beckoning him away--to wit, his uncle and Mrs
+Fidler, ready to ask him why he was in such a plight.
+
+"It's like taking one of the old lady's doses of medicine," he said to
+himself at last.  "I'd better toss it off and get it over, so here
+goes."
+
+He walked back round the edge of the pool, and Pete must have heard him
+coming, but all the sign he made was to thrust one wet hand into his
+pocket and go on bathing himself with the other.
+
+Tom looked on in silence for a few moments.
+
+"I'm going now," he said.
+
+Pete went on splashing, and Tom hesitated.
+
+Then--
+
+"Face hurt much?"
+
+Pete gave a duck with his head which was meant for an assent, and
+continued splashing.
+
+"So does mine," said Tom suddenly, "and I ache all over."
+
+There was another pause.
+
+"I say!"
+
+Pete held his head still, but did not turn round, keeping his face
+within a few inches of the water.
+
+"It was all your fault: I didn't want to fight."
+
+Pete began splashing again.
+
+"I'm going home now; I shall come and see how the dog is to-morrow."
+
+The only sign made by Pete was to take his left hand from his pocket,
+and hold it as far behind him as he could reach, with something held
+between his finger and thumb.
+
+Tom stared, for it was the sixpence he had given him before the fight.
+
+"I don't want it," said Tom; and he turned away, plunged in among the
+fir-trees, and as soon as he was in shelter looked back, to see that
+Pete was still bending over the water and holding the coin out behind
+him.
+
+"Oh, I do wish it was dark," thought Tom, "so that I could get in
+without being seen.  It'll be weeks before my face is quite well again.
+And I wanted to be friendly too.  All my blackberries and mushrooms
+gone.  Oh, how my head aches; just as if I'd been knocking it against a
+wall."
+
+By this time he had reached the far edge of the pine-wood, and stepped
+down into the lane, to begin walking fast with his head hanging, and a
+feeling of depression and misery making him long for the peace of his
+own little room.
+
+But still his brain kept on actively at work, forming little pictures of
+the events of the afternoon, while his thoughts in his mental musings
+took the form of short, terse sentences.
+
+"I hate fighting.--That's making friends with him.--He'll always hate me
+now.--Mr Maxted's all wrong.--But Pete does love his dog.--How queer
+about that sixpence."
+
+"Good-afternoon, Tom."
+
+The boy stopped short with his heart beating, to find Mr Maxted seated
+upon a stump in the side of the fir-wood, evidently enjoying the
+glorious sunset tints spreading from the horizon nearly to the zenith.
+
+"I--I didn't see you, sir," faltered Tom.
+
+"Of course you did not, or you wouldn't have gone by.  What a lovely
+sunset!  Why, my good lad, whatever have you been doing?"
+
+The Vicar rose from his seat and came forward, giving the boy a startled
+look.
+
+"Your face is horribly bruised, and--did you fall from some tree?  My
+dear lad, it's terrible--just as if you had been fighting."
+
+"I have," said Tom bluntly, as he stood with his head erect, but his
+nearly-closed eyes fixed upon the ground.
+
+"But there's no one to fight with here?"
+
+"Yes--Pete Warboys."
+
+"Bless my heart!" exclaimed the Vicar, laying his hand upon the boy's
+shoulder.  "But tell me, did he assault you?"
+
+"I suppose so, sir."
+
+"But--er--er--did you hit him back?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir," said Tom, with more animation now; "we had a regular
+set-to."
+
+The Vicar coughed, and keeping his hand upon his companion's shoulder,
+he walked on by his side in silence for a few minutes.  Then, after
+another cough--
+
+"Of, course I cannot approve of fighting, Tom; but--er--he beat you
+then--well?"
+
+"Oh no, sir," said Tom, flushing a little.  "I beat.  He lay down at
+last and cried."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated the Vicar.  "Tell me how it began."
+
+With wonderful clearness Tom related the whole adventure, and growing
+more animated as he went on, he finished by saying--
+
+"It all came out of what you said, sir.  I thought if Pete had some good
+in him, I'd try and help bring it out by being a little friendly; but I
+regularly failed, and uncle will be horribly cross with me for getting
+in such a state."
+
+"Nothing of the kind," said the Vicar decisively.  "I know your uncle
+better than you do, sir, and I can answer for what he will say.  But you
+see, Tom, I was quite right about the lad."
+
+"No, sir, I don't," replied Tom sharply.  "Look at my face and hands."
+
+"Oh yes, they do show wounds of the warpath, Tom; but they were received
+in a grand cause.  I knew there was good in the lad, and you have done a
+deal to bring it out."
+
+"I don't see much good yet, sir," said Tom, rather sulkily, for he was
+in a great deal of pain.
+
+"Perhaps not," said the Vicar, "but I do.  It seems to me that by
+accident you have gone the right way to work to make a change in Pete
+Warboys.  You have evidently made him respect you, by showing him that
+you were the better man."
+
+By this time they were getting pretty close to Heatherleigh, and the
+Vicar gave Tom's arm a grip.
+
+"I'm afraid I shall not see you at church next Sunday, Tom," he said,
+with a smile.
+
+"Are you going to be away, sir?" said Tom wonderingly.
+
+"No: but you are."
+
+"I?" cried the boy.  "Why?"
+
+"Go up into your bedroom, have a good bathe at your face, and then look
+in the glass.  That will tell you why."
+
+The Vicar walked away, and Tom slipped in quietly without being seen,
+hurried up to his room, and reversed the advice he had received; for
+instead of bathing himself first he walked straight to the glass, gave
+one long look, and turned away in despair, for his face looked far worse
+than it had done in the clear water.
+
+"What will uncle say?" groaned Tom; and he forgot Mrs Fidler, who came
+up to his door to see if he had returned, and receiving no answer to her
+knock, she walked in, and then said a good deal, but it was while
+working hard to alleviate the boy's pain.
+
+In the midst of it all Uncle Richard came home.
+
+"Now for it," said Tom bitterly.  "What will he say?"
+
+He soon heard, and when he did, there was a singular choky feeling in
+his throat.  For Uncle Richard called up the stairs--
+
+"Feel well enough to come down, Tom?  Never mind your looks."
+
+He went down, still expecting a severe rating, but instead of meeting an
+angry face there was a very merry one, for he was saluted by a roar of
+laughter.
+
+"Upon my word!" exclaimed Uncle Richard.  "You're a nice ornament for
+the home of a simple country gentleman.  But Mr Maxted says you gave
+him a thorough thrashing.  Did you?  Here, let's look at your knuckles."
+
+Tom slowly held out his hands.
+
+"Oh yes," said his uncle, nodding.  "There's no mistake about that.  And
+so you are going to make a model boy of Pete Warboys, eh?"
+
+"I thought I'd try, uncle," said Tom bitterly.
+
+"Oh, well, go on boy, go on.  You must have beaten the clay quite soft.
+When are you going to put it in the new mould?"
+
+"I don't know, uncle," said Tom.  "I expect the next thing will be that
+Pete will half kill me."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
+
+Tom saw very little more of Pete Warboys.  He had slipped away to the
+fir-wood, and escaping all observation, went straight to the cave; but
+there was neither boy nor dog, and he left disappointed.
+
+Three days passed, and he did not go out, feeling perfectly unfit to be
+seen.
+
+Then he began to grow uneasy, and wondered whether Pete was ill from the
+beating he had received, and the dog dead.
+
+But the time went on, and he heard that Pete had gone away.  David had
+told Mrs Fidler, and she bore the news to Tom.
+
+"And it's a great blessing, my dear," she said, "for he was a very bad,
+wicked boy, and I don't know what he didn't deserve for beating you so
+dreadfully."
+
+"Oh, but he was as bad, or worse," said Tom.
+
+"He couldn't have been, my dear.  Look at your poor face even now."
+
+"No.  Bother!  I don't want to look at my face for ever so long yet,"
+replied Tom.  "Perhaps it's a good job though that he has gone."
+
+Then the winter came, with glorious, clear, starry nights, when the cold
+was forgotten, and Tom had his share of feasting upon the wonders of the
+heavens with the small telescope.  Now it would be an hour with the
+great Nebula in Orion, then one with the wondrous Ring Nebula.  Another
+night would be devoted to the double, triple, and quadruple stars, those
+which, though single to the naked eye, when viewed by the help of the
+glass showed that they were two, three, or four, perfectly separate.
+Then the various colours were studied, and diamond-like Sirius was
+viewed, as well as his ruby, topaz, sapphire, and emerald companions in
+the great sphere.  The moon was journeyed over at every opportunity,
+with her silvery, pumice-like craters, and greyish-bottomed ring-plains,
+surrounded by their mighty walls of twelve to seventeen thousand feet in
+height.  Tycho and Copernicus, with their long silvery rays; brilliant
+Aristarchus; dark, deep Plato; the straight valley, the so-called seas,
+the smooth, round, smaller craters, isolated Pico, the ridges, and the
+wildly-rugged battlements upon the terminator--all were scanned in turn,
+with Tom's thirst increasing every time he looked.
+
+For there was always something new to see, as well as plenty of
+surprises, when some meteor suddenly shot across the field of the
+telescope.  But Uncle Richard said--
+
+"Wait till we get the big one done!"
+
+Saturn became a favourite object with Tom, who was never weary of gazing
+at the bright ring of light spread around the planet, which he could
+almost fancy he saw spinning as it glided across the field of the glass.
+Jupiter and his four moons, the former dull and scored with rings, the
+latter brilliant specks, had their turn; and soon books, which he had
+before looked upon as tedious and dry, became of intense interest; but
+Uncle Richard said that they must have a more perfect plane mirror.
+
+Then came a bright wintry day, when Tom was out having a brisk run, and
+to his surprise he came upon Pete Warboys, who made a rush into the
+woods and disappeared, leaving his dog behind.
+
+"Then he has come back," said Tom to himself; and he stared at the dog,
+which stood looking at him--and the whole scene of the fight, and then
+the surgical operation upon the dog's nose, came back.
+
+"Then you did get well again, old chap," said Tom sharply.
+
+That was enough: the dog rushed forward, barking loudly, danced round
+him, and then bounded up the bank leading into the wood, where it turned
+to stand wagging its long thin tail, whisked round again, after giving
+another bark, and then bounded after its master.
+
+"Come, I've made friends with him," said Tom, "anyhow."  And though
+disappointed by Pete's return after a long stay with some gipsy-like
+relatives of his grandmother, he could not help feeling glad that the
+dog displayed some gratitude for what had been done.
+
+"Pete Warboys has come back, David," cried Tom, hurrying down the garden
+as soon as he had ended his walk.
+
+"Yes, bad luck to him, sir.  I was going to tell you.  I heared of it
+'bout an hour ago.  Been a-gipsying, I expect, with some of their
+people, who've got a door-mat van, and goes about with a screwy old
+horse.  We shall be having some nice games again."
+
+"Not after the fruit, David."
+
+"Well, no, sir, 'cause there arn't none.  It'll be eggs and chickens,
+and the keepers round about 'll know my gentleman's here.  Say, Master
+Tom?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Thought you was going to make a noo chap of him?"
+
+"How could I when he wasn't here?"
+
+"No, course not; but your time's come now, sir.  What you've got to do
+is to sarve him as you do your specklums.  You grind him down--there's
+plenty on him--and then polish him into a fresh sort of boy."
+
+The gardener leaned upon his spade and chuckled.
+
+"Ah, you may laugh, David," said Tom; "but he might have been a decent
+lad if he had had a chance."
+
+"Not he, sir.  Mr Maxted tried, but it was the wrong stuff.  Look here,
+sir, when you makes a noo specklum, what do you do it of?"
+
+"Glass, of course."
+
+"Yes, sir, clear glass without any bubbles in it.  You don't take a bit
+of rough burnt clay; you couldn't polish that.  He's the wrong stuff,
+sir.  Nobody couldn't make nothing o' him but a drill-serjeant, and he
+won't try, because Pete's too ugly and okkard even to be food for powder
+and shot."
+
+"I don't know," said Tom, as he thought of the scene with the dog.
+
+"And I do, sir.  You mark my words--now Pete's back there's going to be
+games."
+
+But the days glided by; and Tom had so much to think of that he saw
+nothing of Pete Warboys' games, and he could hardly believe it possible
+when summer came again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
+
+"From your cousin," said Uncle Richard, opening one of his letters, his
+face gradually growing very stern and troubled as he read; while as he
+finished and raised his eyes, he found that Tom was watching him
+intently.
+
+"Sad news, Tom," said his uncle, in a low, grave voice.  "My brother has
+been better, but he has during the past week had a fresh attack, and is
+very bad."
+
+"I am very sorry, uncle," said Tom frankly.
+
+"Yes, you would be, Tom, as it is serious."
+
+Uncle Richard paused, looking very hard at his nephew.  Then quietly--
+
+"You did not get on very well with your uncle."
+
+"No; I was too stupid, and it made him angry, uncle."
+
+"Humph!  Well, Tom, by-gones must of course be by-gones.  Your cousin
+has written this letter at his father's dictation, and here is a
+postscript.
+
+"`Father seems to be very dangerously ill, and the doctor says that he
+must have something upon his mind.'"
+
+"Is it that he thinks he is more ill than he really is?" said Tom
+quietly; but his uncle looked up from the letter so sharply and sternly
+that the boy changed countenance.
+
+"The letter does not suggest that, Tom," said Uncle Richard, frowning.
+"My poor brother--" Uncle Richard paused for a moment or two--"wishes to
+see me once again, he says, and--and you, my boy, on business of great
+importance to you and your interests.  If I cannot go, he requests that
+you be sent up to him at once."
+
+"Poor uncle!" said Tom quietly.  "But does he think that I ought to go
+back to the law, uncle?"
+
+"Perhaps."
+
+"But I couldn't, Uncle Richard, I am so stupid.  I hate it.  Pray, pray
+don't think of letting me go.  I am so happy here."
+
+Uncle Richard's face relaxed a little.
+
+"Perhaps he doesn't mean that.  He had to do with your poor father's
+affairs.  It may be some business connected with them."
+
+"What could there be, uncle?"
+
+"Ah, that I cannot say.  I was abroad at the time of his death."
+
+"Mother never said anything about them," said Tom.
+
+"Well, you must go up and see him at once."
+
+"Of course, uncle."
+
+"And I shall go with you, my boy.  I hope he really is not so bad."
+
+"I hope he is not," said Tom.  "How soon shall you go, uncle?"
+
+"In half-an-hour.  If we sent for a fly we could only catch the one
+o'clock train; if we walk over to the station we can catch that at
+eleven.  Shall we walk?"
+
+"Yes, uncle.  I'll change my things, and be ready as soon as you."
+
+That afternoon they reached Mornington Crescent, to find straw laid
+thickly down in front of the house, and a strange feeling of depression
+came over Tom as they entered the silent room, to be received by his
+aunt, who looked white and anxious.
+
+"I am so glad you have come, Richard," she said eagerly.  "James has
+been asking for you and Tom so many times."
+
+Just then a bell rang.
+
+"That's his bell to know if it is you," said Aunt Fanny; and she hurried
+up-stairs, to return in a few minutes.
+
+"Come up at once," she said; "you first, Richard;" and she led the way
+up-stairs, leaving Tom seated in the drawing-room, looking about at the
+familiar objects, and growing more and more low-spirited, as they
+recalled many an unhappy hour, and his troubles at the office, and with
+his cousin Sam.
+
+But he was not left there long.  In a few minutes the door re-opened,
+and his aunt and uncle came in.
+
+"You are to go up, Tom," said Uncle Richard.  "There is something to be
+communicated to you."
+
+"Is--is he so very ill, uncle?" said Tom, with a curious sensation of
+shrinking troubling him.
+
+"He is very ill, my boy.  But don't keep him waiting."
+
+"Is he in his own room, aunt?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, my dear.  Pray go softly, he is so weak."
+
+Tom drew a deep breath, and went up to the next floor, tapped lightly at
+the bedroom door, and expecting to see a terrible object stretched upon
+the bed of sickness in a darkened chamber, he entered, and felt quite a
+shock.
+
+For the room was bright and sunlit, the window open, and his uncle,
+looking very white and careworn, seated in an easy-chair, dressed, save
+that he wore a loose dressing-gown.
+
+"Ah, Tom," he said, holding out a thin hand, "at last--at last."
+
+Tom took the hand extended to him, and felt it clutch his tightly.
+
+"I'm so sorry to see you so ill, uncle," he said.
+
+"Yes, yes, of course, boy; but don't waste time.  Let me get it over--
+before it is too late."
+
+"You wanted to see me about business, uncle?"
+
+"Yes," said Uncle James, with a groan; "terrible business.  Ah, Tom, my
+boy.  But stop, go to the door, and see that no one is listening."
+
+Tom obeyed, opening and closing the door.
+
+"No, uncle, there is no one there."
+
+"Turn the key, my boy, turn the key."
+
+Tom obeyed, wondering more and more, as he returned to his uncle's side.
+
+"Now, quick," said the sick man; "go to that cupboard, and bring out
+that tin box."
+
+He did as he was told, and brought out an ordinary deed-box, which at a
+sign he placed upon a chair by his uncle's side.
+
+"Can I do anything else, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, boy," cried the sick man, "and it is my last request.  Tom, I've
+been a wicked wretch to you, and I want you to forgive me before I die."
+
+Tom smiled.
+
+"Of course, uncle," he said quietly, as a feeling of pity for the wreck
+before him filled his breast, "I suppose I was very stupid, and made you
+cross."
+
+"He does not know, he does not know," groaned James Brandon, as he clung
+to the boy's hand, "and I must tell him.  Tom, my boy, it was a sore
+temptation, and I did not resist it.  I robbed you, my boy, dreadfully.
+Here, take these, it is to make amends: deeds of some property, my boy,
+and the mortgage of some money I have lent--nearly five thousand pounds,
+my boy, and all yours by rights."
+
+"Mine!" cried Tom, startled out of his calmness by the surprise.
+
+"Yes, all yours, my boy.  Your poor mother confided it to my care, Tom,
+for you, and I was tempted, and kept it all back.  It was a fraud, Tom,
+and I am a criminal.  I could not die with that on my conscience.  Tell
+me you forgive me, Tom, before it is too late."
+
+Tom gazed at the convulsed face before him with a look of anger which
+changed into pity, and then to disgust.
+
+"Do you hear me, boy?  You must, you shall forgive me.  Don't you see I
+am almost a dying man?"
+
+"My mother trusted that all to you, and you sto--kept it back, uncle,"
+said Tom sternly.
+
+"Yes, my boy; yes, my boy.  You are quite right--stole it all, robbed
+you--an orphan.  But I'm punished, Tom.  I haven't had a happy hour
+since; and you see these--these deeds in the strong cloth-lined
+envelope, tied up with green silk--it is all yours, my boy.  Take it and
+keep it till you come of age, and then it is yours to do with as you
+like.  But tell me you forgive me."
+
+Tom was silent, and his uncle groaned.
+
+"Am I to go down on my knees to you?" he cried.
+
+"No, uncle," said Tom sadly; "and I forgive you."
+
+"Ah!" cried the wretched man, "at last--at last!" and he burst out into
+an hysterical fit of sobbing, which was painful in the extreme to the
+listener, as he stood gazing down, with the great envelope in his hand,
+at the broken, wretched man before him, till the invalid looked up
+sharply.
+
+"Put it away--in your jacket, boy, and never let me see it again.  Give
+it to your uncle to take care of for you till you come of age.  I shall
+be dead and gone then, Tom; but you will have forgiven me, and I shall
+be at rest."
+
+Tom said nothing, for his head was in a whirl, but he quietly buttoned
+up the packet in his breast.
+
+"Have you told Uncle Richard, sir?" he said, at last.
+
+"Told him?  No, no one but you, boy."
+
+"I must tell him, sir."
+
+"Yes, but not here--not till you get home.  Leave me now; I can bear no
+more.  Go down and send up your aunt.  I must take something--and sleep.
+I have had no rest for nights and nights, and I thought I should die
+before I had time to confess to you, Tom.  But you forgive me, my boy--
+you forgive me?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, once again I forgive you."
+
+"Now go," cried the invalid, catching at and kissing the boy's cold
+hand.  "Don't stop here; go back home, for fear, Tom."
+
+"For fear of what, uncle? you are not so bad as that."
+
+"For fear," panted the sick man, with a strange cough, "for fear I
+should try to get them back.  Quick! go.--Now I can sleep and rest."
+
+Tom went down, looking very strange, and found his aunt waiting
+anxiously.
+
+"He is better, aunt," said Tom quietly.  "You are to go up to him at
+once."
+
+Aunt Fanny almost ran out of the room, and as soon as they were alone
+Tom turned to his uncle.
+
+"We are to go back home directly," he said.
+
+"What, with him so bad!  What about your business?"
+
+"It is all done, uncle; and I am to take you back home, and tell you
+there."
+
+"Pish! why so much mystery, Tom?"
+
+"It is Uncle James's wish, Uncle Richard," said Tom gravely.
+
+"It was business then?"
+
+"Very important."
+
+"And we are to go?"
+
+"Yes, at once.  I want to go too, uncle, for I feel as if I could not
+breathe here.  Don't speak to me; don't ask me anything till we get
+back, and then I'll tell you all."
+
+"This is a strange business, Tom," said Uncle Richard, "but it is his
+wish then.  Well, we will go."
+
+That night Tom sat in his uncle's study, and told of his interview with
+the sick man, while his hearer slowly turned his head more and more
+away, till the little narrative was at an end.  Once, as he spoke, Tom
+heard the words muttered--
+
+"A scoundrel!  My own brother too."
+
+Then Uncle Richard was very silent, and his face was pale and strange,
+as he took the packet from his nephew's hand.
+
+"He must have been half mad, my boy," he said huskily, "or he would not
+have done this thing.  This must be our secret, Tom--a family secret,
+never mentioned for all our sakes.  We'll put the deeds in the old
+bureau to-morrow, and try and forget it all till the proper time comes.
+There, I'm better now.  Glad too, very glad, Tom.  First that he
+repented of the wrong-doing, and glad that you are so independent, my
+boy.  It was always a puzzle to me that your poor mother should have
+left you so badly off.  I said nothing, for I thought she must have
+foolishly frittered away what should have been yours."
+
+"I wish I had never known this, uncle," said Tom bitterly.
+
+"Why, my boy? it is best you should.  I am glad your poor, foolish, weak
+uncle has tried to make amends.  The next thing we shall hear will be
+that, with a load off his mind, he has grown better.  Why, Tom, he must
+have come down here to be near you, and confess the truth.  Well,
+good-night, boy.  It has been a trying day--and night.  Sleep on it and
+forget it; but first--"
+
+He held the boy's hand in his for a few moments, and his voice was very
+husky when he spoke again.
+
+"A family secret, Tom.  Your uncle--my own brother.  We must not judge
+the tempted.  Good-night; and when alone by your bedside--`Forgive us
+our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.'
+Good-night."
+
+Uncle Richard led the way to the door, opened it, and half thrust him
+without.
+
+Tom stood for a few moments in the dark hall, and then went slowly up to
+his room.
+
+The next minute he had run down again, to silently enter the study, and
+find Uncle Richard seated with his face buried in his hands, and his
+breast heaving with the terrible emotion from which he suffered.
+
+"Uncle."
+
+"Tom."
+
+The next instant he was clasped to the old man's breast, and held
+tightly there.
+
+For some minutes not a word more was said; then both rose, as if a great
+weight had been lifted away.
+
+"Good-night, Tom."
+
+"Good-night, uncle."
+
+And those two were closer together in heart than they had ever before
+been, since Heatherleigh had become Tom Blount's home.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.
+
+Uncle Richard made no further reference to the past day's business, but
+Tom noticed that he looked very serious and dejected.  He caught him
+gazing too in a peculiar way, and upon their eyes meeting Tom saw his
+uncle draw himself up rather stiffly, as if he were saying to
+himself--"Well, it was not my fault--my honour is not smirched."
+
+Tom felt that his uncle must have some such thought as this, and exerted
+himself to make him see that this sad business had only drawn them
+closer together.
+
+The plan of turning the laboratory into more of a study had been
+gradually working, and that morning, after their return from town, a
+couple of book-cases were moved up, with a carpet and chairs, making the
+circular room look cosy.
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard, as they looked round that evening; "the place
+looks quite snug, Tom.  My old study was just right for one; but when it
+was invaded by a great rough boy like you there was not room to move.
+This will do capitally; you can take possession of some of the shelves
+for your specimens that you collect, and we can make it a museum as
+well."
+
+"You won't mind, uncle, if I do bring things up here?"
+
+"I shall mind if you do not, boy.  This is our room, mind, where we can
+be quite independent, and make it as littery as we like without being
+called to account by Mrs Fidler every time there is a mess."
+
+As he spoke Uncle Richard unlocked the old walnut bureau, and took the
+large envelope from his breast--the document which Tom had handed to him
+over-night being within.
+
+"Your papers, Tom," he said, rather huskily.  "They will be as safe here
+as in my room; I will put them with these leases and things.  Of course
+you can have my keys if you wish to see them."
+
+"I don't want to see them, uncle," said Tom quietly.
+
+"Not to-day perhaps, but you will, my boy.  Some day we will go over the
+matter together; we neither of us want to talk about it now."
+
+"No, uncle, of course not."
+
+Uncle Richard placed the big envelope in the drawer and locked it up,
+placing the keys in his pocket; but directly after he took them out
+again, and opened the drawer in which lay several other legal-looking
+documents in cartridge envelopes.
+
+"Get me one of those very large cartridge envelopes, Tom, out of the
+stationery drawer," he said; and this being fetched from the
+table-drawer, the important deeds were slipped in, fastened down, and
+the envelope afterwards tied round in the most business-like way with
+red tape.  After which a wax-match was lit, and the ends of the tape
+covered with sealing-wax, and stamped with an old signet-ring.
+
+"There, my boy, we'll leave it for the present.  Some day I will go and
+see my solicitor about the matter."
+
+Tom uttered a sigh of relief as the documents were locked up, for the
+sight of them troubled him.  He felt in a way that he could not have
+explained, as if he were in some way answerable for the shame which had
+come upon their family, and that it was causing something like restraint
+between him and his uncle, who evidently was cruelly chagrined by his
+brother's conduct.
+
+"I shan't be in any hurry to have them brought out again," thought Tom;
+and as Uncle Richard placed the keys in his pocket, Tom began hurriedly
+to talk about the speculum.
+
+"How long will it be before we are able to--to what you may call it?"
+
+"Mount it?" said Uncle Richard, smiling sadly.
+
+"Yes, uncle," cried Tom.  "You don't know how I long to get it right, so
+that we can have a look at the moon."
+
+"It will be some time yet, my boy," replied Uncle Richard with a sigh;
+and Tom felt startled, for it seemed to him as if the stern,
+decisive-looking countenance before him had grown older, and the lines
+in it more deeply-marked.
+
+"Some time, uncle?  Why, you said it was as good as finished."
+
+"Yes, my boy, but duty first and pleasure after.  While I have been
+doing this little bit of business other things have crossed my mind.  I
+shall go up to town again to-morrow."
+
+"To Uncle James's?" said Tom, after a pause.
+
+"For one thing, yes.  It is painful, my boy, but I feel that I ought to
+go."
+
+Tom was silent.  He stood there feeling that his uncle was behaving
+differently to him.  For his words were cold and measured, and he did
+not speak in the light, pleasant way of a couple of days back.  At the
+same time, it was not that there was a division between them, but as if
+Uncle Richard treated him like one who shared with him a sad secret.  He
+was graver, and there was a confidential tone in his voice which made
+the boy feel that he had grown older all at once.
+
+"Shall you want me to go with you, uncle?" said Tom at last.
+
+Uncle Richard looked at him intently.
+
+"Do you feel as if you could go, Tom?" he asked.
+
+Tom was silent; and then, as the searching eyes would take no denial,
+and forced him to speak, the boy cleared his throat from something which
+seemed to choke him, and spoke out hurriedly.
+
+"Don't think me queer and awkward, or ungrateful, uncle," he cried.
+"I'm ready to forgive Uncle James, but I never did, and never can feel,
+as if I liked him.  I would rather not go and see him, but if you say I
+ought to I will."
+
+"I do not say you ought to, Tom," said his uncle gravely; "but as his
+brother, I feel that I must now he is so bad."
+
+"You're not angry with me, uncle?"
+
+"No, boy.  I like the way in which you have spoken out.  I could not
+have stood it, Tom, if you had assumed anything and been hypocritical.
+There, now, we will leave the subject.  I shall go up again to-morrow
+morning.  You can spend your time in doing any little thing to make this
+place more snug and home-like.  I dare say I shall be back to-morrow
+evening."
+
+Tom uttered a sigh full of relief as they went back to the cottage, and
+that night slept soundly enough, never once giving a thought to the
+documents in the old mill, which had suddenly turned him from a
+penniless lad into one with a few thousands to start in life when he
+came of age.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
+
+That next morning when Tom jumped out of bed, he felt light-hearted, and
+ready for anything.  He threw open his window to have a look round, and
+knew by a low whistling that David had come to work.  Then reaching out
+to have a look at the mill, with his head full of telescope, he stared,
+for the door was open; and excited by this, and fearing something was
+wrong, he hurriedly dressed, went down, and found that it only wanted a
+quarter to eight.
+
+"And I thought it was only about half-past six," he muttered, as he
+hurried out and across to the mill.
+
+All was still there, and he looked round, but nothing appeared to have
+been disturbed; but upon looking up he could see the keys were in the
+laboratory door, and he paused with his heart beating.
+
+"Pooh!" he muttered to himself, as he drove away the hesitation.
+"Nobody would be there now."
+
+He went up the stairs, though softly, as if in doubt, and looked through
+the ajar door, to see that which made him steal softly down again, for,
+with a black bag on the front of the old bureau, Uncle Richard was
+busily writing, evidently getting some business done before he went off
+to town.
+
+"Morning, Tom," he said a quarter of an hour later, as he entered the
+breakfast-room, black bag in hand; "you needn't have crept down again, I
+was only doing a little business before breakfast."
+
+"Then you heard me, uncle?"
+
+"To be sure I did, my lad.--Morning, Mrs Fidler."
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said the housekeeper; "and--and I sincerely hope
+you will find your poor brother better when you get up to town."
+
+Uncle Richard bowed his head, and the housekeeper went on--
+
+"Don't you think, sir, if it could anyhow be managed, you ought to try
+and get him down here again?  You know how much better he grew while he
+was here."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard quietly, as he went on with his breakfast.
+
+"And though I'm not clever as a nurse, you know, sir, I'd do anything I
+could to make him well."
+
+"I do know it, Mrs Fidler," said Uncle Richard warmly; "but," he added,
+with his face growing more grave, "he will not come down here again."
+
+Mrs Fidler sighed, and Tom kept his eyes fixed upon his coffee-cup.
+
+The breakfast passed off very silently, and as soon as it was over,
+Uncle Richard went into the next room, when Mrs Fidler seized upon the
+opportunity to speak.
+
+"I feel as if I must say it, Master Tom," she said, in a low tone of
+voice, "and I know you won't tell your uncle, but I don't like Mr James
+Brandon a bit, and I don't like his son; but if master will bring him
+down there's nothing I won't do to try and make him well; and I do
+assure you, Master Tom, that there's a deal more in good jellies and
+very strong beef-tea than there is in doctors' stuff."
+
+"They're much nicer," said Tom, smiling.
+
+"Ah, but it isn't all that, sir; it's the strength there is in them.
+Perhaps master might like me to go up and nurse his brother."
+
+"No, I'm sure he would not," said Tom; and just then his uncle returned.
+
+"Going to walk part of the way with me, Tom?" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"I'm going to walk all the way with you, uncle, and carry your bag,"
+said Tom; and ten minutes later they were on the road, chatting about
+the telescope, and the next things to be done, so that the long walk to
+the station was made to seem short.  Then the train came steaming in,
+and Uncle Richard stepped into his compartment.
+
+"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to come, uncle, and tell him I
+forgive him again?" whispered Tom, as he handed in the little black bag.
+
+"Certain.  I'll give your message.  Good-bye."
+
+The train glided away, and Tom started back for home with his mind busy
+for a few minutes over the scene at Mornington Crescent; and then
+thoughts flew on to the mill and into the future, when perhaps some far
+greater telescope would be mounted, and nights occupied searching the
+heavens.
+
+Then Tom's thoughts came back to earth, and Pete Warboys' hole under the
+great pine-tree, and he was still busy over that, and the great
+gipsy-like boy's habits,--poaching, probably stealing, and making
+himself a nuisance to everybody,--when he caught sight of the lad
+himself peering into a patch of coppice evidently watching something,
+that something proving to be the dog, which soon after leaped out into
+the road.
+
+Tom's footsteps had been silenced by the soft green turf which margined
+the way, so that he was close up to the lad before he was noticed, and
+then Pete gave a bound and shot into the coppice, followed by his dog;
+but once more the dog turned back to give him a friendly bark.
+
+"After no good, or he wouldn't have rushed away like that," thought Tom,
+as he went on, reached the cottage feeling very little the worse for his
+long morning's walk, and meaning to go up and busy himself in the
+laboratory; but to his surprise Mrs Fidler stopped him.
+
+"Don't go away, Master Tom; it's close to one o'clock, and lunch will be
+ready.  We will have regular dinner at seven, when your uncle comes
+back."
+
+"If he does come to-night," said Tom.
+
+"Oh, he will, my dear, if he possibly can, you may depend upon it."
+
+The housekeeper was right, for soon after half-past six the station fly
+brought Uncle Richard back, tired, but looking brighter than when he
+started.
+
+"How is he?" said Tom anxiously.
+
+"Better, much better.  Your aunt says a change came over him soon after
+we had gone, my boy, and the doctor thinks that he will come round now."
+
+Tom looked very hard in his uncle's eyes, and Uncle Richard looked very
+hard in his, but neither of them spoke.  They each thought the same
+thing though, and that was, that the doctor had said he had something
+upon his mind.  That something was no longer there, and its removal had
+achieved what no medical man could have done, and so quickly that it
+seemed to be like a miracle.
+
+A week passed, and two answers to letters of inquiry came down to
+Heatherleigh, both saying that Uncle James was improving fast.
+
+Another week, and only one letter came, with the same report.
+
+The next week a short acknowledgment came from Sam, to say that his
+father was nearly well, and had gone down to Bournemouth for a change.
+
+"I think, Tom, we may as well finish the telescope," said Uncle Richard
+dryly.  "Let's set to work at once."
+
+That same day Mrs Fidler, who had heard the news, seized an opportunity
+to deliver her opinions to Tom.
+
+"It's just as I thought, sir," she said, "he was never really bad.  It
+was all nerves and fidgetting about himself.  He thought he was in a
+very bad state, and kept on making himself worse and worse, till he
+believed that he was going to die.  It was nothing but nerves."
+
+"It was something else," thought Tom; and what that something was he did
+not confide to the housekeeper.
+
+"I'm glad he has got well again," he said to himself; "but I hope
+neither he nor Cousin Sam will come down here."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY.
+
+Time went on at its customary pace, and Uncle Richard had business in
+London again, where he was detained for some time.
+
+At last there came a letter saying that he would not be back yet, but
+that he hoped Tom would complete a perfect plane mirror before his
+return, as he still thought they might do better, and get a truer image
+of the faint stars; so, forgetting all about Pete Warboys and his dog,
+Tom worked away as busily as if his uncle were at his elbow.
+
+Then came another letter delaying the return; and in a postscript Uncle
+Richard wrote that he had called at Gray's Inn, and seen Sam, who said
+that his father was now nearly well.
+
+"I shall be very, very glad when Uncle Richard gets back again," said
+Tom that night when he went to his bedroom, and then he began thinking
+about Pete.  He got no further with him, but whenever he saw the dog,
+the animal always barked and wagged his tail.
+
+"Dog's easier than boy," thought Tom.  "Well, I can't help it; I tried
+to be friends, and I fancied he meant to be now; but I suppose he can't
+forgive me for the beating.  Still, he doesn't shout after me now.  How
+I do long to get on again with telescope work!"
+
+The thought of this made him go to the window, pull up the blind, and
+throw the casement wide.
+
+He listened for a few moments as he gazed over the dark garden, and then
+laughed softly, for there was no likelihood, he thought, of any one
+coming after the apples; then kneeling down so that he could rest his
+arms upon the window-sill, and gaze out at the intensely black sky,
+which was now ablaze with stars shining out with wondrous clearness.
+Constellation after constellation glittered above his head, with many a
+great star which he had now learned to know.  There was Vega brilliant
+in the extreme.  There too was Altair.  The bull's-eye shone out of a
+deep golden hue; and below it, and more to the south, he made out Sirius
+glittering in its diamond lustre.
+
+"That's Jupiter too," said Tom to himself; and as his eyes swept on, he
+could see Venus low-down in the south-west, just passing out of sight.
+
+Gazing on, with his eyes sweeping along the west, he passed Cygnus, with
+its great triangle, mighty Arcturus, and--
+
+"What's that?"
+
+Tom's question to himself was put not concerning a bright star or
+planet, but apropos of a noise which came from the direction of the
+mill.
+
+He listened intently, with his heart beginning to throb, for there was a
+faint noise as of a step on gravel, and then a faint whispering.
+
+Tom's heart ceased throbbing for a few moments, and then went on again
+in a way which felt suffocating, as he felt convinced that there was
+some one in the mill-yard.
+
+He listened for a minute, and then went softly down-stairs to get the
+keys of the observatory, and go out.  But as he took them from the nail
+in the little hall, he felt that if he opened the door, the shooting of
+the bolts would alarm Mrs Fidler and the maids, so he stole back to his
+room, closed the door, listened again at his window, and became sure
+that some one was in the mill-yard.
+
+"It's Pete Warboys," he said to himself as he listened.  "What mischief
+is he after now?"
+
+It was too dark to make out anything with his eyes; but his ears
+maintained that something was going on, and a sudden chill of horror and
+dismay ran through Tom.
+
+"He's going to smash the new speculum out of spite for the thrashing he
+got," muttered Tom; and nerved now by his indignant excitement, he let
+himself down from the window, and began to cross the garden without a
+sound, thinking as he went of the position.
+
+"He couldn't get in at the door," he said, "without a strong crow-bar,
+and the windows are now all strongly fastened.  Perhaps after all it's a
+mistake."
+
+But all the same there was a feeling troubling Tom which made him
+determined to thoroughly make sure that no midnight marauder was about,
+bent upon destroying the piece of optical work which had been made with
+so much care.
+
+He crept out silently, and across the lane, raised the key to open the
+yard gate, but replaced it in his pocket, walked a few yards, and, with
+the intention of not alarming the visitor, softly began to scale the
+wall, and did the very thing he wished to avoid, for as he passed over
+the wall on one side of the mill, a dark figure passed over it on the
+other side, with the difference that as Tom went in the figure went out,
+and stood peeping over.
+
+Stooping low Tom crept up to the doorway and found it fast, tried one
+window, the one that had been before opened, and found it quite right.
+Then going round to the back, he found the other window was in the same
+condition.
+
+"Nothing wrong," he said to himself, as he went on silently round the
+mill, looking upwards at the first storey windows, and then he came to a
+sudden stoppage, having struck against something in his way, and pretty
+well invisible in the darkness.
+
+Then Tom's heart began to beat again heavily, for his hands, which flew
+up, were resting upon one side of a long, slight, fruit-gathering
+ladder--one of those which sprawl out widely at the foot, and run up
+very narrow at the top, a form which makes them safe from tilting
+sidewise, and so balanced that they are easy to carry about from place
+to place.
+
+Tom knew the ladder by the shape: it was the one David borrowed from the
+next neighbour, against whose long cow-house it always hung on two great
+pegs, sheltered from the rain by the thick far-projecting thatch.
+
+And now this ladder had been reared up against the mill, and though the
+top rounds could only be dimly-seen, there they were resting up against
+the rails of the little gallery, close to the shutter which opened into
+the roof of the observatory.
+
+"It's Pete," Tom said to himself, as he stood listening, but only to
+hear the beating of his own heart.  Then he took three or four steps up
+very softly, but stopped short, for all at once there was a gleam of
+light in the panes of the laboratory window, such as would be produced
+by any one striking a wax-match.
+
+Tom stepped down again, stood looking up a few moments watching the
+feeble light, which was little more than would have been produced by the
+gleaming of the stars, and then an idea occurred to him.
+
+Getting behind the ladder he gave it a push, and it rose upright
+directly, and he found that he had no difficulty in managing it.
+Working it to and fro he walked its legs close up to the brick wall, and
+then placing his hands upon the rounds, lowered it step by step till it
+lay flat in the yard.
+
+"No running away this time," muttered Tom; and he crept back to the
+entrance, which he opened softly with the key, entered the workshop, and
+then closed the door and locked it on the inside, afterwards placing the
+keys in his pocket, but took them out again, for he remembered, what he
+had forgotten in his excitement, that since the laboratory had been
+furnished, it too had been kept locked, so that to get into the chamber
+where he had seen the gleam of light, he would have to unfasten the door
+at the top of the flight of steps.
+
+For a brief moment the boy felt nervous, then he was himself again.
+
+"Pete will be in a horrible fright," he thought; and, creeping up, he
+softly inserted the key, unlocked this door, and withdrew the key
+without a sound.  Then slowly and silently he pressed down the
+thumb-latch, the door yielded with a faint creak, and he passed in, to
+stand listening and looking round.
+
+All was still and very dark, save that he could just make out the shape
+of the window, and if any one had passed the panes he might have been
+visible as a black shadow.
+
+For an instant Tom wondered whether he could have been deceived, but the
+next he knew it was impossible.  The light might have been fancy, or a
+reflection, but there was none about that ladder.
+
+Then his heart seemed to jump into his mouth, for there was a sound
+overhead.  Some one had evidently gone to the opening, stepped into the
+little gallery, felt for the ladder, found it gone, and concluding that
+the movable top had swung round, was now hurriedly spinning the wheel
+and causing the whole of the light wooden dome to revolve.
+
+"Caught," cried Tom beneath his breath; and, reckless of consequences,
+he crossed the laboratory, ascended the steps, and dashed across to
+where the iron wheel was pivoted to the wall.
+
+"It's no good," he shouted.  "Give up!" and he caught some one by the
+shoulder; but before he could get a good grip he received a tremendous
+buffet in the chest, which sent him staggering backward, and ere he
+could recover himself his adversary had made for the trap-door, and
+begun to descend as if quite at home in the place.
+
+Tom made after him, but in the darkness he bore too much to his right,
+and as he corrected his course by touch, he only bent down to descend in
+time to feel the trap-door brush by him, and fall with a bang, which
+forced from him a cry, mingled with the shooting of the bolt.
+
+Fortunately as well as unfortunately, the trap-door fell upon Tom's
+foot, which was half over the opening, and the bolt shot into vacancy,
+so that the next minute the boy had dragged it up, descended two or
+three steps, holding on by the edge of the floor, and then swung himself
+forward and dropped into the chamber below.
+
+"You stop, or it'll be the worse for you," he shouted fiercely, for the
+pain in his foot had roused him into a fit of passion which drove away
+everything but the desire to get a good grip of Pete.
+
+There was no reply, no sound, and Tom felt that the scoundrel must be
+close at hand stooping behind one of the tables or crouching against the
+wall.
+
+"It's of no use," cried Tom fiercely.  "You're caught like a rat in a
+cage.  Do you hear, sir?  Give in!"
+
+_Creak_, _creak_! just as Tom was craning his head forward.
+
+The sound came from below, and with a muttered ejaculation, full of
+vexation, the boy darted to the head of the steps, and rushed down in
+the darkness at a break-neck speed, which ended in a big jump on to the
+stone-floor, from whence he rushed toward the window which made that
+noise when any one tried to open it--a difficult task with the new hasps
+to any one who did not understand them.
+
+There was no one by the window, but no doubt about the presence of
+another in the stone-floored place, for the footsteps had sounded, and
+as Tom stood ready to spring he could detect a low panting noise.
+
+"Now then!" he cried; "you hear what I say--give up at once."
+
+There was no reply, and Tom tried to pierce the darkness, and then made
+a sudden rush in the direction where he thought the visitor must be.
+
+He was not right, but his action betrayed where the fellow was, for he
+rushed across the place, and sent a thrill through Tom's breast.
+
+And now a desperate game at blind-man's-buff commenced, in which he
+moved cautiously here and there, with his clenched fists extended ready
+to strike or ward off a blow, which was certain to be aimed at him if he
+tried to seize the too active enemy.
+
+And as he moved here and there in the cold dark place, he realised how
+easily one trying to escape could avoid a would-be captor by keeping
+very still and away from the windows, or by ducking down when passing
+them.  Twice over he touched an arm, once a head, but their owner
+bounded away with a faint ejaculation at each touch, and the hunt went
+on round and round the place, till both stopped, listening for the
+other's next movements.
+
+There was a long period of painful silence.
+
+"He's close to the door," thought Tom at last, for he fancied that the
+breathing came from there; and moving slowly and almost imperceptibly,
+he glided nearer, holding himself ready to make a spring at the
+slightest sound.  In this fashion he had half covered the workshop
+toward the door, and was in the act of bounding forward the rest of the
+way, when he heard a sound behind him, and the next moment the enemy was
+rushing up the steps to reach the laboratory again.
+
+"Better than creeping about here in the dark," thought Tom, as he too
+rushed for the steps and began to ascend, to have the door banged in his
+face, and by the time he had reached it and got through, his quarry was
+at the top of the next flight of steps, and had banged down the
+trap-door.
+
+Tom was up directly, though, threw the trap over, and sprang panting
+into the observatory, to stand in the darkness here too, listening and
+trying to make out where his quarry was lying in wait; and heedless of
+danger, he did not stop to take a necessary precaution.
+
+Then there came a loud scraping noise from outside, and Tom sprang
+towards the open shutter, convinced that his quarry had climbed out into
+the tiny gallery; but at the same moment he came heavily in contact with
+some one, and was taken so unexpectedly, that at the end of a brief
+struggle here and there upon the floor Tom uttered a cry, for he stepped
+suddenly down over the edge of the trap-way, completely losing his
+balance as his foot was checked on a stair eighteen inches below, and he
+fell heavily, bumping down all of a heap to the lower floor, where he
+lay half-stunned, listening to the banging down of the trap once more,
+and feeling stupid and confused as he gathered himself up, and again
+ascended the steps, to thrust open the door with hands and head.
+
+This time as he passed through he closed the trap after him, and stood
+dizzy and panting, knowing that he was hurt, but unable to tell how
+much.
+
+A sound that he heard cleared his head the next moment, for it sent a
+thrill of excitement through him which told him he could not be very
+bad, and he stepped quickly to the open shutter and began to get
+through.
+
+For the sound he heard was the rap of the top of the ladder against the
+little gallery rails; and as he crept out and into the little wooden
+construction, he felt for and touched the end of the ladder, which was
+quivering as if some one was going down.
+
+There was no dizziness in Tom's brain now.  The enemy was just below and
+escaping.
+
+Passing one leg over the rail, Tom planted a foot safely as he held on,
+then the other, and began to descend as rapidly as he could, feeling the
+ladder quiver more and more, and then hearing as he was half-way down a
+whisper.  Then he felt a jerk, one side of the slight implement was
+wrenched over sidewise, and the top glided from the gallery.  The next
+moment he was falling as he clung, and before he had time to think, he
+and the ladder came to the ground with a crash.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
+
+Tom was some ten feet or so from the ground when he described an arc in
+the darkness, so that it was not a very serious fall, but bad enough to
+knock the sense out of him for a moment or two, and the worse from its
+coming so closely upon his bumping down the upper steps.  Consequently
+he lay quite still with the ladder upon him for a while, with a dim idea
+that he could hear whispering, scrambling, and then the patter of steps
+somewhere not far away.
+
+Those footsteps were still to be heard when the boy thrust the ladder
+over, rose very slowly to a sitting position, and tried to look round
+him, seeing more stars than he had when he knelt at his bedroom window,
+these too having a peculiar circling motion of their own, which made his
+head ache violently.
+
+"He's got the best of me again," said the boy rather piteously, "for
+it's no good to go after him now."
+
+Tom had the organ of order sufficiently developed to make him wish to
+pick up and return the ladder instead of leaving it lying in the yard;
+but he felt shaken up, and the feeling of confusion came upon him again
+so strongly that he stood thinking for a few minutes, and then went and
+unlocked the gate, listened a while, and then locked it after him and
+crossed the lane into the garden.
+
+The next minute he was under his bedroom window, feeling unwilling to
+climb up, for he was getting cold and stiff; but he dragged himself on
+to the sill, got in, and without stopping to undress, threw himself on
+the bed and fell into a sound sleep, in which he dreamed that two
+policemen came down from London with the big black prison van and
+carried off Pete Warboys, who was taken to the Old Bailey to be tried
+for stealing the round wooden dome-shaped structure which formed the top
+of the mill.
+
+He was awakened next morning soon after six by the pattering at his
+window of some scraps of fine gravel, and jumping off the bed he found
+David below on the lawn.
+
+"Here, look sharp and come down, Master Tom," cried the gardener
+excitedly.
+
+"What's the matter?" said Tom, whose mind was rather blank as to the
+past night's business.
+
+"Some 'un's been in the night and stole the tallowscoop."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"But they have, sir.  It's as fact as fack.  There's the top wooden
+window open, and Jellard's long fruit-ladder lying in the yard."
+
+Tom hurried down at once, to find the ladder just as he had left it; and
+on entering the mill, closely followed by David, he looked round for
+traces of the burglarious work that must have been done.
+
+But all was in its ordinary state in the workshop, and after a sharp
+investigation, Tom was on his way to the steps, when David looked at him
+in a half-injured way as if disappointed.
+
+"What, arn't nothing stole here, sir?"
+
+"No; everything seems to be right," replied Tom.
+
+"Well, I should ha' thought they'd ha' took the spacklums or something
+while they was about it."
+
+But matters wore a different aspect upon the laboratory being reached.
+On the whole the place looked undisturbed, save that a rug or two had
+been kicked up, and a chair tilted over against the wall; but at the
+second glance Tom felt a thrill, for there facing him was the old walnut
+bureau, with its drawers open, and the contents tumbled over and over,
+the small top drawer to the right especially taking Tom's attention, for
+it hung nearly out and was perfectly empty.
+
+There had not been much in it, only a few papers, but one was the large
+cartridge paper envelope, which contained the documents given to him by
+his uncle when that strange visit was paid.  These had evidently gone;
+what else had been taken it was impossible to say.
+
+"They've been at it here, Master Tom, haven't they?"
+
+"I'm afraid so, David."
+
+"Then hadn't I better go and fetch the policeman directly, sir?"
+
+"No," said Tom decisively.  "We must wait till uncle comes back, and see
+what he says."
+
+"But they'll get right away, sir, 'fore he comes back."
+
+"I'm afraid whoever it was has got right away, David," said Tom; and he
+told his companion as much of the events of the past night as he thought
+necessary.
+
+"Oh, why didn't you come and call me up, Master Tom?" cried the gardener
+reproachfully.  "If I'd been there we could ha' captivated 'em, for
+there must ha' been two.  That there ladder couldn't ha' lifted itself
+up again, and stood ready for the one inside to get down."
+
+"Yes, there must have been two," said Tom thoughtfully.
+
+"You should ha' comed and called me, sir--you should indeed.  I've got
+as much right to take care o' master's property when he's out as you
+have."
+
+"I never thought of it, David."
+
+"It's on'y three 'undered and forty-nine yards and a half to my cottage,
+sir.  You might have thought o' me."
+
+"I only wish I had," said Tom warmly.  "I should have been so glad to
+have you."
+
+"Well, sir, there's something in that," said David, but only to repeat
+himself in a reproachful tone--"It was on'y three 'undered and
+forty-nine yards, and what's that to a young gent like you."
+
+"It can't be helped now, David.  Let's go up-stairs."
+
+Tom felt stiffer as he went up the step-ladder, and the whole business
+of the struggle in the dark came back as they stood in the observatory,
+where all seemed to be correct, save an overturned stool, and the
+position of the telescope in the middle changed.
+
+"What's gone from here, sir?" asked David.
+
+"I don't see anything."
+
+"Oh, but they must have took something else, sir."
+
+"Perhaps so, but I cannot see what."
+
+"Then that's because you disturbed 'em, sir.  They was ramshacking your
+uncle's desk thing when you come.  Tend upon it that was it.  Oh, I do
+wish I'd been there just at the bottom of the ladder ready to nab 'em as
+they come down.  Say, Master Tom--think your uncle kep' his money in
+that there old chest-o'-drawers thing?"
+
+"I think he used to keep a little bag of change there," replied Tom
+thoughtfully; and it seemed more probable that the thieves were after
+that than in search of papers, which could have been of no earthly use
+to them, though the drawer was nearly empty all the same.
+
+"You did get hold o' one of 'em, sir?" said David, after a pause.
+
+"Oh, yes, more than once."
+
+"And he felt like that there Pete Warboys, didn't he?"
+
+"Yes--no--I don't know," said Tom confusedly; and David scratched his
+head.
+
+"That's like asking a man a riddle, sir," he said.  "Can't make much o'
+that."
+
+"Well, what can I say, David?" cried Tom impatiently.  "It was pitch
+dark, and I was thinking of nothing else but catching him.  I could see
+nothing but the dim-looking windows."
+
+"But you felt him, sir."
+
+"Oh yes, I had hold of him."
+
+"Well, did he feel like Pete?"
+
+"What nonsense!  One lad would feel like another."
+
+"Oh no, sir, he wouldn't.  Pete's bones'd feel all loose and shimbly.
+Bound to say you heared his jyntes keep on cracking."
+
+"No, I don't remember that.--Yes, I do," continued Tom excitedly.  "I
+did hear him go crack twice when we were wrestling."
+
+"There you are, you see," cried the gardener triumphantly, "that's
+c'roborative evidence, and c'roborative evidence is what they make
+detective police on.  It was Pete Warboys, sure enough."
+
+"I thought it must be, David."
+
+"Not a doubt 'bout it, sir.  We've got him this time safe enough, and
+he'll be sent away for the job, and a blessing to Furzebrough, I say.
+But I'll try you again, sir.  Just lead you up like.  Now, then, to make
+more sure--you smelt him too, didn't you?"
+
+"Smelt him?" cried Tom.
+
+"Ay, sir, that's what I said.  You could smell him yards away."
+
+"Oh no, I didn't smell him," said Tom, laughing.
+
+"Do you mean to tell me, Master Tom, that, you didn't smell Pete the
+other night when you was letting go at him with that stick atop o' our
+wall?"
+
+"I remember smelling onions very strong."
+
+"There!" cried David triumphantly.  "Of course you did.  I like an onion
+roasted, or in stuffing, or the little 'uns pickled, but that chap lives
+on 'em.  You ask anybody in the village, and they'll tell you they can't
+keep an onion in their gardens for him.  He's a savage at 'em.  And you
+mean to tell me that you didn't smell onions when you was fighting with
+him last night?"
+
+"No, I'm sure I didn't."
+
+"I don't like that," said David, polishing one of his red ears.
+"P'r'aps he hadn't been able to steal any yesterday.  But it's a wonder
+you didn't smell that."
+
+"But perhaps it wasn't Pete."
+
+"Now don't say that, my lad.  There's no getting away from them bones.
+Nobody never had such loose bones.  It was him right enough."
+
+"Think so, David?" said Tom dubiously.
+
+"Course I do, Master Tom.  Who else would ha' knowed where to find
+Jellard's ladder?"
+
+"Plenty o' people," said Tom eagerly; "all the village."
+
+"Don't you say a word, like that, Master Tom," said the gardener
+solemnly, "because it arn't right.  I've knowed Furzebrough man and boy
+ever since I was born, and there arn't a soul in it as'd go and get that
+ladder and break in and steal your uncle's contrapshums.  I won't say as
+there arn't a lot o' people who talk about 'em, and believe old Mother
+Warboys when she says they're bad and dangerous, and like to bring evil
+on the place; but, bless your 'art, sir, there arn't one as would do
+your uncle harm.  I won't say as the boys, and maybe a school-gal,
+wouldn't help theirselves to a happle or a pear or two as were in
+reach--I won't deceive you, Master Tom, I've done it myself coming home
+from school; but take it altogether, there arn't a honester village
+nowhere in Sorrey, and I'll stick to that, even if I was up before a
+judge, and a jury of my fellow-countrymen swore me till I was black in
+the face."
+
+Tom smiled.
+
+"Ah, you may laugh, sir," said David, shaking his head; "that's youth,
+and wanting to know better.  I'm a bit older than you.  This here's a
+honest place, sir.  I won't say nothing about tramps from London, and
+furreners coming in search o' work; but you might keep gold and silver
+jools down here without locking your doors--leastwise if Pete Warboys
+warn't about; but I told you how it would be."
+
+"Well, let's go down, David," said Tom, who could not help thinking
+about the proverb concerning a dog with a bad name.  "This shutter must
+have a proper fastening.  But who would have thought of any one getting
+a ladder?  You had better take it back."
+
+"Yes, sir, and tell old Jellard to put a chain and padlock on it, or
+else there's no knowing what may happen."
+
+So after deciding to leave the old bureau just as it was until his uncle
+had examined and seen what was missing, and noting that it had been
+opened by means of some kind of chisel inserted just above the keyhole,
+Tom locked up, and then held the gate open for David to carry the ladder
+he had shouldered home.
+
+"Nyste sort of a job, Master Tom," he said, "clearing up the bits arter
+robbers and thieves; but there--you never knows what you may come to in
+this life."
+
+The next moment Tom had to duck his head to avoid a blow as the ladder
+was swung round; and that morning Mrs Fidler, who knew nothing of what
+had happened, took Tom aside directly after breakfast.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Master Tom," she began, and the boy stared; "I
+didn't notice it before we begun, but I do now, and as master's out it
+makes me feel anxious.  You're not well, sir."
+
+"Oh yes, quite well," said Tom hastily.
+
+"No, sir, you can't deceive me.  But I know it's only natural for young
+people to say so.  Physic isn't nice, sir, but it's very necessary
+sometimes, and if you would be advised by me you'd let me give you
+something this morning.  Better late than never, sir."
+
+"What, me take some medicine?" cried Tom.  "Nonsense!  I'm quite right."
+
+Mrs Fidler shook her head.
+
+"Take which you like, sir; I've got them both in my store closet.  A
+tablespoonful of castor oil--"
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated Tom, with a grimace.
+
+"--Or a cupful of prune tea."
+
+"That sounds better," said Tom, smiling.
+
+Mrs Fidler shook her head.
+
+"I shouldn't like to deceive you, Master Tom," she said, "because though
+prune tea sounds very nice, you don't taste the French plums I make it
+of, but the salts and senna in which the prunes are stewed.  But it's a
+very, very valuable medicine, my dear, and if you will be prevailed
+upon--Dear me! look at that now.  Oh, how obstinate young folks can be!"
+
+For at her description of the concoction of prune tea, Tom thrust his
+handkerchief to his mouth, and ran out into the garden, before going
+across to the workshop to continue the manufacture of a perfect plane of
+glass, such as would satisfy Uncle Richard on his return.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY TWO.
+
+Uncle James Brandon sat one morning a short time before the events of
+the night described in the last chapters, biting his nails, and looking
+old, yellow, and careworn.  He was supposed to be quite well again, and
+the doctors had given up visiting him, but, as his son said in a very
+contemptuous, unfilial way to his mother--
+
+"He's better in health than temper, and if things are going on like this
+I shall be off somewhere, for I'm sick of it."
+
+For there had been quarrels daily between father and son, stormings
+against wife and servants, and poor Pringle the clerk had vowed to
+himself that he would not stay at the office for another week; but he
+always stayed, for there were reasons at home against his throwing
+himself out of work.
+
+So Uncle James sat in his private room at the Gray's Inn office, looking
+old, yellow, and biting his nails, like the ancient ogre, sometimes
+making up his mind in one direction, sometimes in another.
+
+At last he touched his table gong, and, as quickly as he could get
+there, Pringle presented himself.
+
+"You ring, sir?"
+
+"You know I rang, sir," cried Uncle James savagely.  "Send him here
+directly."
+
+"Cert'ny, sir, but--er--"
+
+"I said send him here."
+
+"Yes, sir.  Who, sir?"
+
+"Mr Samuel, you blockhead.  Didn't you hear what I said?"
+
+"Yes, sir; but Mr Samuel's not in the office, sir."
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated his employer; and Pringle made his escape.
+
+Ten minutes later Sam entered the place, and the clerk whispered to him
+sharply--
+
+"Gov'nor wants you, sir.  Awful temper, sir."
+
+"Oh, is he?" said Sam sullenly.  And then to himself--"I'm not going to
+take any of his nonsense, so I tell him."
+
+Pulling down his cuffs, and looking very pugnacious, he entered the
+private room ready to repel an attack, but to his surprise, his father,
+who the minute before had been seated looking very irresolute, now
+became very determined, and pointed to a chair.
+
+"Sit down, my boy," he said in a low voice.
+
+Sam felt relieved, and he drew forward a chair.
+
+"Sam, my boy," continued James Brandon, "I'm in terrible trouble."
+
+"What about, father--money?"  James Brandon nodded.
+
+"I've been too hasty, my boy.  I was very ill, and I did what I should
+not have done in calmer moments."
+
+There was a pause, and Sam waited, wondering what was to come next.
+
+"You remember my sending for your cousin to come up?"
+
+"Yes, father; you sent me away on business," said Sam, in rather a
+sneering tone, "so as to get me out of the way, but I heard all about it
+afterwards."
+
+"All about it?" said his father, with an anxious look.
+
+"I suppose so," replied Sam carelessly.
+
+"No, my boy, you did not," said his father, leaning forward and taking
+his son by the coat as he spoke in a very low voice.  "The fact is, Sam,
+while I was ill and low-spirited I got a number of curious fancies into
+my head--half-delirious, I suppose--about some deeds and documents left
+in my charge by your aunt, Tom Blount's mother, when she died."
+
+"Yes?" said Sam, growing interested now.
+
+"I fancied somehow, my boy, that it was my duty to give those deeds up
+to your cousin; and though I fought against it for some time, the idea
+grew too strong for me, and I felt that I must send for him and give
+them over into his charge."
+
+"Were they his by rights, father?" said Sam sharply.
+
+"They were given into my charge, my boy," replied his father evasively,
+"and I behaved very weakly and foolishly in giving them up to your
+cousin."
+
+"Then you did give them up to Tom that day?"
+
+"Yes, Sam, and it is a very troublesome matter.  I tell you, I did not
+know what I was about then, and it will affect you very seriously by and
+by, if I don't get them back."
+
+"You mean in money matters, father?" said Sam sharply.
+
+"Yes; affect me now heavily, and you by and by."
+
+"Get them back then at once," said Sam--the young lawyer giving the
+elder advice.
+
+"Yes, Sam, my boy, that's what I want to do, but how?"
+
+"Write and tell young Tom to bring them up."
+
+James Brandon shook his head.
+
+"No use--no use, my boy.  I must have said a great many foolish things
+to the lad that day."
+
+"But you must get the papers or whatever they are back again, father,"
+cried Sam, who was now growing excited.  "You'll have to go down there
+yourself."
+
+"Impossible; but I have made up my mind to send you to try and get
+them."
+
+"And suppose I did, father?"
+
+"Suppose you did?  Why then, my boy, I could--I mean we could laugh at
+them, treat anything that was said with contempt.  Do you hear?  With
+contempt."
+
+"Stop a bit," said Sam quietly.  "You always told me to be cautious in
+business matters, and that I was to keep one foot down firmly till I
+found a safe place for the other."
+
+"Of course, my lad, of course."
+
+"Well, suppose I go down to that country bumpkin's place?"
+
+"Yes, if you went down you would find out where the papers were kept,"
+said James Brandon eagerly.
+
+"And if I did?"
+
+"You could bring them away.  The boy's too stupid to take very great
+care of them."
+
+"But suppose he has given them to Uncle Richard?"
+
+"Pish! what then?  Your uncle would only pitch them into a drawer, and
+go away to forget them, and dream about the moon.  You could go down on
+a visit, find out where they are, and bring them away."
+
+"I say, dad," said Sam, with a sneer, "isn't that very much like
+stealing?"
+
+"No, no, no, no," cried his father quickly; "only getting back some
+documents left in my charge--papers which I gave up during a severe
+illness, when I did not know what I was about.  You understand?"
+
+"Oh yes, father, I understand, but it looks ugly."
+
+"It would look uglier for you to be left almost without a penny, Sam,
+and your cousin to be well off."
+
+"Ye-es," said Sam quietly, as he stood with his brows knit; "that would
+be ugly, dad."
+
+"Then you will go?"
+
+"Perhaps.  That depends.  Not as you propose.  They'd miss the papers,
+and I should get the credit of having taken them."
+
+James Brandon stared at his son in surprise, forgetting the fact that he
+had been training and moulding him for years to become a self-satisfied,
+selfish man, with only one idea, that of taking care of himself, no
+matter who suffered.
+
+"He's growing a sharp one," thought the father, half gratified, half
+annoyed.  Then aloud--
+
+"Oh no, Sam, I don't think that."
+
+"You don't want to think that, father," said Sam, drawing himself up
+importantly.
+
+"Oh yes, my boy," said James Brandon.  "I don't want to get you into
+trouble."
+
+"No, father, of course not; it would be getting you into a scrape as
+well.  Look here, suppose I slip down and get the deeds without being
+seen--without any one being a bit the wiser?"
+
+James Brandon shook his head.
+
+"Oh, I don't want the job," said Sam coolly.
+
+His father was silent for a few moments, and Sam took out a knife, threw
+himself back in his chair, and began to trim his nails.
+
+"But look here, Sam," said James Brandon at last, and he seemed to be in
+a nervous, excited state.  "It is of vital importance to me that I
+should have those papers."
+
+"Then if I were you I should go down and get them, father," said Sam
+coolly.
+
+"But that is impossible, my boy.  Come, you will do that for me?"
+
+"I don't see why I should," replied Sam; "you don't make things very
+pleasant for me."
+
+"But I will, my boy, I will do anything you like; and don't you
+understand how important it is for you?"
+
+"Yes, I begin to see," said Sam coolly.  "You've got yourself into a
+scrape, father, over some of young Tom Blount's affairs, and you want to
+make cat's-paws of me."
+
+"No, sir," cried his father angrily.
+
+"Oh, but you do."
+
+"I do want you to help me get those--those--"
+
+"Chestnuts," said Sam, with a grin.
+
+"Well, call them that if you like, my boy," said his father, trying to
+be jocose, but looking ghastly pale the while, and with the perspiration
+standing in tiny drops upon his forehead.  "But you must help me, Sam.
+The money will all be yours by and by."
+
+Sam sat back staring straight before him in silence for a few minutes,
+while his father watched him intently.
+
+"Well, I don't want you to get into trouble, father," he said at last.
+"You don't open out to me frankly, but I can see as far into a millstone
+as most people.  I'm not quite a fool."
+
+"No, my boy, no," said James Brandon eagerly.  "I'm delighted to find
+what a sharp man of business you are growing."
+
+"But you never made yourself hoarse by telling me so, dad," said Sam,
+with a grin.
+
+"Because I did not want to make you conceited, my dear boy," cried the
+father.  "Then you will help me?"
+
+"The money's no temptation to me, father," said Sam loftily.
+
+"But it will be very useful to you by and by, my boy.  Surely you don't
+want that ill-conditioned cub to inherit it."
+
+"Of course I don't," said Sam.  "There, all right, I'll go and get them
+for you somehow, but if there's any rumpus afterward you'll have to
+stand the racket, for I shan't.  I shall say you sent me."
+
+"Of course, my boy, of course.  But you are too clever to make any
+mistake over the business, and--and you are beginning to be a great help
+to me, Sam.  The time's getting on now towards when we must begin to
+think of your being a junior partner.  Only about three or four years,
+Sam.--Then you will go down at once?"
+
+"You leave that to me," said Sam importantly.  "But I must have some
+money."
+
+"Yes, my boy, of course.  Half-a-sovereign will be plenty, I suppose?"
+
+"No, you don't," said Sam, with a look full of contempt at the shrunken,
+degraded man before him, who was receiving the punishment already of his
+misdeeds, and suffering more keenly than from any which could have been
+inflicted by the law.
+
+"But how much do you want, my boy?" he faltered--"fifteen shillings?"
+
+"I want two pounds," said Sam coolly, "to pay my expenses.  Perhaps I
+shall have to give some blackguard half-a-sovereign to get the papers
+for me, and if I come back with them all right, you'll have to give me
+five pounds."
+
+"Five pounds!" gasped his father.
+
+"Yes, dad; and if you make so much fuss about it I shan't go unless you
+give me ten pounds."
+
+James Brandon looked in a ghastly way, which made his sickly face seem
+agonised, and he slowly drew out his purse and handed his son the money.
+
+"When will you start?" he said.
+
+"Now, directly," said Sam, rising from his chair; and his father's
+countenance brightened.
+
+"Hah!" he exclaimed, "that's very prompt and business-like of you, Sam.
+You'll be careful though."  And he whispered some instructions.
+
+"You leave me alone for that, dad," said Sam.  "I know what I'm about."
+
+As he spoke he rose quickly from his chair, gave his father a short nod,
+and opened the door, to find himself face to face with Pringle, whose
+hand was raised.
+
+"Oh!" cried the clerk, starting.  "Beg pardon, sir, I was just going to
+knock."
+
+"What is it?" cried James Brandon angrily, and turning pale in dread
+lest the clerk should have heard anything which had passed.
+
+"These deeds, sir--finished the copying," said the man quietly, and with
+a look of surprise that his employer should have asked him what he
+wanted.
+
+"Oh yes; put them down," said Brandon hastily.
+
+"What shall I go on with next?"
+
+"The letters I told you about last night."
+
+"Cert'ny, sir, of course," said Pringle; and he hurried out of the room,
+leaving father and son staring at each other across the table.
+
+"Think he heard, Sam?" said James Brandon, looking more ghastly than
+ever.
+
+"No, not he.  Couldn't have heard more than a word or two.  He daren't
+listen."
+
+"Think not, Sam?"
+
+"Sure of it, dad.  There, I'll be off now."
+
+"Yes, do; and pray be careful.  One moment, Sam: your uncle is not out
+with you?"
+
+"Which means he is with you," said Sam, smiling.
+
+"Yes, my boy, a little.  We don't quite agree about--about a little
+matter; but he would be friendly to you.  So don't you think you had
+better go down as a visitor?"
+
+"No, father, I don't," said Sam shortly; and he went out at once.
+
+"Gov'nor must have made a terrible mess of it, or he wouldn't be in such
+a stew," said Sam to himself, as he went thoughtfully away, and came to
+the conclusion that the best thing he could do would be to have a
+mouthful of something.
+
+The mouthful took the form of a good dinner at a restaurant, and over
+this he sat thinking out his proceedings in a very cool, matter-of-fact
+way, till he thought it was time to make a commencement, when he
+summoned the waiter, and asked for the railway time-table.  Then, after
+picking out a suitable train, he paid his bill with one of his father's
+sovereigns, called a cab, and had himself driven to the terminus, where
+he took his ticket for the station beyond Furzebrough Road, and soon
+after was on his way down into the wild part of Surrey.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY THREE.
+
+Sam Brandon timed himself so accurately that he was crossing the little
+river-ford just as it was so dark that he could hardly make out the
+stepping-stones.  But he got over quite dry, and after a short walk on
+the level, began to mount the sandy hill which formed part of the way
+entering Furzebrough at the top end, and led him by the fork in the road
+down one side of which his father had steered the bath-chair, and
+plunged into the soft sand of the great pit.
+
+It was a soft, silent time, and the place seemed to be terribly lonely
+to one accustomed to the gas-lamps of London streets.  The shadows under
+the hedges were so deep that they appeared likely to hide lurkers who
+might suddenly leap out to rob, perhaps murder, for with all his outward
+show in bravado, Sam Brandon felt extremely uneasy consequent about the
+mission which had brought him down there, and he at once decided that it
+would be better to walk in the middle of the road.
+
+Five minutes later he had to take the path again, for he met a horse and
+cart, the driver shouting a friendly good-night, to which Sam responded
+with a stifled cry of alarm, for he had nearly run against a man who
+suddenly appeared in the darkness, but proved to be quite an inoffensive
+personage bound for home.
+
+Then as the crown of the hill was reached, there was the great gloomy
+fir-wood, whose columns stood up quite close to the road, and under
+whose shade Sam had to make his way toward the village, thinking deeply
+the while, that after all his task was not so easy as it seemed before
+he came down into the country.
+
+"No fear of being seen though," he thought, as he went on, continually
+on the look-out for danger to himself, but seeing none, hearing none,
+till he was in the deepest part of the sandy lane, with the side of the
+fir-wood on his right, a hedge-topped bank on the left.
+
+It was darker now than ever; and as it was early yet for the work he had
+in hand, he had slackened speed, and finally stopped short, hesitating
+about going on.
+
+"What a horrible, cut-throat-looking place!" he muttered, as he tried to
+pierce the gloom which hid the beautifully--draped sand-banks dotted
+with ferns, and made lovely by flowers at all times of the year.  "Any
+one might be in hiding there, ready to spring out."
+
+He had hardly thought this when he uttered a cry of horror, swung round,
+and ran as hard as he could back toward the crown of the hill, for all
+at once there was a peculiar sound, like the magnified hiss of some
+large serpent, and, looking up, he could dimly see against the starlit
+sky a gigantic head with curling horns, whose owner was evidently gazing
+down upon him where he stood in the middle of the lane twenty feet
+below.
+
+Sam Brandon must have run five hundred yards back before want of breath
+compelled a slackening of speed, and his panic fear gave place to
+common-sense.
+
+"What a fool I am!" he said to himself, with wonderful accuracy; "it
+must have been some precious old cow."
+
+This thought brought him quite to a stand, and after a little
+consideration, he felt so certain of the cause of his alarm that he
+turned and continued his route again toward the village, reaching the
+dark part, hesitating for a few moments before going on, and now hearing
+up to the left and over the dimly-seen hedgerow the regular _crop, crop,
+crop_ of some animal grazing upon the crisp dew-wet grass.
+
+"If anybody had told me," he muttered, "that I could have been scared by
+a jolly old cow, I should have kicked him.  How absurd!"
+
+He walked on now firmly enough, till, in spite of the darkness, the road
+became more familiar, and in due time he could see the lights at
+Heatherleigh, and looking up to his right against the starry sky, the
+top of the great mill.
+
+It was too soon, he felt, and turning back, pretty well strung up now to
+what was rapidly assuming the aspect of a desperate venture, he walked
+on till the golden sand looked light upon his left, and showed a way
+into the wood.  Here he turned off, walked cautiously in amongst the
+tall columns for a few yards, and then sat down on the fir-needles,
+listened to find that all was still, and taking out cigarette-case and
+match-box he struck a light and began to smoke, sheltering the bright
+burning end of the little roll of tobacco, and trying as he rested to
+improve his plans.
+
+For he was hot and tired.  He had found the station beyond Furzebrough
+quite seven miles from the village, and being a perfectly fresh route to
+him, it had seemed twice as far; while the fact that he wished to keep
+his visit a profound secret forced him to refrain from asking questions
+as to the way, after being instructed by the station-master at the
+first.
+
+It was restful and pleasant there on the soft natural couch of sand and
+fir-needles, and after a time Sam's head began to bow and nod, and then,
+just as he was dropping off fast asleep, the cigarette, which he had
+been puffing at mechanically, dropped from his lips and fell in his lap.
+
+In a few minutes the fume which had been rising changed its odour from
+burning vegetable to smouldering animal, and Sam leaped up with a yell
+of pain, to hastily clap his hands to a bright little round hole upon
+the leg of his trousers, where the woollen material had caught fire and
+burned through to his skin.
+
+"Hang the stupid thing!" he grumbled, as he squeezed the cloth and put
+out the tiny glowing spark.  "Must have dropped off.  Looked nice if I'd
+slept all night in this idiotic place.  Too soon yet, but I mustn't go
+to sleep again."
+
+To avoid this he began to walk up and down among the trees, but
+carefully kept close to the road, for he grasped the fact that it would
+be very easy to go astray in a fir-wood at night.
+
+Now as the dark hours are those when certain animals which live in the
+shade of trees choose for their rambles abroad, it so happened that one
+of these creatures was awake, had left its hole, and was prowling about
+on mischief bent, when the yell Sam Brandon uttered rose on the night
+air.
+
+The first effect was to cause the prowler to start off and run; the
+second caused curiosity, and made the said prowler begin to crawl
+cautiously toward the spot from whence the cry arose, and in and out
+among the tree-trunks, till the shadowy figure of Sam could be seen
+going to and fro to avoid more sleep.
+
+Then, as the prowler lay near at hand upon his chest watching, there
+came a time when Sam went down upon his knees in the densest spot near,
+to shelter himself from observation while he lit a fresh cigarette.
+
+Now it so happened that the darkest spot was close to where the prowler
+lay without being able to escape, as it would have caused a noise, and
+consequent betrayal.
+
+Then after selecting a cigarette by touch, and opening his match-box,
+Sam struck a little wax taper, began to light his cigarette, and
+naturally held the flame so near his face that, as he knelt there, it
+was well illumined for the benefit of the prowler, who crouched close
+and stared hard, expecting moment by moment to be seen.
+
+But Sam saw nothing for the glare, while the prowler recognised his
+features, and lay still and waited close by the smoker till nearly
+another hour had elapsed, when Sam drew a long deep breath and said
+softly--
+
+"Now for it."
+
+For _it_ meant money, freedom from all domination, and, as the lad
+thought very unwisely, a general sense of independence of father and the
+whole world; though in carrying out this act he was riveting, so to
+speak, moral fetters round his wrists.
+
+He had had hard work to string himself up to his task, but now he showed
+plenty of determination, and going back into the lane, he walked rapidly
+toward Heatherleigh, passing nobody on his way.
+
+Upon reaching the bottom of the garden he hesitated for a few moments,
+peering over the hedge at the house; then seeking the palings, and
+looking over them at a spot where the trees were rather open, and,
+lastly, making his way to the gate, where he satisfied himself that
+there were only two lights visible there--in the servants' part of the
+house, and in the little dining-room.
+
+Apparently contented, he walked back to where the yard wall turned off
+at right angles, and following this for a few yards, he climbed over and
+made his way like a dark shadow close up to the mill, where he stood
+listening and looking sharply round.
+
+All was still, and in spite of the glittering stars, it was very dark
+close up to the tall brick building--so black, in fact, that unless
+close up, there was not the slightest probability of his being seen even
+by any one upon the watch.
+
+Satisfied of this, he went softly to the door, took hold of the handle,
+and tried it, pressing hard at the same time, in expectation that it
+might yield, as people were so careless about locking up in the country.
+But he was soon convinced that the door was securely fastened, and he
+moved now to one of the workshop windows and tried it, with no result.
+Then he gave it a sharp shake, but there was no suggestion of its
+yielding, and he at once went right round to the other side and tried
+the window there.
+
+The result was the same, and he uttered a low ejaculation indicative of
+his vexation on finding everything so secure.
+
+"More ways than one of killing a cat," he said softly, and taking a
+large screw-driver from his pocket, he was in the act of thrusting its
+wedgelike flat point in beneath the framework of the casement when there
+was a step behind him, and as he turned sharply, it was to face a tall,
+thin, rough-looking figure, very indistinctly seen as it stood close to
+him, and the word "Halloo!" was whispered hoarsely almost in his ear.
+
+For a few moments Sam was paralysed.  Then he recovered himself, and
+stepping back he raised the screw-driver, as if it had been a short
+Roman sword.
+
+"You hit me," said the shadowy figure, "and I'll let you have this
+hedgestake right on the head."
+
+"Who are you?  What are you doing here?" said Sam, in a subdued voice.
+
+"And who are you, and what are you a-doin' of here?" was the retort.
+"You give me any of your mouth, and I'll go and ring the old man's
+bell."
+
+Sam had met his match, and stood thinking what course he should pursue
+when his interrupter continued--
+
+"I know: you're come because the old man arn't at home.  Think I don't
+know yer?"
+
+"Hush! hold your tongue!" said Sam, and for the moment he felt disposed
+to run for it; but there was the fact that, dark as it was, he had been
+recognised, and if he had any doubt it was dispelled by his companion
+saying with a faint laugh--
+
+"Got any more o' them pears?"
+
+"No," said Sam shortly; and recovering himself a little, "What do you
+want?"
+
+"To see what you're a-going to do," was the reply.
+
+"But you've no business here, sir," said Sam haughtily.
+
+"More have you.  I arn't a fool.  I see you trying to break open the
+winders with that thing."
+
+"It's a lie; you didn't."
+
+"Oh yes, I did.  I know; I can see in the dark.  What are you after?"
+
+Sam was silent, and the disposition was on him strongly now to strike
+the fellow down.
+
+He dismissed the thought again, feeling how useless it would be to make
+him an enemy, and the other course now offered itself to him.
+
+"You don't want to know what I'm after," he said, with a faint laugh.
+"It's only for a bit of fun."
+
+"Not it.  People don't break in at windows for fun.  You give me
+something, or I'll go and tell."
+
+Sam's heart leaped with satisfaction at this.  Money, then, would buy
+the young scoundrel off, and he hastily took out a coin, and held it out
+so as to silence his enemy; but at the same time he felt that there was
+nothing to be done now but get back to town with his mission
+unfulfilled.
+
+To his great delight the coin was snatched and pocketed, but he did not
+feel so well satisfied the next moment.
+
+"That's on'y a shillin'.  Give's another."
+
+A second was held out and taken.
+
+"Now I wants another," said Pete, and upon this being given, he demanded
+a fourth, and then a fifth.
+
+Pete was satisfied now, and he said with a low chuckle--
+
+"If any o' these is bad 'uns, I shall go and tell."
+
+"But they're not, they're all good," whispered Sam.  "Now be off."
+
+"Shee-arn't!  I'm goin' to stop and see what you do.  But you can't get
+in like that.  The winders has all got noo fasteners.  I could get in if
+I liked."
+
+"How?" said Sam, in spite of himself.
+
+"Think I'm goin' to tell you for this," said Pete.  "You give me
+another, and I'll show you how to get in.  I see you come in the wood
+and smoke over yonder."
+
+"And you've been watching me ever since?"
+
+"Course I have.  What do you want to get?"
+
+Sam made no answer, for he was trying to arrange his thoughts, and make
+out what was the best thing to do.  Then all at once Pete broke out
+with--
+
+"You ain't half a chap.  I could soon get in there if I wanted."
+
+"Could you?  How?"
+
+"I've been in the mill lots o' times," said Pete evasively, "'fore they
+took the stones out, and since old Dicky Brandon pulled the sails off."
+
+"Tell me how you managed it," said Sam, after a glance round; for,
+mingled with his uneasy feeling about being betrayed by the great lad
+before him, he began to feel desperate, and as if he must succeed now he
+had gone so far.  He was convinced in his own mind that the most likely
+place to find the documents he sought would be in his uncle's study, and
+to him the first floor of the old mill was that study.  Tom had told him
+as much, and that the old walnut-wood bureau was the depository where
+their uncle kept his papers.
+
+"People in the country are such idiots," he said to himself; "they never
+think of having strongrooms or iron safes.  He has locked the papers up
+there as sure as a gun."
+
+It was with a certainty of this being the case that he had come down,
+and now that there was nothing between him and the prize but a window
+and this spying lad, the position was irritating to a degree.
+
+Sam thrust his hand into his pocket, where it came in contact with
+half-a-sovereign and some silver, and he began to think that of these he
+could perhaps after all make a key.  The only question was how to begin.
+
+Pete had uttered a low sniggering laugh on hearing Sam's last question,
+and now feeling that he must either act or give up; the latter repeated
+his inquiry.
+
+"I used to have some bantams," replied the young scoundrel.  "Bantams
+like wheat and barley."
+
+"And you used to come and steal some for them?" said Sam sharply.
+
+"Oh, did I?  Who said anything about stealing?  I didn't eat the barley;
+the bantams did."
+
+"But you stole it all the same," said Sam, who felt now that he had a
+handle to take hold of.
+
+"Oh, did I?  So are you," snarled Pete.  "You've come to steal
+something, or you wouldn't be here in the dark."
+
+"Never you mind about that," said Sam quickly.  "Look here; you tell me
+the way to get in, and I'll give you another shilling."
+
+Pete thrust his dirty face close to Sam's.
+
+"Give us hold then."
+
+"No; you show me the way first."
+
+"Shee-arn't!  Give us the shillin' first."
+
+"I don't believe you know a way."
+
+"Oh, don't I!  You give me the shillin', and you'll see."
+
+Sam hesitated, but there was no time to lose.  It seemed to be his only
+policy to make friends with this young ruffian, and he finally took a
+shilling out of his pocket, the action being grasped at once by the lad
+in spite of the darkness.
+
+"No games," said Sam.  "If I give you the shilling, will you tell me
+fairly?"
+
+"Course I will."
+
+"There; now tell me."
+
+Pete took the shilling handed, made believe to spit upon it, and thrust
+it into his pocket.
+
+"Winders is fastened up tight now."
+
+"What, those up higher too?"
+
+"Yes; all on 'em."
+
+"Then how am I to get in?"
+
+Pete laughed softly, and Sam grew angry.
+
+"I thought so," he whispered.  "You don't know."
+
+"Oh, don't I just?" said Pete, with his sniggering laugh.  "I said I'd
+tell yer, and I will."
+
+"Quick then.  How?"
+
+"There's a kind o' door up atop as opens right over and lies on its
+back.  It's got a bolt to it, but you can shove yer hand under when yer
+gets up inside them little palings and push it back.  Then yer can open
+the door and get in."
+
+"How do you know?" said Sam sharply.
+
+"How do I know?  'Cause I've done it."
+
+"But up there?  How did you get up?"
+
+"Ladder," said the lad laconically.
+
+"What, is there a ladder here?"
+
+"No," said Pete.
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated Sam.  "What's the good of telling me that, then?"
+
+Pete chuckled now with satisfaction, as if he enjoyed his companion's
+trouble.
+
+"I know where there's a ladder," he said.
+
+"One we could get?"
+
+"You couldn't.  I could."
+
+"Get it for me, then, there's a good fellow."
+
+"Ha, ha!  Oh, I say; arn't you getting jolly civil!"
+
+"Hush!" whispered Sam excitedly.  "Don't make that noise.  Some one will
+hear."
+
+"Yah!  There's no one to hear!  The old man's gone out, and old Mother
+Fidler's fast asleep, and snoring by this time."
+
+"But there's he," whispered Sam.
+
+"What, young Tom Blount?  Yah!  Not him: he won't come."
+
+"Where's the ladder?" whispered Sam, in agony.
+
+"Don't I tell yer, yer couldn't get it if yer did know!"
+
+"Then will you get it for me?"
+
+"Give's another shillin', and I will."
+
+"Oh!" groaned Sam.  "I've given you too much now."
+
+"All right.  I don't want the ladder.  I arn't going to fetch that and
+carry it ever so far for nothin'."
+
+"But is it long enough?"
+
+"Yes; just reaches up to them railings outside the top door.  Yer can't
+get in without."
+
+"If I give you another shilling--the last, mind--will you fetch me a
+ladder?"
+
+"Course I will."
+
+"All right then; make haste."
+
+"Give us the shillin' first."
+
+"Then you won't fetch the ladder."
+
+"Oh yes, I will--honour bright."
+
+Sam unwillingly produced another shilling.
+
+"There, that's the last I'm going to give you," he whispered.  "Now,
+then, fetch the ladder quickly."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.
+
+He uttered his low, sniggering, malicious laugh again, and without a
+word went off towards the back, disappearing into the darkness, and
+then, unseen by Sam, crawling over the wall like some great dark slug,
+leaving the London boy alone with his thoughts, as he kept close up to
+the mill, and gazed toward the cottage, dreading moment by moment an
+interruption from that direction.
+
+His thoughts were not pleasant company.  For there he was upon his
+uncle's property, feeling that not only had he come down there in the
+character of a thief, but circumstances had forced him into taking for
+confederate about as low-typed and blackguardly a young scoundrel as
+there was for twenty miles round.  He had been forced to bribe the
+fellow heavily for him, and in addition to place himself entirely at his
+mercy, so that in the future, if he was successful in getting the
+papers, this scoundrel would be always coming upon him for money, and
+getting it by threats.
+
+"I can't help it," muttered Sam; "it's the gov'nor's fault, and he'll
+have to pay for it all.  He sent me, and--pooh, it isn't stealing.  It's
+all in the family, and I've a better right to have what there is than
+young Tom Blount."
+
+Sam tried to think of other things, but two matters had it all their own
+way--the dread of being caught, and the coming of Pete with the ladder.
+
+But the time wore on, and neither event seemed likely to happen.  He
+grew hotter and hotter; every now and then he felt a peculiar nervous
+attack in one leg, which made his right knee tremble violently, and
+again and again he was on the point of rushing off, leaping the wall,
+and making for the open country, when at last he heard some faint noise
+coming out of the darkness.
+
+Once he felt that all was over, and there was nothing left for him to do
+but flee.  For there were heavy steps in the lane coming nearer and
+nearer, till they stopped opposite the gate, and Sam's heart throbbed
+like the beating of a soft mallet.
+
+"Policeman!" he thought, and he would have turned to run, but his feet
+felt as if glued to the ground, and the agony he suffered was intense.
+
+Just as he was at the worst point, there was a scratching sound, a gleam
+of light, the smell of tobacco, and directly after the steps were heard
+again, to pass on and die out in the distance.
+
+"`Conscience makes cowards of us all,'" Sam might have said, but he did
+not know the words; and so he only wiped his forehead, and began to
+think of how he could get back to town, for it was perfectly evident
+that Pete had got all he could out of him, and, so far from returning
+with a ladder, in all probability he had invented the whole story, and
+there was no ladder anywhere nearer than in the rascal's imagination.
+
+The moments passed on like minutes, and Sam felt as if an hour must have
+passed.
+
+"It's of no use," he said to himself; "he has been too sharp for me, and
+I shall have to come down as the dad said, and take my chance.  I can do
+no more."
+
+He sighed in his misery and dread, for he knew that there was an
+all-night walk before him, till he could take one of the earliest
+morning trains somewhere on the road.  But it had to be done, and he
+went from out of the deep black shadow of the mill to the wall where he
+came over, and was in the act of raising himself up, when his neck was
+caught as if in a fork, and he was thrown down on to his back.  Then, as
+he struggled up, he grasped the fact that Pete must have been coming
+back, and thrust the top of the ladder over first, sending the ends on
+each side of his neck.
+
+"Don't do that, mate," came to him in a sharp whisper from the wall.
+"Ketch hold and steady it while I run it to you."
+
+Sam caught hold of the ladder eagerly, forgetting the pain in
+satisfaction, and the next minute the bottom round rested on the top of
+the wall.  Then Pete crept over, slug fashion, and lifted the end off
+and set it down.
+
+"There y'are," he said.
+
+"What a while you've been," whispered Sam.
+
+"Oh, have I!  Juss you go and fetch it yerself, and see how quick you'd
+be.  It was worth two shillin' to go for that; there, hyste it up and in
+with you."
+
+"Hoist the ladder by myself?"
+
+"Yes, it's easy enough.  Bottom's heavy and top's light.  Shall I do
+it?"
+
+"Yes, quickly."
+
+"'Nother shillin'.  I arn't going to have nothing to do with it, and so
+I tell yer, without."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't speak so loudly," whispered Sam impatiently.
+
+"Yah! go on! nobody can't hear us.  Where's that shillin'?"
+
+"I told you I wouldn't give you any more," said Sam, stoutly now, "and I
+won't."
+
+Pete chuckled.
+
+"All right; I'll hyste the ladder, only mind you telled me to--it was
+your doing."
+
+"Yes, my doing," said Sam, who was full of nervous impatience.  "Be
+smart; here, I'll help."
+
+"I can do it," said Pete, and with two or three sharp jerks he raised
+the ladder right on end, and then, after working it round two or three
+times, let the light narrow end down against the railing, just in front
+of the long shutter on the rounded roof.
+
+"Will it bear me?" whispered Sam nervously.
+
+"Bear a dozen on yer.  Up you goes, and I'll keep watch.  If young Tom
+Ugly Blount comes, shall I give him one over the head?"
+
+"Yes," whispered Sam, as he began to mount.
+
+"Shove yer hand under the door, and yer can feel the bolt directly.  You
+can open it.  Look alive."
+
+Sam mounted round by round, wondering whether the thin ladder would bear
+his weight or collapse and let him down, as a punishment for the
+degrading crime he was about to commit; and the higher he went, and the
+ladder vibrated more easily, the more nervous he grew.  Twice he stopped
+breathless and full of dread.
+
+"Is it safe?" he whispered.
+
+"Yes; up with yer."
+
+Then he grasped the railing, stepped over into the little gallery, and,
+stooping down, soon found that he could unbolt the shutter.
+
+The next minute he was inside, and descending at once into the
+laboratory, he took the screw-driver from his pocket, and had no
+difficulty in prizing open the drawers, the wood bending enough to set
+free the catch.  A match gave him sufficient light, and when he paused
+before the right drawer, in which were several carefully-sealed-up
+papers and envelopes, he hesitated, wondering which would be the
+documents he wished to secure.
+
+Helped by so feeble a light, it was hard work to tell, and at last he
+came to the conclusion that it would be best to make sure; and to this
+end he gathered all together, and thrust them, to the number of eight or
+nine, into his breast-pocket and buttoned his jacket.
+
+"Hurrah!" he muttered.  "Safe.  Now for home."
+
+He had hardly conceived this thought, when a sound overhead caught his
+ear, and he felt for the moment that Pete had come to see what he was
+doing.  The next minute he was in full flight, pursued by Tom, as we
+have seen, and at last reached the ground, thanks to the help of Pete,
+who, after lying in hiding while the ladder was lowered, hurriedly
+raised it again.
+
+Just as Tom was half-way down Pete gave the ladder a wrench, hoisted one
+leg, and sent it sidewise.  Then--
+
+"This way," he whispered, catching Sam's hand, guiding him to the corner
+of the yard, and as soon as they were over leading the way at a steady
+dog-trot.
+
+"You keep alongside me," he said; "I'll show yer a near cut.  Where do
+you want to go?"
+
+"I want to get on the main road two or three miles away," whispered Sam.
+
+"All right.  Did you get it?"
+
+"Yes, but don't talk."
+
+"Shall if I like," growled Pete.  "I say, look here.  I arn't seen you
+ter-night, and I don't know nothin' about that ladder.  Let 'em think it
+was Tom Ugly Blount.  But I say, you'll give me another shillin'?"
+
+"I'll give you two," panted Sam, "if you'll promise never to blab."
+
+"You're a good 'un," said Pete, laughing softly.  "Won't ketch me
+talking.  Hand over; and if you come down again I'll help yer any night.
+I hates that there t'other chap, but I likes you."
+
+"Thankye," said Sam, who gave the lad a couple of shillings more, when,
+as good as his word, Pete guided him to the road a good three miles on
+his way.
+
+"Good-night, mate," the lad said, holding out his hand.
+
+"Mate!" thought Sam in disgust, as he felt constrained to shake hands.
+
+"I say, I know: you're going on to London."
+
+"Am I? you don't know," said Sam hurriedly.  "But I say, are you going
+home to bed now?"
+
+"No," said Pete, with a chuckle; "I'm going back to my roost in the
+wood.  Good-night, matey."
+
+"Good-night," said Sam; and he started off at a rapid rate along the
+hard road, feeling the papers tightly buttoned up in his pocket, where
+they soon grew hot, and as if they were going to burn his chest.  "Oh,
+what a terrible walk," he muttered; "and that fellow will know I'm
+making for London.  Don't matter," he said directly after; "he won't
+tell tales, and if he comes up, ferrets us out, and wants more money,
+the gov'nor 'll have to pay."
+
+Pete went back to his sandy hole, and in an hour was fast asleep, while
+Sam was plodding steadily on toward the great city, growing more and
+more weary as the hours passed, and longing to lie down and sleep, but
+dreading to do this for fear of some policeman or tramp coming upon him,
+when he felt that the result would be the same--the papers he had gone
+through so much to obtain would be found, and perhaps pass entirely from
+his hands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.
+
+Sam Brandon was more asleep than awake when he made his way into
+Westhall Station, and took a ticket for town.  He had taken nearly an
+hour to get over the last mile, after struggling hard during the first
+part of the night to get as far as possible away from Furzebrough,
+haunted as he was by the belief that the theft would be discovered
+before many minutes had passed, and that he would be pitched upon as the
+criminal.  For though the struggle had been in the dark, and he had not
+spoken a word, he felt sure that Tom must have known him, and that some
+one would start very soon in pursuit.  Hence, with his brain full of
+handcuffs, prison cells, magistrates, and other accessories of the law,
+he had toiled on through the night until utterly exhausted.
+
+The early morning train soon came gliding into the station, and Sam took
+his place, trying in vain to look careless and indifferent, and as if he
+were occupied over his ordinary affairs; but it could not be done.  He
+looked dusty as to his boots and trousers; there was a bloodshot
+appearance in his eyes; his cheeks were hollow, and his lips feverish
+and cracked.
+
+Then the other passengers kept on staring at him, and the more so
+because he looked uneasily at them.  In fact, as one passenger said to
+himself, he looked "as if he been up to no good."
+
+The drowsy sensation which had made him feel as if walking in a dream
+had now completely passed away, and though he rested his head in a
+corner, and, after buttoning up his jacket tightly, tried to sleep, he
+could not lose consciousness, but sat there with every joint aching, and
+a miserable feeling of weariness in his back, listening to the rattle of
+the train, which kept up what sounded like some weird tune, always
+beginning and never ending.
+
+There came minutes when he felt as if he were going to be seriously ill,
+for his head throbbed, and there was a burning sensation at the back of
+his eyes, while the events of the past night seemed as if they had
+happened a long time back.
+
+Once when the train stopped--though stop it did at every station--Sam
+closed his eyes tightly and shammed sleep, feeling convinced that when
+the carriage door was opened, he would hear a rough voice ordering him
+to get out, consequent upon his description having been telegraphed all
+along the line; and then the door was opened and banged to again after a
+man had spoken in a rough voice, but only said jocularly--
+
+"Got room for a little 'un?"
+
+He then squeezed in close to Sam, and proved to be a huge fellow of
+about twenty stone.
+
+Every one in the compartment laughed but Sam, who went through the same
+agony again and again, till the tickets were taken at Vauxhall, when the
+collector looked so much like a detective that the mental suffering was
+worse than ever.
+
+Waterloo at last.  He was parched with fever; his throat felt dry, and
+there was hot coffee waiting at the buffet, such as would relieve the
+faintness from which he suffered; but he dared not stop to partake of
+it.  He hurried out of the great station, and walked fast across the
+bridge, and only began to feel more safe when he was amongst the crowd
+going and coming in the busy streets.
+
+At last, after dodging in and out in all directions to baffle pursuit,
+he jumped into a cab to be taken home, but began to feel the next moment
+that if he were pursued it would be known where he had taken refuge.
+
+Taken altogether, Sam Brandon began to taste very bitterly the agonies
+of those who break out of straight paths, never having realised till
+then how thorny the wrong course was, and how deep the pits and chasms
+in the way.
+
+The cabman looked at him peculiarly when he got in, but that was nothing
+to the grin which overspread his face when the lad alighted and went up
+to the front door; while upon his summons being answered, the maid
+saluted him with the expressive words--"Oh, lor!"
+
+"Is my father down yet?" asked Sam.
+
+"No, sir, and it's lucky for you as he ain't.  My! he would kick up a
+fuss, if he see you such a sight after being out all night."
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated Sam, and he ran up-stairs to his room.
+
+"Bah! indeed," cried the indignant girl; "serve you right if I was to
+tell master what time you come home.  But I won't."
+
+And there was no need.  For Sam had hardly shut himself in before there
+was a hand upon the lock of the door, and his father entered in his
+dressing-gown, looking haggard and pale, consequent upon a sleepless,
+anxious night.
+
+He closed and locked the door, before turning excitedly to his son.
+
+"Well?" he whispered in a husky voice.
+
+"Got back," said Sam laconically.
+
+"Yes; and you have not succeeded?" cried James Brandon.
+
+Sam was silent.
+
+"I say, you have not succeeded?"
+
+"I heard what you said, father," replied Sam surlily.
+
+"I knew it would be so," cried his father.  "It's all because you would
+be so rash, and ready to believe that you know everything.  Now if you
+had gone down as I advised, on a visit, everything would have been as
+easy as a glove.  You could have stayed there two or three days with
+your cousin now your uncle is in London."
+
+"Oh, then you knew Uncle Richard was in London?"
+
+"Of course I did, or I shouldn't have let you go, sir.  And then you
+could have come back with what we wanted decently, and not come crawling
+into the house as if you had been found out committing a theft, and the
+detectives were after you."
+
+Sam gave a sudden jump and glanced at the door, but laughed it off
+directly with a sneer.
+
+"Don't be absurd, father," he said.  "Of course I only went on a very
+honest mission--for you."
+
+It was James Brandon's turn to wince now, and as he saw his son's
+sneering laugh he turned upon him angrily.
+
+"It's my own fault," he cried, "for trusting such an idiot.  I might
+have known what would be the consequences; but I thought you were
+growing up into a man whom I could trust with important business."
+
+"Legal business," said Sam sneeringly.
+
+"Yes, sir, legal business," cried James Brandon.  "You're worse than
+your cousin."
+
+"Ever so much," retorted Sam.  "Well, dad, have you done?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I have done--done with you too.  You might have saved me
+thousands, instead of--"
+
+"How do you know I haven't?" said Sam sourly.
+
+His father's mouth opened, and a curious change came over his
+countenance.
+
+"Why, Sam, my boy!" he panted.  "You don't mean to say--"
+
+"That the idiot has been of some use to you?  Yes, I do.  There, when
+you've done rowing me let's get the business over, for I'm sick of it.
+I want to go to bed."
+
+"Then--then--you've--you've--" stammered James Brandon.
+
+"Succeeded?--of course I have," said Sam coolly, as he lay back in a
+chair, heavy-eyed, nervous, and utterly exhausted by his night's work.
+"If I wasn't so tired I should have something more to say."
+
+"My dear boy!" cried James Brandon effusively; and his son uttered a
+low, unpleasant laugh.  "Sam, you have the--the papers?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Quick then--give them to me."
+
+Sam thrust his hand into the breast-pocket of his closely-buttoned coat,
+and glancing in sidewise, he drew out a folded paper.
+
+"That it?" he said coolly, as he handed it to his father, watching him
+keenly the while.
+
+"That?  Absurd!" said James Brandon, taking it and tossing it back.
+"The agreement for letting a house.  You don't mean to say--"
+
+Sam interrupted him.
+
+"Try that then," he said.
+
+But again his father tossed the paper away with an angry ejaculation,
+while his face grew more haggard and anxious-looking.
+
+"That's it then," said Tom.  "I had to grab them in a hurry, and get
+away."
+
+"That is not the packet," cried his father.  "There were four deeds tied
+up with green silk ribbon.  I explained to you exactly what they were
+like.  Surely you had more common-sense than to think these things were
+what I wanted!"
+
+"Don't I tell you I had to take them in a hurry?" said Sam, smiling at
+his father's anxious face, as he kept one hand still in his breast, and
+now with a triumphant air flourished out a great cartridge paper
+envelope.  "There," he cried; "will that do then?"
+
+"No, no, no," said James Brandon angrily; "four deeds tied up with green
+silk ribbon, I tell you;" and he waved the thick envelope aside, but Sam
+still held it out.
+
+"Don't you be in such a hurry, gov'nor," he cried.  "That's the packet,
+only perhaps the old man put the deeds in the envelope.  Look inside."
+
+Sam's father snatched the packet from his son's hand, dragged out its
+contents, which were tied together with green ribbon indeed, and proved
+to be written in a round legal hand; but as he read the endorsements one
+by one, he threw them contemptuously down with a groan.
+
+"What, ain't those right?" cried the lad, speaking anxiously now.
+
+"Right?  No," cried his father.  "There, I see you are playing with me.
+Where is the right packet?"
+
+"Right?  The right packet?  I made sure that was it.  I opened that old
+bureau of his, and these deeds and things were all together."
+
+"Oh, Sam!  Sam!" groaned his father.
+
+"It was quite dark, you know, and I had to work by feel till I got the
+drawers open, and then I lit a match or two, so as to make sure which
+was the packet I wanted.  There were the four things together tied up
+with green silk ribbon, and I had no time to read them even if I'd
+wanted to; but I felt so sure it was not necessary."
+
+"It was madness.  You ought to have looked carefully," said James
+Brandon.
+
+"Yes; that sounds all right, but it's a wonder I got them.  I only just
+had time to stuff them into my pocket when he came, and then--"
+
+"He came!  Who came?" cried James Brandon.
+
+"Tom; and a pretty fight I had for it before I could get away."
+
+"Then he caught you steal--caught you seeking for those papers?" cried
+James Brandon wildly.
+
+"Of course he did; I told you so."
+
+"Then it's all over.  He has told your uncle by this time."
+
+"Not he.  How could he know?  Didn't I tell you it was dark as pitch?"
+
+"What?  Then you think he does not know who it was?" cried James
+Brandon, with the air of a man catching at a straw to save himself.
+
+"Sure of it," said Sam coolly, as he opened one of the papers and began
+reading--"`Instructions for grinding and polishing specula.'"
+
+He opened another.
+
+"`The various modes of mounting telescopes.'"
+
+Throwing this down, he took up a third paper, and read--
+
+"`Elutriation as applied to Emery and other Powders.'"
+
+Lastly he took up the fourth, and read half to himself--
+
+"`The method practised by Monsieur Foucault in silvering the surfaces of
+glass specula.'  I seem to have dipped into the wrong drawer, dad," he
+said coolly.
+
+James Brandon groaned.
+
+"I made so sure that I had got the right things.  They do look like
+legal papers, don't they?"
+
+Sam's father made no reply, but began walking up and down the room.
+
+"What does he mean by tying up his stupid recipes like that!" said Sam
+angrily.
+
+"Exposed yourself to all that risk, and for nothing," cried James
+Brandon.
+
+"Don't say `yourself,' dad," cried Sam softly.  "It was your doing; you
+sent me."
+
+James Brandon was silent for a time.
+
+"You are sure he did not know you?" he said at last.
+
+"Of course I am.  Don't I tell you it was dark as pitch?"
+
+"Then how do you know it was Tom who came?"
+
+"Who else was likely to come?"
+
+"Of course--of course," murmured James Brandon; "who indeed?"
+
+"Besides, that other chap was outside, and helped me with the ladder."
+
+James Brandon gave quite a jump.
+
+"That other chap?" he cried.  "You don't mean to say any one else saw
+you?"
+
+"Yes, a fellow I saw when I was down there before; he came and caught me
+trying to get in."
+
+James Brandon threw out his hands, and walked up and down his son's
+bedroom gesticulating.
+
+"It's all over," he cried wildly; "it's all over.  I'm a ruined man.  My
+position as a solicitor gone; my character destroyed; the money I had
+saved swept away; and all through the stupidity of my own son."
+
+Sam sat back watching his father curiously, as he paced about the place,
+addressing, as it seemed to him, the walls, the windows, and at times
+the pieces of furniture.  He repeated the same things over and over
+again as he bemoaned his ill-fortune, and the way in which his plans had
+been brought to naught.  Reproach after reproach was piled upon Sam, but
+the father did not glance at his son, who still watched him, but with
+eyes that grew fixed and dull-looking, till all at once the lids began
+to fall, opened up again, fell lower, opened again, and then went right
+down, and were not raised.
+
+For Sam was utterly exhausted by his many hours' exertions, and his
+father's monotonous, droning voice, as he went on bemoaning his fate,
+after irritating him for a time, and making him ready to make retorts,
+gradually began to have a soothing effect, making him feel drowsy; then
+more drowsy, and at last, when James Brandon paused before the chair in
+which the lad lay back, and gazed full in his face, saying--
+
+"What I want to know, sir, is, how you could be such an obstinate idiot
+as to persist in going your own way, after all my strong,
+carefully-thought-out advice?--what I want to know, I say, is--why, he's
+asleep!"
+
+James Brandon was quite right--his son had dropped off into a deep,
+dreamless sleep, and it is probable that if he had shouted in his ear
+instead of speaking in a subdued, hurried voice, he would not have
+succeeded in awaking him to the sense of anything he said.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY SIX.
+
+Uncle Richard came back late the second night after the robbery, tired
+out, and glad to go to bed, so that nothing was said respecting the
+events at the observatory till the next morning at breakfast.
+
+"Hah! no place like home, Mrs Fidler," he exclaimed.  "London hotels
+are all very well, but I'm always glad to get back to Heatherleigh."
+
+"It does me good to hear you say so, sir," said the housekeeper, "for
+I'm always afraid, sir, that when you come back from the grand places
+you've been at you'll be dissatisfied."
+
+"No fear of that, Mrs Fidler," said Uncle Richard merrily.  "Well, Tom,
+my lad, I need not ask how you are; you look quite hardy."
+
+"There, Mrs Fidler," said Tom, "you hear that?"
+
+"Yes, my dear, I hear that," said the housekeeper, compressing her lips;
+"but you can't deceive me.  You know you were ill."
+
+"I know you wanted to dose me with prune tea," cried Tom hastily; and he
+made a grimace.
+
+"Well, sir, who are you that you are not to be dosed with prune tea?"
+said Uncle Richard, with a mock-serious look.  "Mrs Fidler has on more
+than one occasion tried to play the doctor's part with me."
+
+"And I'm sure, sir, I meant it for the best," said the housekeeper,
+drawing herself up.
+
+"Of course you did, Mrs Fidler," said Uncle Richard.  Then, to change
+the conversation--"Well, Tom, how about the plane mirror; have you got
+one perfect yet?"
+
+"Perfect, uncle?" said Tom, smiling.  "I'm afraid not."
+
+"So am I, my lad; but have you made one as perfect as possible?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I've done that," said Tom, who, ever since he rose that
+morning, had been in a state of mental perturbation, eager to tell his
+uncle about the breaking into the mill, but fully determined not to say
+a word--for several reasons--until they were alone.
+
+"Well, let's hear what you did."
+
+"Exactly as you told me, uncle.  I took the three pieces of thick
+plate-glass, and ground them together, changing their positions over and
+over again, and ended by polishing them one over the other till I think
+they are as flat as they can possibly be."
+
+"That remains to be proved, Tom--in the telescope.  One of the three
+ought to be good enough for us; but we shall see."
+
+Then the breakfast went on, with Uncle Richard spending a good deal of
+time over his letters; and at last Mrs Fidler rose and left the room,
+while Tom felt his cheeks grow warm with excitement.
+
+The time had come for speaking about the robbery, and the question was
+how to begin.  For the boy felt that he had been left in charge of the
+observatory, and that his uncle might fancy that he had neglected
+something in the way of securing the place.  How then to begin?
+
+While he was mentally seeking for the words connected with the first
+plunge, the difficulty was solved, the announcement coming out quite
+naturally, just as Tom felt that he must plunge at once into the story
+of how he had--in his ignorance--become once more poor.
+
+"What was the matter with you, my boy?" said Uncle Richard, suddenly
+dropping the letter he was reading, and looking searchingly at his
+nephew.
+
+"Matter, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, when Mrs Fidler wanted to physic you.  There must have been
+something wrong or she would not have noticed it.  Too much fruit?"
+
+"Oh no, uncle," cried Tom eagerly.  "She saw how dull and tired I looked
+after that night in the mill."
+
+"What? you never were so foolish as to stop up all night at work over
+those plane mirrors?"
+
+"Oh no, uncle," cried Tom, who was now well started; and he plunged at
+once into his narration, from the looking out of the window to his
+return to bed.
+
+"Tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated Uncle Richard, frowning, and looking very
+grimly at his nephew, who, as soon as he had run down, changed from a
+state of eager excitement to one of depression, and felt quite chilled
+by the reception his news had met with.
+
+"You don't think I ought to have done more, do you, uncle?" he faltered.
+
+"More?  Goodness gracious, boy, what more could you have done?  You
+behaved very pluckily, but it was a great risk to run.  Then you have
+not made it known?"
+
+"No, uncle.  David knows, of course, but I gave him strict orders not to
+say a word."
+
+"And he has not spoken?"
+
+"No, uncle, I think not."
+
+"Good!  But you have not spoken to Mr Maxted?"
+
+"No, uncle.  I thought you ought to be the first to hear."
+
+"Quite right, Tom.  I am glad that in so serious a matter you kept your
+own counsel.  I don't think David would speak.  Eh?  Yes, Mrs Fidler,
+we have quite done.  Come along, Tom.  We'll go over into the workshop."
+
+Uncle Richard led the way, gazing keenly up at the little gallery as
+they crossed the mill-yard.
+
+"Tut--tut--tut!" he ejaculated.  "Why, Tom, you might have broken your
+neck."
+
+He said no more till they were up in the laboratory, where he examined
+the bureau, frowning heavily the while, and noting how easily, by the
+insertion of a flat iron tool, the woodwork could be heaved up, so as to
+allow the locked drawers to be wrenched open; and there were the marks
+of chisel or screw-driver plainly showing where they had indented the
+wood.
+
+Then they went up into the observatory, and the great shutter was
+examined.
+
+"Hah!  I see you have locked the stable door, Tom," exclaimed Uncle
+Richard.
+
+"Stable door, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, now the steed is stolen.  That shutter did not close securely.
+Any one could pass a hand beneath, and then slip the bolt."
+
+"Yes, uncle; and so I put a screw in there to hold it fast till you came
+back."
+
+"Quite right.  I'll have it done properly.  We'll secure it with a piece
+of sheet-iron at the bottom.  Come along down."
+
+They went back into the laboratory below.  Uncle Richard making a few
+remarks about the trap-door, and the struggle at the steps, asking a few
+questions too about the chase up and down, and round the workshop,
+before he settled himself in an easy-chair, leaving Tom standing by the
+table.
+
+"Nice fellow you are, sir," he said severely; "I left you in charge for
+a few days, and you get up an affair like this ready for me when I come
+back."
+
+"Uncle!" cried Tom indignantly.
+
+Uncle Richard's countenance relaxed.
+
+"Sit down, Tom," he said, "and let's talk like business men.  That's
+right.  You did well in keeping the matter perfectly private; but now
+let's have everything open and clear as the day.  This was nothing more
+nor less than a burglary, and you surprised the burglar or burglars.
+Which was it, singular or plural?"
+
+"I only saw--I mean felt--one, uncle," said Tom uneasily; "but there
+must have been two."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because there must have been some one outside to lift the ladder up
+again."
+
+"After you had laid it down.  Of course."
+
+"And I heard a whispering too."
+
+"Must have been at least two then, Tom.  Well, that's something.  Now
+then for the next.  You had a regular struggle with the burglar--a big
+strong fellow of course, or he would not have got the better of you."
+
+"Oh no," said Tom quickly; "not very big or strong.  I held my own with
+him pretty well, but he had the best of it."
+
+"You could not see his face?"
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"But you formed an idea of who it was?"  Tom was silent.
+
+"Some one who must have known the place, eh?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I think he must have known the place."
+
+"Such a fellow as our amiable young poaching friend, Pete Warboys, eh?"
+
+"David says he is sure that it was Pete."
+
+"Why does he say that?"
+
+"Because Pete would know where the ladder was kept, and get it into the
+yard."
+
+"To be sure; no one more likely," said Uncle Richard, watching his
+nephew keenly, and then opening and shutting two or three of the drawers
+as if waiting for Tom to go on speaking.
+
+But Tom remained silent.
+
+"But you don't think it was Pete Warboys, eh?"
+
+Tom still remained silent, and his uncle drew out the drawer in which
+the deeds had been placed.
+
+"Come, my boy, I must cross-examine you," continued Uncle Richard.  "Out
+with it.  There is always to be perfect confidence between us two."
+
+"Yes, uncle," cried Tom passionately, "but don't make me speak.  It is
+only a suspicion, and I may be wrong."
+
+"I'll tell you if you are, Tom, my boy.  You heard what I said--there
+must be perfect confidence between us two.  When that ceases, which I
+think will never be, you and I will part."
+
+"But it seems so hard, so brutal to say such a thing when perhaps it is
+all imagination, and due perhaps to one's not liking some one else."
+
+"True, Tom," said Uncle Richard gravely; "but we must have out the
+truth.  Come, I'll help you, for I'm afraid I think as you do--you fancy
+it was your cousin Sam?"
+
+Tom nodded quickly.
+
+"Why?"
+
+Tom tightened his lips as if saying, "I won't speak," but his uncle's
+eyes were searching him, and in a slow, faltering way he said--
+
+"I don't think Pete Warboys would break in here to steal valuable
+papers, uncle."
+
+"No; it hardly seems likely, Tom.  Go on."
+
+"And--and I thought--must I go on, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, boy, to the bitter end," said his uncle sternly.
+
+"I thought, uncle, that as Uncle James had given me those papers, which
+made me rich instead of him, my cousin Sam had felt disappointed, and
+come down here at night, asked Pete Warboys to help him--"
+
+"But he did not know Pete Warboys."
+
+"Only a little, uncle; he had seen him.  He might have asked him to get
+him the ladder."
+
+"Might, Tom; but that looks doubtful.  Well?"
+
+"And then, as I could not find out that anything else was stolen--or
+taken," said Tom, correcting himself, "except those papers, I thought
+that it must have been Cousin Sam."
+
+"Nothing else stolen but those papers?--you mean the packet you saw me
+put in the drawer here?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, in the big envelope.  There was nothing else taken but
+them, and some of the other papers."
+
+"Sure, Tom?"
+
+"Yes, quite sure, uncle; and this made me think that nobody else was
+likely to take them--nobody else would care to do such a thing.  But,
+uncle--"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I don't think I mind much.  I never expected to have any money, except
+what I could earn for myself; and if it was Sam--"
+
+"What, who came and broke open this bureau like any burglar would?"
+
+"Yes, uncle," said Tom sadly; "if you too really think it was Sam."
+
+"Stop a moment, boy.  Had your cousin any notion as to what was kept in
+that bureau?"
+
+"I'm afraid so, uncle.  When he came down here, and I took him about and
+showed him the place, I remember he asked me what was kept there, and I
+said you kept your valuable papers there."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Uncle Richard.
+
+"But if you do think it could have been Sam--"
+
+"Stop again, sir," cried Uncle Richard; "are you keeping anything back?
+Are you sure that you did not recognise him by some word, or when you
+were near the window?  Did you not get a glimpse of his face?"
+
+"No, uncle," said Tom firmly.  "I never once had the slightest idea as
+to whom it could be, till I began to think about it after the struggle,
+and he had got away.  Then I'm afraid I made sure it was he."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"But if you think it was he, uncle--"
+
+"I do think it was, Tom.  I feel sure of it, my boy."
+
+"But you won't punish him, uncle?"
+
+"I have punished him, Tom."
+
+"What, you knew, and you have done this?" cried Tom excitedly, as he
+sprang from his seat, and caught his uncle by the arm.
+
+"I have punished him, Tom, and most severely."
+
+"Uncle!  I'd sooner have given up the money a dozen times over.  I wish
+I'd never known of it.  Think what it means.  Why, a magistrate would
+treat him like a thief."
+
+"Well, he is a thief," said Uncle Richard sternly.
+
+"Yes; but oughtn't we to hide it from the world, uncle?  He is only a
+boy, and it will spoil his whole life.  I'd give the money, I say, a
+dozen times over sooner than he should be punished.  Boys are stupid and
+thoughtless, uncle; they often do things in haste that they would not do
+if they considered first, and such a little thing sometimes means so
+much afterwards."
+
+"Was this a little thing, Tom?"
+
+"No, uncle," cried Tom piteously; "but it would be so horrible.  He is
+my own cousin."
+
+"Yes, Tom, and my own brother's son."
+
+"Yes, uncle; and he never liked me, and I never liked him, but I can't
+stand by and let you punish him without saying a word."
+
+"Then you mean to tell me, Tom, that you would let him go scot free,
+sooner than have him punished for trying to take _again_ what is your
+heritage?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I would," cried Tom excitedly, "every penny, sooner than he
+and my aunt and uncle should come to disgrace."
+
+"But they behaved badly to you, sir."
+
+"Perhaps I deserved some of it, uncle."
+
+"Then you must have been a bad one, Tom."
+
+"Yes, uncle, I'm afraid so.  But you will let him off?  Perhaps he'll
+repent and send the papers back."
+
+"The same way as foxes do with the farmers' chickens," said Uncle
+Richard, smiling.
+
+"Uncle, it is too serious to laugh at," cried Tom indignantly.  "Sam
+Brandon is your own nephew."
+
+"Yes, Tom, and all you say is in vain.  I have punished him severely for
+a cruel, cowardly robbery."
+
+"But you'll do no more, uncle?" cried Tom.  "Humph!  Well, no, I think I
+may say that I shall do no more.  Possibly I shall never see him again."
+
+"Ah, I don't mind that, uncle," cried Tom anxiously.  "But tell me--
+how--what you have done.  I would not speak to anybody, and kept it all
+so quiet till you came, uncle, because of that.  You--you haven't put it
+in the hands of the police?"
+
+"How could I, my boy, when I knew nothing of the robbery until you told
+me this morning?"
+
+"But you said you had punished him, uncle."
+
+"So I have--cruelly."
+
+"I don't understand you," said Tom, with his brow puckered-up, and some
+of the old ideas about his uncle's sanity creeping back into his mind.
+
+"I suppose not, Tom; but I have punished your cousin all the same--
+unconsciously of course."
+
+"I wish you'd tell me what you mean, uncle," said Tom, with his face one
+mass of puckers and wrinkles.
+
+"I will, Tom.  No; I would never be the man to bring the law to bear on
+my own brother or nephew, though on your account I should have taken
+pretty stern measures to enforce restitution of any papers that had been
+stolen; but I have, without knowing it, allowed your cousin alone, or
+perhaps incited, to come down here in my absence, and cunningly attempt
+to get those deeds back into his or his father's possession."
+
+"Oh, uncle! you don't think--"
+
+"Silence.  I don't want to think or surmise, Tom.  I only want for you
+and me to be left alone to our own devices, and you keep interrupting me
+when I want to explain."
+
+Tom made a deprecating gesture.
+
+"Unconsciously, I say, I have punished your cousin, for he came down
+here and stole some worthless papers."
+
+"No, uncle," said Tom sadly; "the deeds are gone."
+
+"Yes, my boy," said Uncle Richard; "on second thoughts I felt that it
+was my duty to place them in a safe depository, and I took them up to
+London when I went, and saw them locked up in the deed-box with my other
+valuable papers, and then placed in the strong-room at my lawyer's,
+where they are out of every would-be scoundrel's reach."
+
+"Uncle!" cried Tom excitedly.
+
+"Well, Tom?"
+
+"I am glad."
+
+"That the papers are safe?"
+
+"Bother the old papers!" cried Tom; "that you have punished him like
+that."
+
+Then the lad burst into a fit of peculiar laughter, and became calm the
+moment after.
+
+"Come on, uncle," he cried; "I want to show you the three plane mirrors
+that I've ground."
+
+"Beauties, Tom," said Uncle Richard a few minutes later.  "Tom, my lad,
+you're my dear sister's son, and the queerest boy I ever met."
+
+"Am I, uncle?" said Tom dryly.
+
+"Yes, my lad."
+
+"You don't mind?"
+
+"Not a bit, Tom.  I'm glad."
+
+"Then hooray! let's get to work.  I want to see the moon with the new
+plane mirror."
+
+"Moon, bah!  You're lunatic enough as it is, boy."
+
+Tom gave his uncle a comical look, and then shyly held out his hand,
+which was gripped in a clasp which made him wince.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.
+
+There was a heavy post one morning at breakfast, and as Mrs Fidler
+glanced at the letters, she screwed up her face and turned her eyes upon
+Tom, to shake her head as much as to say, "What work, what work!"
+
+For to write a letter was a terrible effort to Mrs Fidler.  She could
+write a beautifully clear hand, as the names of the contents of her
+jampots bore witness, but, as she confided to Tom, it was "such a job to
+find the next word to set down."
+
+One of the letters was so big and legal-looking in its broad blue
+envelope, whose ragged edges told that it was lined with linen, that it
+took Tom's eye at once; but Uncle Richard merely slit it open, peered
+inside, and laid it beside his plate till the meal was at an end.
+
+"I'm going up into the laboratory, Tom," he said then, and left the
+room.
+
+"That means he'd like me to go too," thought Tom, and in a minute or two
+he followed, and caught sight of Pete at the end of the lane watching
+him, with his dog at his heels, but only to turn off and walk away.
+
+"Does that mean mischief?" thought Tom, as he went into the mill, and he
+shook his head as he felt that Pete was a hopeless case.
+
+To his surprise, on entering the laboratory, where Uncle Richard was
+seated before the bureau with the great letter before him, he was
+saluted with--
+
+"I see there's your _protege_ Pete Warboys banging about again.  He is
+always watching this place, or waiting for you to go and play with him."
+
+"You mean fight with him, uncle," said Tom dryly.
+
+"Well, that does seem more in your way.  Mr Maxted says you're winning
+him over, but I doubt it."
+
+"Yes, uncle, so do I," said Tom, smiling.
+
+"I feel in doubt," continued Uncle Richard, "whether I ought not to have
+tried to prove whether it was really he who helped to break in here.
+But there: I only want to be left in peace, and a month's imprisonment
+would do him harm, and bring out matters I want forgotten.  Ever seen
+these before?"
+
+He drew some legal-looking documents from the big envelope and held them
+out.
+
+"The other papers that were stolen from that drawer, uncle?"
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard, looking very stern as he took them back and
+threw them into the receptacle, which he then locked up, and pocketed
+his keys.  "Which is it, Tom--repentance, or because they are of no use
+to the thief?"
+
+"Let's hope it is the first, uncle," replied Tom gravely, and his uncle
+uttered a long, deep-toned--
+
+"Hah!"  Then, "Come along, and let's think of something pleasanter, my
+boy."
+
+They went up into the observatory, where the new diagonal mirror Tom had
+ground and silvered was fitted into the telescope; and that night being
+gloriously clear, the new addition was tested, and proved to be almost
+perfect.
+
+"As nearly perfect as we shall get it, Tom," said Uncle Richard; and
+then till quite late a glorious evening was spent, searching the dark
+depths of space for twin stars, Tom having a goodly share of the
+observations; and when he was not using the glass making shift with the
+star-finder, and listening the while to his uncle's comments upon that
+which he saw.
+
+The telescope was directed at the double star Castor; which, with
+Pollux, was glittering brightly in the black-looking sky, when Uncle
+Richard made way for the boy to take his place.
+
+"Wonderfully clear, uncle."
+
+"But do you notice anything particular?"
+
+"Yes; I was going to say, it's like it is sometimes when the moon is
+low-down; the air seems to be all in a quiver."
+
+"That is so, Tom.  People don't, as a rule, think that they can see the
+atmosphere, but you can see it to-night all in motion.  I think it means
+wind."
+
+"Wind blowing hard a very long way up?"
+
+"Yes, I think so."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Tom.
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"It was so sudden.  A cloud has swept right across."
+
+Uncle Richard stepped up to the opening, and looked out into the night.
+
+"Yes," he said, "we may shut up for the night; there's a dense black
+curtain of clouds drawing across the sky.  Come and look.  Ah! how
+brilliant!"
+
+Tom started.  He had just taken his eye from the great glass, when the
+interior of the observatory was lit up for an instant by a flash of
+lightning, and as soon as his dazzled eyes mastered the intense darkness
+which followed, he joined his uncle, and looked out of the great shutter
+opening, to see the singular sight, of one-half of the heavens
+brilliantly illuminated with the countless orbs, while the Milky Way was
+clearly defined; the other of an inky blackness, moving steadily,
+cutting off star after star, till two-thirds of the sky was darkened,
+and in half-an-hour, when the shutter was drawn over and fastened, not a
+star was to be seen.
+
+"We are going to have a wild night, Tom, I think," said Uncle Richard;
+and as he spoke there was a rumbling noise amongst the woodwork
+overhead, caused by a passing blast.  "There, let's go in."
+
+Coffee was waiting when they went in, after leaving all safe, and very
+welcome, for they were both shivering.  Soon after bed was sought, and
+Tom dropped into a deep sleep, from which he was roused by a rattling at
+his door, while some one else seemed to be shaking his window.  Then
+there was a rumble like thunder in the chimney, and the beating at the
+door.
+
+"Tom! wake up, lad!"
+
+"Yes!  All right!" cried the boy, springing out of bed.  "Anything the
+matter, uncle?"
+
+"Yes.  Terrible storm.  The big shutter has been torn open, and is
+beating about on the top of the mill."
+
+"All right; I'll go and fasten it," cried Tom, beginning to dress
+rapidly, and waking up more and more to the fact that a wild storm was
+raging.  Every now and then, after a great deal of shrieking and
+howling, as if the wind was forcing itself through crack and cranny,
+there came a loud heavy bass booming sound, as a vast wave of air broke
+upon the house, making the windows seem to be on the point of falling
+in, while the slates upon the roof clattered and the chimneys shook.
+
+"My word, it blows!" muttered Tom, as he buttoned up his jacket tightly,
+and hurried down-stairs, to find that there were lights in the kitchen
+and dining-room, while in the hall stood Mrs Fidler, in a wonderful
+costume of dressing-gown, shawl, and night-cap.
+
+"What a storm, my dear!" she said.
+
+"You up?"
+
+"Oh yes, my dear; it was impossible to lie.  I've lit the kitchen fire,
+for poor cook is in hysterics, and Maria is sobbing and crying--quite
+helpless."
+
+"How silly!" muttered Tom.  "Where's uncle?"
+
+"Here I am.  Ready?"
+
+For Uncle Richard appeared with a ready-lit lantern and the keys.
+
+"We shall have to go out by the front door, Tom; the wind's worse on the
+other side of the house."
+
+"I'm ready, uncle."
+
+"Pray take care, sir," said Mrs Fidler.  "If one of the sails of that
+mill is blown off--oh, dear, dear, what am I thinking about?"
+
+"What indeed, Mrs Fidler!  Be ready to close the door after us, for the
+wind has tremendous force.--Come along, Tom."
+
+He led the way, opened the door, and the wind rushed in, banging others,
+setting pictures swinging, whisking a couple of hats off their pegs, and
+rushing up into the house with a roar.
+
+Mrs Fidler strove to close the door as they passed out, but failed, and
+Tom had to help, holding on by the handle, and dragging the door to.
+
+Outside, the evergreens were beaten down, and the loose strands of the
+different creepers were flogging wall and trellis-work in a way which
+forbode destruction to both tree and trellis.  Twice over Tom had to
+turn his back to get his breath, and in the darkness he could see the
+ornamental conifers of the garden bent over like grass; while from a
+short distance away, where the pine-wood commenced, there was a
+tremendous roar, as of breakers during a storm.  Fir-trees in a soft
+breeze murmur like the sea; in a gale the resemblance is startling.
+
+Half-way to the yard gate Tom was caught by a sudden blast, buffeted,
+and, staggering hard, had again to turn his back before he could get his
+breath; while as the gate was reached, another blast caught the lantern,
+swung it against the post, the glass was broken, and _puff_, the light
+went out.
+
+"We must go back," said Uncle Richard, with his lips close to Tom's ear.
+
+"No, all right; there's a box of matches in the table-drawer up-stairs."
+
+They pushed on, Tom closing the gate, which was nearly torn from his
+hand, while, as they ascended to the mill, the wind came with redoubled
+violence, and they had quite a struggle to get, to the door.
+
+"It is terrible," panted Uncle Richard, as soon as they were inside with
+the door closed, and the wind shrieking and roaring around the tall
+building as if seeking to sweep it away.
+
+They mounted in profound darkness to the laboratory, where the matches
+were found, and all the time the trap-door overhead was being lifted a
+few inches every minute, and fell with a clap, while the shrieking of
+the wind, and the rattling and banging of the woodwork in the
+observatory, sounded ominous of danger to the work of many, many months.
+
+"Time we came, Tom," said Uncle Richard grimly, as the lantern was lit,
+and the broken pane replaced by the covers torn from an old book just
+about the size.
+
+"Yes, quite," replied Tom.  "Come on."
+
+He stepped quickly to the ladder-like stairs, sprang up, threw open the
+trap-door, and was about to enter the room, when the trap-door was flung
+back upon him violently.
+
+"Hurt?" shouted Uncle Richard.
+
+"Yes; not much," cried Tom, and thrusting the trap-door open again, he
+forced it back, and, aware now of the danger, held it firmly as he got
+up; and then, while his uncle followed with the light, closing it again
+directly and securing it with a bolt.
+
+Tom's heart beat as the dim light of the lantern was thrown upon the
+great telescope, for fear that it should have met with injury, but to
+his great delight the top was directed right away from the open shutter,
+which now gave evidence of its loose state by yielding to the pressure
+of the wind, and giving a tremendous bang.
+
+"Now, Tom, how are we to stop that?" shouted Uncle Richard, for the roar
+through the opening, mingled with hissing and shrieking, was deafening.
+
+"Don't know," yelled the boy, as he crept to the opening and found that
+the wind had wrenched it open, and turned it right over upon the roof.
+"Must do something," he shouted again, as he drew in his head.
+
+"If we don't the wind will end by lifting off this roof, and destroying
+my glass."
+
+"Cord's broke," said Tom in a momentary lull of the wind.  Then the roar
+began again, and the building quivered, while the shutter was lifted and
+beaten down again with a bang.
+
+Then, from somewhere out in the darkness, came a tremendous roaring
+crash, apparently very near.
+
+"What's that?" cried Tom; "house blown down?"
+
+"One of the big elms on the green for certain.  Hark!"
+
+Tom was hearkening, for directly after there was another crash, and
+another.
+
+"No doubt about it," said Uncle Richard.  "One has struck the other, and
+the great elms have gone down like skittles."
+
+"There goes another," cried Tom, as there was a fresh crash, which
+sounded louder than either of those which preceded it.  "But I don't
+want our observatory to go, uncle.  You put the light down on the other
+side, where it'll be sheltered from the wind, and I'll get out into the
+gallery and try if I can drag the shutter over, and then we must nail it
+in its place."
+
+"Impossible, my lad.  You could not stand out there without being blown
+off."
+
+"But I must, uncle.--If the wind comes in--"
+
+_Whoo_!
+
+A tremendous squall struck the place, the shutter banged, the wooden
+dome roof rattled, and in the midst of the deafening din the wind drove
+in upon them with such force that they felt as if in the open air, and
+believed for the time that the round wooden top had been lifted off to
+go sailing away.
+
+"That was a rum one, uncle," cried Tom breathlessly.  "Now then, I must
+go, before another comes."
+
+"No, no, my lad; life is of more consequence than observatories; it is
+not safe for you to go."
+
+"But I shall be all right if you hold me tightly," cried Tom.  "Come
+on."
+
+Uncle Richard gave way, and took a firm grip of the boy's jacket as he
+climbed out through the shutter opening into the little gallery, where
+he reached over to get to the far edge of the shutter, to draw it to
+him, but the next moment he had crouched down and held on for dear life.
+
+For, as if the storm had pounced upon him to tear him off the high
+building and sweep him away, down came the wind with a savage roar, and
+when for a few moments there was a slight lull, Tom yielded to the drag
+put on him by his uncle, and half climbed, half allowed himself to be
+lifted into the observatory.
+
+"I never thought the wind could be so strong," he panted breathlessly.
+
+"It is terrible to-night.  I must go myself."
+
+"You--uncle?  Why, the place would hardly bear a man of your weight, and
+I couldn't hold you up if you slipped."
+
+"Could you reach the edge of the shutter?"
+
+"No, uncle, not by far enough."
+
+"That was as far as I could reach, too.  We must give it up and risk
+everything."
+
+Tom gave his uncle a droll look, the light from the lantern shining
+dimly on his face.
+
+"We can't give it up, uncle.  I'll try again when the wind is not so
+strong."
+
+"But you could not reach, boy, and I dare not loose my hold even for a
+minute."
+
+"'Tis awkward," shouted Tom; "but we must do something.  Stop a minute:
+I know.  Rope."
+
+"Yes, of course, the new strong rope in the bottom of the tool-chest."
+
+Tom took the lantern, and as his uncle held up the trap-door, the boy
+went down, to return in two or three minutes with a small coil of thin,
+thoroughly trustworthy new rope, and a hammer and some strong nails; and
+as soon as the lantern and trap-door were secured, he began to knot the
+rope round his waist.
+
+"I don't like letting you go, Tom," said Uncle Richard, with his lips to
+the boy's ear.
+
+"And I don't like to go, uncle; but this knot can't slip, and you won't
+loose me."
+
+"No; you may depend upon that, my lad."
+
+"Very well, then: look here.  I've brought the hammer and some nails.
+We can't fasten the shutter safely here, it would only break away
+again."
+
+"Then it is of no use, boy; we must let the place take its chance."
+
+"We won't, uncle," screamed Tom, to make himself heard.  "Look here: I
+know.  Where I touched the nearest corner of the shutter it's
+broken-away, so I shall get out in the gallery, turn it over into its
+place, and nail it down from outside."
+
+"Are you mad?" cried Uncle Richard.  "How are you going to get in?"
+
+"Shan't get in.  You'll let me down outside."
+
+"Absurd, boy!  The rope would be shut in the door, even if I would
+harbour such a wild scheme for a moment."
+
+"No, it wouldn't," shouted Tom; "the rope would run through the
+broken-away corner."
+
+"Nonsense, it is impossible.  The place must go."
+
+_Whoo_! came the wind again; and once more it seemed as if the roof was
+to be lifted off like a gigantic umbrella, and carried far away by the
+storm.
+
+"I must go and do it," cried Tom.
+
+"_No_, _no_, _no_!" shouted Uncle Richard.  "Let's go down--we may be
+hurt."
+
+"Uncle, the telescope!--all our work!  Oh, I can't come away."
+
+"But it is risking your life, boy."
+
+"'Tisn't, uncle," cried Tom desperately.  "You can hold me tightly with
+the rope.  I should put some nails in my pocket--so, and stick the
+hammer handle down inside my jacket--so, and then climb out quickly
+while you held tightly by the rope, and--Just like this, uncle."
+
+And before he could be checked, Tom stepped to the opening, and with the
+rapidity born of habit lifted himself out, and then holding on by the
+sill, lowered his legs into the little gallery.
+
+Uncle Richard darted forward to seize him, but another terrific blast
+struck the mill, pinning Tom against the woodwork, and literally driving
+his uncle back from the opening, while the telescope swung round upon
+its pivot, and various objects were blown to the far side.
+
+For the full space of a minute it seemed as if the dome-like roof must
+be torn off, while, to add to the confusion and horror, the lantern was
+blown over and went out, leaving them in utter darkness.
+
+At last, when the strength of the squall was partly spent, Uncle
+Richard, as he held on by the rope, shouted to Tom to come back; but in
+his excitement the boy heard nothing.  He gave a fierce drag at the
+rope, crept sidewise beneath the shutter, and exerting all his strength
+tried to turn it over upon its hinges.  But each effort was in vain, for
+the wind pressed it down.
+
+"I can't do it--I can't do it," he panted, as, pressing his feet against
+the rail of the gallery, he heaved and heaved with all his might, but
+only succeeded in getting his arms underneath a little.
+
+Then the rope was dragged fiercely, and his uncle's voice came through
+the opening overhead and to his left, but only in a confused murmur,
+though he felt what must be said; and in despair he was dragging out his
+hands, for the wind roared louder than ever, pressing him down against
+the structure with tremendous force.  But all at once his hands were set
+free, for the slight raising of the shutter had been sufficient for the
+wind to get beneath, and with a rush it was swept by his face, just
+grazing his chin.  There was a tremendous clap, and it was closed, while
+the boy thought of nothing but holding on as the wind once again pressed
+him against the building.
+
+And now for a few moments he lost nerve, and clung desperately, feeling
+as if he must be plucked from his feeble hold and dashed down into the
+yard.  Hammer and nails were forgotten, and he pressed his forehead
+against the woodwork, while the confusion caused by the roaring of the
+wind seemed to increase.
+
+Then it was as if a great nerve communicating with safety had been
+touched, for he felt the rope jerked along sidewise, till it was in the
+jagged opening at the bottom left-hand corner of the broken shutter.
+
+The feeling was electric, and sent a thrill through the boy.
+
+"I'm all right, I can't fall," he muttered; and dragging out the hammer
+by its head, he felt for the first nail, then ran his hand up the side
+of the shutter for some distance, judged what would be a fair position
+for the nail, tapped it in a little way, and then began to drive with
+vigorous strokes, sometimes missing in the darkness, but nearly always
+getting good blows on the nail-head, and at last feeling that it was
+well home.
+
+All this while he felt himself held tightly to the woodwork by the
+strain upon the cord, and the pressure of the wind:
+
+Getting out another nail, he drove that in a foot lower, close to his
+chest; another minute, and a third nail was driven home, the exertion
+and excitement of doing something effectual driving away all thought of
+danger.
+
+Then jerking the rope a little so as to get more freedom he stood well
+up, reached as high as possible, and drove in several more nails, and
+reached over to the other edge of the shutter, where he drove in a
+couple between the hinges, in case they should be wrenched.
+
+"That must be safe now," he said to himself, as he lowered himself down
+to a kneeling position in the gallery, the rope being tightened as he
+did so, yielding at first, but drawing as if it were made of indiarubber
+instead of the best hemp.
+
+And now once more Tom felt a sensation of shrinking, for the time had
+come for his descent, which seemed very easy to talk about in the
+observatory, but very difficult to perform with the wind blowing a
+hurricane, and all around him a darkness so thick that it was like that
+of old--a darkness to be felt.
+
+"But the telescope's right," thought Tom, "and the roofs safe;" and
+getting his lips to the broken opening, he yelled out, doubtful whether
+his words would be heard in the midst of that bewildering noise--"All
+right, uncle; lower away!"
+
+He had thrust the hammer back inside his jacket, and now gave the rope a
+snatch, feeling it yield gently and steadily, as he rose and tried the
+knot with both hands, but had to thrust them out again to save himself
+from being dashed against the building, so fierce a squall once more
+struck him from behind.
+
+The next instant he was once more pinned against the place, and held by
+the rope as well.  This gave him renewed confidence.
+
+"Uncle is on the look-out," he muttered; and as soon as the worst
+pressure of the wind was over, he once more shouted through the opening,
+and losing no time, laid hold of the rail with both hands, resting his
+chest upon it, raised his legs horizontally, allowed them to drop down,
+and hung by his arms and the cord; then, as the rope gave, by his hands,
+and the next minute by the rope, which glided over the rail slowly, and
+then stopped short, leaving him swinging with his face level with the
+flooring, and swinging to and fro.
+
+_Whoosh_! came the wind again, making him lose his hold of the rope and
+catch at the floor of the gallery, into which he drove his finger-nails
+for a moment, but only to have them wrenched away, as the wind shrieked
+and yelled in his ears, and turned him right round and round rapidly
+like an over-roasted joint.
+
+"Lower away, uncle, lower away!" he shouted; but he might just as well
+have spared his voice, for not a word could by any possibility have been
+heard in the observatory, the wind sweeping breath and sound away, and
+nearly strangling him when he faced it.
+
+Twice over he got a grip of the edge of the gallery, but only to be
+snatched away again and swung to and fro.
+
+"Why don't you lower away?  Quick! quick!" he shrieked out; and as if in
+response, he descended three or four feet, and then a couple more in
+little painful jerks.  Then the rope stopped; the wind dashed at him,
+and he was swung to and fro and round and round like a feather.  Now his
+feet touched the bricks of the mill, then he was far away again, for the
+rail over which the rope passed projected fully four feet from the top.
+
+He was more and more bewildered; the rope cut into his chest, in spite
+of his seizing it and holding it with both hands, but only to let go
+again to stretch them out in the darkness, as he was swung about by the
+gale, for he was seized now by a dread that he would be dashed heavily
+against the wall.
+
+Once more he was in motion in jerks, but only for a foot or two, and
+then the horror of being dashed against the wall grew worse, for the
+greater length of rope gave the wind more power to swing him violently
+to and fro.
+
+"Why doesn't he let me down?" thought Tom, with a fierce feeling of
+anger rising against his uncle; but that was only momentary, for a fresh
+dread assailed Tom--he was certain that he had felt the knot of the rope
+crawling as it were upon his breast, which he knew must mean its giving
+way, and with a frantic dash he flung up his hands to grasp the cord
+high up once more.
+
+"Could he climb back into the gallery?"
+
+He tried, but his strength was failing, and after three or four efforts
+he gave it up, to hang there inert, certain that the rope was nearly
+undone, and that as soon as his grasp failed upon the thin cord, which
+could not be long, down he must go, fully five-and-twenty feet--a
+distance which the horror and darkness and agony made ten times as
+terrible as it really was, though it would have been bad enough if half.
+
+And all the while the wind raved and roared and tossed him about till he
+was giddy, and rapidly losing consciousness; twice over he banged
+heavily against the wall, though for the most part he was swung to and
+fro parallel to the little gallery.  Then a horrible feeling of sickness
+attacked him, his hands fell to his sides, his head drooped, but the
+next moment he felt himself reviving, for he was gliding rapidly down;
+his feet touched the bottom, the rope slackened, then tightened,
+slackened again, and fell at his feet; while by the time he had
+staggered to the door, round at the other side of the building, trailing
+the rope after him like an elongated tail, and holding his painful chest
+with his hands, that door was opened, and he staggered into his uncle's
+arms.
+
+"Well done, my brave lad!" cried Uncle Richard in the comparative
+silence of the workshop; but Tom could not answer.
+
+"What is it?  You are not hurt?"
+
+There was no reply, only a feeble gasp or two, and in his horror his
+uncle gave him a rough shake, but directly after felt in the darkness
+for the rope, and rapidly untied it.
+
+"Speak, my boy, if you can," cried Uncle Richard then.  "You are not
+hurt?"
+
+"No; I'm going to be all right now, I think," said Tom hoarsely.  Then
+in quite a fierce way he grasped at his uncle's arm.  "Why didn't you
+lower me down?" he cried.
+
+"I couldn't, boy.  It was all in the dark, and the rope kept getting
+wedged by the broken wood.  I was afraid to use violence for fear of
+breaking it, or ravelling it through.  Let me help you back into the
+house.  You've saved the roof of the mill."
+
+"Think so?" said Tom huskily.
+
+"Yes, more, Tom--sure," cried his uncle, jerking the rope into a corner,
+and re-opening the door.
+
+"Think the light's quite out?"
+
+"Yes, certain," cried Uncle Richard; and banging to and locking the
+door, he caught hold of Tom's arm.
+
+"I'm all right now," said the boy; and they hurried back into the house,
+securing gates as they went, to find Mrs Fidler looking whiter than
+ever; and quite tearful as she exclaimed--
+
+"Oh dear!  I was afraid something dreadful had happened.  Do pray sit
+down and have a cup of tea, sir."
+
+They did, and with the storm increasing in violence, Tom went up once
+more to his room, to lie down in his clothes, and listen to the raging
+wind, and the sounds which told from time to time of destruction to
+tile, chimney-pot, or tree.
+
+At least he meant to do this, but in ten minutes or so the sound of the
+wind had lulled him to sleep, and he did not open his eyes again till
+morning, to find the storm dropped and the sun shining brightly.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT.
+
+"Them four lights from the cowcumber frames, Master Tom, lifted off,
+carried eight-and-forty foot, dashed down and smashed, so as there arn't
+a single whole pane o' glass left."
+
+"That's a bad job, David," said Tom, as he stood looking about him at
+the ruin caused by the hurricane; "but the telescope is all right."
+
+"Yer can't grow cowcumbers with tallow-scoops, Master Tom.  The first
+thing I see as soon as I goes into the little vinery there was two big
+slates off the top o' the house, blowed off like leaves, to go right
+through the glass, and there they was sticking up edgeways in the vine
+border."
+
+"Well, only a job for the glazier," said Tom.
+
+"Strikes me there won't be glass enough left in the village to do all
+the mending.  Mrs Bray's front window was blowed right in, and all the
+sucker and lollypop glasses knocked into a mash o' glass splinters and
+stick.  There's a limb off the baking pear-tree; lots o' branches teared
+loose from the walls; a big bit snapped off the cedar, and that there
+arby whitey blowed right sidewise.  It's enough to make a gardener as
+has any respect for himself break his 'art."
+
+"Never mind, David; I'll come out and help you try to put things
+straight."
+
+"Will you, Master Tom?"
+
+"Of course I will."
+
+"But we can't mend them there frame-lights.  The wood's gone too."
+
+"No, but I'll ask uncle to buy some new ones; they were very old."
+
+"Well, if you come to that, sir, they was that touch-woody that if it
+hadn't been for the thick paint I put on 'em every spring, till they had
+quite a houtside skin o' white lead, they wouldn't ha' held together.
+Stop, that arn't all: the tool-house door's blowed right off.  Natur's
+very well in some things, but I never could see what was the good o' so
+much wind blustering and rampaging about.  I was very nigh gettin' up
+and coming to see how things was, on'y the tiles and pots was a-flying,
+so that I thought I'd better stop in bed."
+
+"I wish you had come," said Tom.
+
+"Ay, that's all very well, Master Tom; but s'pose one o' they big ellums
+as come down on the green--four on 'em--had dropped atop o' me, what
+would master ha' done for a gardener?  There's nobody here as could ha'
+kept our garden as it ought to be."
+
+"It was a terrible night, David."
+
+"Terrible arn't the word for it, Master Tom.  Why, do you know--Yah!
+You there again.  Here, stop a minute."
+
+David ran to a piece of rock-work, picked up a great pebble, and trotted
+to the side of the garden, whence a piteous, long-drawn howl had just
+arisen--a dismal mournful cry, ending in a piercing whine, such as would
+be given by a half-starved tied-up dog left in an empty house.
+
+David reached the hedge, reached over, hurled the stone, and sent after
+it a burst of objurgations, ending with--
+
+"Yah!  G'long home with yer.  Beast!"
+
+"That's about settled him," he said as he came back, smiling very
+widely.
+
+"Strange dog, David?"
+
+"Strange, sir?  Not him.  It's that ugly, hungry-looking brute o' Pete
+Warboys'.  That's four times he's been here this morning, chyiking and
+yelping.  You must have been giving him bones."
+
+"I?  No, I never fed him."
+
+"Then cook must.  We don't want him here.  But I don't think he'll come
+again."
+
+"Did you hit him?"
+
+"Hit him, sir?  What with that there stone?  Not I.  Nobody couldn't hit
+him with stick or stone neither.  Keepers can't even hit him with their
+guns, or he'd been a dead 'un long ago.  He's the slipperest dog as ever
+was."
+
+"_Hy--yow--ow--oo--ooo_!" came from a distance--a pitiful cry that was
+mournful in the extreme.
+
+"Hear that, sir?"
+
+Before Tom could answer the gardener went on--
+
+"So you had the trap-door atop busted open, did yer, sir?"
+
+"Yes, and a terrible job to shut it," said Tom.  "I thought we should
+never get it fast."
+
+"Ah, I arn't surprised.  Wind's a blusterous sort o' thing when its
+reg'lar on.  Just look: here's a wreck and rampagin', sir.  What am I to
+begin to do next?"
+
+"David!"
+
+"Yes, sir; comin', sir," cried the gardener, in answer to a call; and as
+he went off to where his master was pointing out loose slates and a
+curled-up piece of lead on the roof to the village bricklayer, the
+miserable howl came again from much nearer.
+
+"Pete must be somewhere about," thought Tom; and then, after giving
+another glance round at the damage done by the storm, he hurried out to
+have a look round the village, going straight to the green, where half
+the people were standing talking about the elms, which lay broken in a
+great many pieces, showing the brittleness of the wood, for the huge
+trunks had snapped here and there, and mighty boughs, each as big as a
+large tree, were shivered and splintered in a wonderful way.
+
+Every here and there a ruddy patch in the road showed where tile or
+chimney-pot had been swept off and dashed to pieces.  The sign at the
+village inn had been torn from its hinges, and farther on Tom came upon
+the Vicar examining the great gilt weather-cock on the little spire at
+the top of the big square, ivy-clad tower.
+
+He was at the edge of the churchyard using a small telescope, and
+started round as Tom cried, "Good-morning."
+
+"Ah, good-morning, Tom.  What a night!  There, you try.  Your eyes are
+young."
+
+He handed the telescope.
+
+"It's terrible, my lad," he said.  "There's a barn out at Huggins's laid
+quite flat, they say, and two straw-stacks regularly swept away."
+
+"The stacks, sir?" cried Tom, pausing, glass in hand.
+
+"Well, not all at once, but the straw.  They tell me it has been swept
+over the country for miles.  I never remember such a storm here.  I've
+seen them on the coast."
+
+"Why, the bar under the letters has bent right down, sir," said Tom,
+after a minute's examination.  "I can't see whether it's broken."
+
+"Not likely to be, Tom," said the Vicar; "it is of copper.  See anything
+else broken?"
+
+"One of the arms--the one with the E on it--is hanging right down."
+
+"Hah!  Well, it must be mended.  Did you hear the small bell in the
+night?"
+
+"No," said Tom.
+
+"It kept on giving a bang every now and then, for the tower shutters are
+all gone on the other side.  Four came into my garden.  I can't find
+more, so I suppose they have been blown into the tower among the bells.
+Good-morning.  I must go round the place and see who is damaged.  Your
+uncle says you nearly had the top off the mill, and that you behaved
+splendidly."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, sir!" said Tom, colouring.  "I only nailed down the top
+shutter."
+
+"Only?  Well, Tom, I wouldn't have got up there and nailed it down for
+all the telescopes in England.  Good-morning."
+
+They parted, and Tom continued his way round by the church, getting a
+glimpse of the gaping window opening in the tower where the bells hung
+exposed; and then after passing a great horse-chestnut lying in the next
+field, he went on round by Mother Warboys' and the other cottages,
+catching sight of the old woman standing at her door, with her hand over
+her eyes, as if watching.
+
+The next minute she caught sight of him, and shouted.  Then she shook
+her stick at him, and said something in a threatening way.
+
+But the boy hurried on, crossed the fields, got into the narrow lane,
+and then went on and on till he was able to turn into the road which
+divided his uncle's field and grounds from the mill-yard.
+
+No sooner had he turned into the sandy road than his ears were saluted
+by the dismal howling of Pete's dog, which was evidently somewhere near
+the mill.
+
+"What a nuisance!" thought Tom, and he paused for a few moments, looking
+in that direction.  "Bound to say Master Pete's hanging about somewhere,
+and the dog can't find him."
+
+However, he did not stop, but trotted off in the opposite direction to
+have a look at Huggins's barn, which lay completely flat, the thatch
+scattered, and the wooden sides and rafters strewed all over the
+farm-yard.
+
+Of the two straw-stacks nothing was visible on the spot but the round
+patches of faggots upon which they had been raised.  The straw itself
+decorated hedges, hung in trees, and was spread over fields as far as he
+could see.
+
+All at once he heard a yelp, and turning, there was Pete Warboys' dog
+racing toward him as hard as it could come.  As it drew nearer, tearing
+along the sandy road, it began to bark furiously, and looked so vicious
+that Tom stooped and picked up a big stone.
+
+That was sufficient; the dog yelped aloud, turned, leaped over a hedge,
+and ran for its life.
+
+"Awful coward, after all," muttered Tom, throwing down the stone and
+returning to the house, where he set to work and helped David for the
+rest of the day.
+
+Three times had David charged out after the dog, which kept coming and
+howling close at hand, and each time the gardener came back grumbling
+about some one having been "chucking that there dog bones."
+
+"Cook says she arn't, sir, and t'other says she arn't; but I put it to
+you, sir, would that there dog come a-yowling here if he warn't hungry?"
+
+"Perhaps that's why he has come, David," said Tom.
+
+"No, sir, not athout he expected to get something.  I wish him and Pete
+Warboys had been jolly well blowed out o' the parish last night, that I
+do."
+
+That night at intervals the dog came howling about the place, and kept
+Tom awake for a while, but the exertions of the past night and the work
+of the day had told so upon him that he fell into a heavy, dreamless
+sleep, but only to be awakened just after sunrise by the mournful howl.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY NINE.
+
+"Oh, I can't stand this," said Tom, jumping up, and hurriedly beginning
+to dress, after throwing open his window to see the east gradually
+turning red, and the clouds far up tinged and necked with orange.
+
+Then there was another low, piteous howling.
+
+"Lie down, you brute!" he shouted out of the window, to be answered by a
+quick, yelping bark.
+
+"Perhaps Pete is not about, and the dog really is starving," thought
+Tom; and he finished dressing as another howl broke out, more piteous
+and mournful than ever.
+
+"Will you be quiet!" he shouted from the window.  "Lie down, and I'll
+bring you a bone, you ugly, rat-tailed, low-bred dog-ruffian."
+
+He was interrupted by a joyous, yelping bark.
+
+"That dog does want to be friends with me, but I can't have him here,"
+thought Tom, who now opened his door as quietly as he could, but it gave
+a loud creak, so did one of the boards, as he walked towards the
+staircase.
+
+"That you, Tom?" came from his uncle's room.
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"There's a dog making a miserable noise.  Try and drive it away."
+
+"Just going to, uncle," said Tom.  Then to himself, as he went
+down-stairs--"Driving's no good, or old Dave would have got rid of him
+yesterday.  I shall have to try him with a bone."
+
+He laughed to himself as he made his way into the larder, wondering what
+Mrs Fidler would say if she could see him; and after looking beneath
+two or three wire covers, he pounced upon a bladebone of a shoulder of
+mutton, pretty literally a bone, and bore it away, taking his cap and
+going out into the garden, getting to the side gate in the lane, and
+passing out just as the sun rose above the horizon.
+
+"Here, hi! ugly!" he cried, breaking into the midst of a howl; and the
+dog came bounding toward him with its yelping bark.  "There; it's very
+stupid of me, but just you take that and be off into the woods, and if
+you come here again look out for squalls."
+
+The dog made a fierce snap at the bone, upon which its sharp teeth
+clapped, and then with a growl bounded off, but stopped and came back,
+dropped the bone in the sand, looked up at Tom, and threw up its head to
+howl again.
+
+"Why, halloo! what's the matter then?" cried Tom, holding out his hand;
+"got another adder-bite in the nose?"
+
+"Ow--ow!" moaned the dog, pressing its head up against the hand.  Then
+it started away, barked sharply, turned, and looked at Tom.
+
+"Here, let's have a look," he cried; and the dog uttered an eager bark.
+"Come here."
+
+The dog ran to him directly, and after a momentary hesitation Tom took
+hold of its head, and held up its muzzle without the slightest
+resistance being offered.
+
+"Well, we seem to have got to be pretty good friends," said Tom, as he
+looked carefully, and then let go; "but I don't see anything wrong.
+Besides, it isn't swollen."
+
+The dog barked loudly now, and started away for a few yards.
+
+"Here, here!  Don't leave your sandy bone," cried Tom, and the dog ran
+back.  "Here, catch hold."
+
+Then there was a snap made at the tempting morsel, but it was dropped
+again directly, for the poor brute to throw up its muzzle and give forth
+another piteous howl.
+
+"Oh, I say, don't do that," cried Tom; and this was responded to by a
+burst of barking.
+
+"Why, what's the matter with you?  Mouth sore?  Toothache?"
+
+There was another burst of barking, and the dog ran on a few yards, and
+looked back to bark again.
+
+"I don't understand your language, old chap," cried Tom.  "What do you
+want?  Found a rabbit round here?"
+
+Another eager bark, and the dog pricked up its ears, and looked more and
+more excited.
+
+"All right, come and pick this up then.  It's too good to leave."
+
+The dog rushed at the bone as Tom turned it over with his foot, seized
+it, and ran on again, dropped it, and barked.  Then, as the boy
+advanced, it seized the bone and ran on farther, to go through the same
+performance.
+
+"Very well, I'll come," cried Tom.  "Bound to say he has found an adder
+somewhere, and wants me to kill it, though I should hardly think there
+are any about now," and he set off at a trot after the dog, whose whole
+manner changed at this, for it went bounding off along the road,
+stopping every now and then to drop the bone and bark excitedly; twice
+over it left the meat and ran on, but at a word it came back, picked it
+up, and went on as before, with tail and ears erect, looking as full of
+business as could be.
+
+"Isn't this very stupid?" muttered Tom; "me running after this
+miserable-looking brute.  He's going to change masters, and wants me to
+go hunting with him--that's what it is.  Pete has knocked him about once
+too often.  Wonder what uncle would say if I took such an object back.
+And old David!"
+
+He laughed heartily as he pictured the gardener's disgust, but somehow
+he could not help feeling satisfied by the dog's show of affection.
+
+At this point he stopped, for they had gone some distance along beside
+the fir-wood, and to try how the animal would behave, he called it.
+
+The bone was dropped, and the animal rushed back to him barking
+excitedly, allowing itself to be patted, and then jumping up and butting
+its head against him in a way more eager than pleasant.
+
+"Well, isn't that enough?" cried Tom, giving the dog a few friendly
+pats, which made it dart on again barking.
+
+"Here! hi!  The bone!" and the dog dashed back, picked it up, and bolted
+steadily on again, till at about a mile from Heatherleigh it stopped by
+an opening into the wood, bounded up the sandy bank, and stood there
+barking as it looked back.
+
+"Look here," cried Tom, as he came up, and talking to the dog as if it
+understood him.  "No treachery, old chap; Pete hasn't sent you, has he,
+to lure me into the wood for another fight?  Because if that's it I'm
+going back.  I don't want to knock myself about again--or be knocked,"
+he added merrily.
+
+There was a volley of barks here, and the dog was going to plunge into
+the depths of the fir-wood without the dropped bone, but a word checked
+it, and it picked up its mouthful and went on, while Tom hesitated at
+the edge.
+
+"I'm not going any farther," he muttered.  "What's the good?" but the
+dog was back, looking wilder and more excited than ever.  "All right! go
+on then; I'm after you," he cried.  "It will be a grand run before
+breakfast, and there's plenty of time."
+
+From this moment, as Tom trotted quickly over the fir-needles at the
+dog's heels, the poor brute went steadily on, uttering a low, muffled
+bark every now and then as it threaded its way in and out among the
+fir-trees as if bound for some particular spot.
+
+This began to impress Tom now, and he wondered why his companion did not
+begin to hunt about; then this wonder increased as first one and then
+another rabbit was put up, to dart away, eliciting low growls from the
+dog, but that was all.  It showed not the slightest disposition to dash
+after them.
+
+"Can dogs think?" said Tom to himself, with a new interest now in his
+pursuit.  "He must mean something.  Is it an adder?  I'll be bound to
+say he is going right away to that open place where he was stung, to
+show me the dead viper that he has killed."
+
+The farther they went on, the more convinced Tom felt that this was the
+case, for they were going right in the direction, and making good
+progress too, the dog never stopping for a moment, but just swinging its
+ugly head round to see if it was followed before settling to its steady
+trot once more.
+
+This went on for quite half-an-hour, and Tom was pretty well breathless
+as he stopped to have a bit of rest, while the dog halted, dropped its
+bone, turned up its head, and howled again dismally.
+
+"I can't help it, old chap," cried Tom; "I haven't got four legs to run
+with; I must walk now."
+
+As the dog saw him advance it barked joyously again, and trotted on once
+more, but more slowly as it found that it was not followed so swiftly.
+
+Then all at once a fresh idea flashed through Tom's brain, and he fell
+a-wondering whether he could be right.  He had never been across the
+wood this way before, but it was undoubtedly in the direction of Pete's
+lurking-place under the great pine-tree, and it seemed possible that the
+dog was making for there.
+
+But why?  For what reason?
+
+Tom felt uneasy, and involuntarily, in spite of a slight sensation of
+shrinking, began to trot once more, while the dog seemed to gladly
+increase its pace after a look back.
+
+"It must be," thought Tom; "he is leading me straight to the sandy cave.
+What for?"
+
+An undefined sensation of uneasiness began to increase upon him.  He was
+getting hot with exercise, but his blood was quite cool.  Imagination
+had not stirred him; he had had no breakfast; and if a fight was before
+him, he felt most decidedly that he would rather not.  In this spirit
+then he kept on telling himself that he might as well turn back now, but
+all the same he kept trotting on after the dog, putting off the return
+till he had gone a little farther and a little farther, and always
+keeping on, till all at once it seemed to be a little lighter on ahead,
+and he strained his eyes in the full expectation of seeing Pete Warboys
+waiting for him.
+
+"And if he is," he half thought, half muttered, "as sure as I live I'll
+get David to help me, and we'll trap and half kill this treacherous
+brute."
+
+Another hundred yards, and he was looking wonderingly about him, for the
+place was strange.  He had never been there before.
+
+Then he grasped the meaning of the strangeness.  The storm had evidently
+come down here with terrific force, making a path through the
+pine-forest, some of whose trees were laid like wheat after a heavy
+wind; while just in front one huge tree had been blown right over, and
+in falling had crushed down a dozen or more in the path of its fall,
+letting in light, and strewing the soft earth with broken limbs, and
+trunks lying like jack-straws on the ground.
+
+"That's why he has brought me," said Tom, half aloud.  "Halloo, where is
+he?  Here! here! old boy, here!"
+
+He was answered by a furious barking, and the dog sprang up into sight
+on the trunk of the big tree close up to its roots, barking furiously at
+him, and then turning and leaping down out of sight; while Tom felt as
+if all of a sudden his blood had begun to turn cold, and his legs
+beneath him had grown weak.
+
+For a horrible thought had suddenly flashed across his mind, like a
+meteor over the field of the great telescope.  He knew now the dumb
+language of the dog, and why it had fetched him; and as if to endorse
+his thought, there came from about a dozen yards away so wild and
+blood-curdling a yell, that for the moment he could not believe it to be
+the dog, but that it came from some one in mortal peril.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTY.
+
+That cry was "help!" in its meaning as plainly as if it had come from a
+human throat, and with eyes hot and dry, Tom dashed forward with his
+worst fears confirmed.
+
+The tree had been blown over by the storm, and he knew it now.  It was
+the great pine whose roots overhung Pete's cavern, and now the hollow
+which formed the entrance was filled up by the roots, the narrow passage
+closed, and at the bottom of a new pit formed in the sand, where the
+buried roots had been torn out and broken off, there was the dog, with
+jaws open, tongue out, and eyes starting, tearing away at the sand,
+which kept gliding back as fast as it was thrown out, evidently trying
+to rescue its master, who must have been buried there.
+
+"Oh, you good old chap!" cried Tom, as he sprang to the side of the pit;
+and the dog, taking the words for encouragement, uttered a loud bark,
+and tore away at the sand with its fore feet and kicked it away with its
+hind at a tremendous rate, sending it flying in quite a mist.
+
+Tom had grasped the situation thoroughly now, and felt that Pete must
+have been sleeping in his cave that night with his dog, when the tree,
+only held on one side, had given way, burying him.  Then the dog had
+contrived to scratch its way out, leaving its master prisoned to lie
+there in darkness, while during all the next day and night the faithful
+companion for whom he had shown so little kindness had howled, and
+howled in vain, for help.
+
+Tom saw it all now, and he sprang down into the hollow from which the
+pine roots had been torn, to begin cheering on the dog, and helping with
+all his might; till once more he turned cold; but it was with a far more
+terrible chill, as he felt that it was all those hours since Pete had
+been covered in.  Worse, the position of the root indicated that one
+side had been driven right into the cave, the old roof, as it were,
+sinking down, and only one thing could have happened--the unfortunate
+occupant must have been crushed to death.
+
+But the dog was animated by no such ideas.  It knew that its master was
+below, and it panted, and growled, and snarled as it tore away at the
+sand.
+
+Then a fresh idea struck Tom.  He could do but little good; he must run
+for help, and bring men with shovels, a rope, levers, and an axe, for
+they would perhaps have to cut the unhappy prisoner free.
+
+But no; he might be the means of the poor fellow losing his life if a
+spark still lingered.  If he could only reach his face and uncover that
+before going for aid!  And so he toiled on, scooping out the sand with
+both hands close by where the dog tore, for every now and then it buried
+its muzzle, snuffling and blowing, and raised it again to bark
+furiously.
+
+"He knows," thought Tom; and he tore away with all his might down there
+upon his knees, close at the side of the dog, to whom he uttered a
+cheering word of encouragement, accompanied by a pat on the back.
+
+But it was slow work, for every now and then the sand from above
+crumbled down, great pats dropped from amongst the roots as soon as that
+beneath was taken away, and at the end of half-an-hour a feeling of
+despair accompanied the deadly weariness that now attacked his arms and
+shoulders, and involuntarily Tom Blount uttered a piteous cry.
+
+It was from the hopelessness of what he was doing that this cry escaped
+him, but the dog took it for one of encouragement, and it plunged its
+nose into the loose sand again, grew more and more excited as it tore
+away, and suddenly, to Tom's astonishment, head and shoulders
+disappeared, and it gradually struggled on till even the long thin tail
+disappeared.
+
+Reaching down, the boy now found the sand come away more easily, and he
+was thrusting his arm in as far as it would go, when he felt the dog's
+cold nose against his hand; the dry sand seemed to boil up as he
+snatched back his arm, and directly after the dog worked itself out
+again, to stand barking with all its might, and then begin scratching
+once more.
+
+After working a few minutes longer, Tom reached in again, and found that
+his hand moved about freely in one direction, but touched pieces of root
+in the other, and then he started back with a cry of horror, for down in
+a hollow between two pieces of root he felt a face.
+
+The fear was only momentary.  Then he was searching again, and this time
+easily touched the face, which was quite clear of sand, the roots above
+striding over it, so to speak, and, as he felt upward, proving to be
+some inches distant.
+
+But the face was cold and still, and despair crept over the worker
+again.  He fought it back though, tore away at the sand, and at the end
+of a few minutes had cleared an opening like a rabbit burrow, which he
+could see led right to the roots and must convey air.
+
+Then with a tremendous burst of barking the dog made a plunge to get in,
+half filling the burrow before Tom could hold it back, when the
+intelligent beast stood with its tongue out, panting heavily, and
+seeming to question him with its eyes.
+
+Tom thought for a moment, then he took off his neckerchief, pulled out
+his pocket-book, and tore out a leaf of paper, one side of which was
+covered with the names of the moon's craters.
+
+"Come away," he cried to the dog, as he carefully stepped out on to the
+firm ground, the dog barking excitedly, but following him.
+
+"Must stop and keep the hole open," thought Tom; and then, laying his
+paper on a tree-trunk, he wrote clearly:--
+
+"Follow the dog to the fir-wood.  Pete buried in sand.  Bring help,
+shovels, axes, ropes.
+
+"T.B."
+
+He rolled this in his neckerchief, tied it round the dog's neck, and
+then stood pointing homeward.
+
+"Go home!" he shouted; "fetch--fetch!  Go home!"
+
+The dog made no sound, but went off at a long loping gallop, Tom
+watching it till it was out of sight, and then cautiously creeping back
+into the hole to scoop away some of the sand which lay heaped round the
+burrow, to keep watch by one who he felt sure was dead.
+
+All Pete's short-comings were forgotten as Tom sat there, feeling that
+he dare do no more for fear of loosening the sand, and bringing it
+trickling down like so much water; all he could think of then was, that
+a fellow-creature lay buried close to him mutely asking for help, and he
+wanted to convince himself that he had done everything possible in the
+way of giving that aid.
+
+It was a difficult matter to mentally decide, and there were moments
+when he felt that he ought not to have trusted to the dog, but should
+have gone himself, for a dozen things might prevent help coming, even if
+the dog proved to be a trustworthy messenger.
+
+So strong was this idea, that three times over he was on the point of
+starting off to run back; but each time just as he was rising, the sand
+came trickling down in a way which showed how soon the burrow would be
+closed up; and without air, now that the place had been opened, he felt
+that the last chance would be gone.
+
+So Tom settled himself down to keep the burrow clear, trembling at times
+as he listened, faintly hoping that the words he spoke now and then
+might elicit a reply.
+
+But he hearkened in vain, all was solemnly still save the calls of the
+birds, and the rustling made by the rabbits as they chased each other in
+and out among the pines.  By and by a squirrel came racing up, caught
+sight of him, sprang to the nearest tree-trunk, dashed up it, and then
+out upon the first big horizontal bar, where it sat twitching its
+beautiful tail, scolding him angrily for intruding in what it looked
+upon as its own private property.
+
+After a time too there was the cheery call of the nuthatch, and the busy
+little bird flitted into sight, to alight upon a pine-trunk, and begin
+creeping here and there, head up or head down, peering into every crack,
+and probing it in search of insects.  A flock of jays, too, came jerking
+themselves into the tree-tops, displaying their black and white
+feathers, the china-blue patches upon their wings, and one in particular
+came quite near, setting up its soft loose crest, and showing its
+boldly-marked moustachios as it peered with first one light-blue eye,
+then with the other, at the motionless object seated in the sand-pit,
+wondering whether it was alive.
+
+Tom saw all these things that morning, for in his excited state they
+were forced upon him, though all the time he seemed to be following his
+messenger through the wood, keeping up its long steady canter; now
+diving between two closely-growing trees, now bounding over a clump of
+bracken, and now seeming to catch one end of the neckerchief in a strand
+of blackberry thorn, at which the dog tugged till the silk was torn and
+freed.  Again he saw the dog caught in this fashion, and soon after
+watched it reach the edge of the wood and bound down into the lane,
+where it soon after encountered a gipsy-like party, who caught sight of
+the dog's strange collar, and sought to stop it, and steal the letter,
+for which the dog fought fiercely, and finally escaped by leaping back
+into the wood and disappearing entirely, so that he could trace it no
+more.
+
+All imagination, but as real to him as a troubled dream, till he stooped
+once more to clear the opening, and gaze in, shuddering, and afraid to
+break the awful stillness around.
+
+Then he crouched again upon his knees to listen, and wonder whether the
+dog had reached Heatherleigh yet.  Next whether it would ever have the
+intelligence to make its way there, and if it did, whether it would not
+pretty surely be chased away by David, who would for certain be the
+first to see it, and begin throwing stones.
+
+"I wish I had thought of that before," muttered Tom despairingly; and as
+the time went on he despaired more and more of seeing the
+long-looked-for help arrive.  For he told himself that he had been mad
+ever to dream of the dog proving a successful messenger, since,
+according to his calculation at last, there had been ample time for the
+journey to have been made thrice over.
+
+It was of no use to shout for help or to whistle, for nobody ever came
+through these woods, save a poacher now and then by night, to set wires
+or traps for the rabbits; and at last in despair Tom felt that he must
+go.
+
+Then hope came once more, as he thought better of the dog, for what
+greater intelligence could dumb beast have shown than, after struggling
+out of the cave, to have made its way not to its regular home, where it
+could only have appealed to the feeble old grandmother, but straight to
+one whom, though no friend, it had seen more than once with its master?
+
+"See," he said to himself, "how, in spite of all driving away, the poor
+thing kept on coming back to the cottage, and how wonderfully it led me
+here, and worked by my side.  He'll do it.  I'm sure he will, and before
+long I shall see uncle coming."
+
+Then the time wore on, till these hopes were dashed again, and a
+despairing fit of low spirits attacked the watcher.  "It's of no use,"
+he said, half aloud; "I must go;" and he bent over the still open hole,
+to try and think out some plan of keeping back the sand.  But all in
+vain; he felt that there was no way.  Either he must stop there to keep
+on scooping the place free every few minutes, or leave it to take its
+chance while he went for help.
+
+"No, I can't," he cried; "it's throwing away the very last hope.  I must
+stay.  Oh, why does not some one come?"
+
+Tom's face darkened now, for his over-strained imagination had painted a
+fresh picture--that of the miserable-looking cur somewhere close at
+hand, settled down in a hollow to deliberately gnaw the sandy bone.  For
+it was too much to expect of a dog that, after perhaps starving for
+eight-and-forty hours, it would leave the meal for which it hungered,
+and go and deliver such a message as that upon which it was sent.
+
+"Oh, how long! how long!" he groaned.  "I could have gone there and back
+half-a-dozen times."
+
+It was a moderate computation according to Tom's feelings, for it seemed
+to him half the day must have glided by in the agony he was suffering.
+
+But it had not.  Time had been going steadily on at its customary rate,
+in spite of the way in which the lad in his excitement had pushed on the
+hands of his mental clock.
+
+"I must go," he cried at last, "or no help will come.  That brute is
+somewhere close by, I'm sure.  Here, hi!" he shouted; but there was no
+reply--no dog came bounding up; and after listening for a few minutes he
+began to whistle loudly, when his heart seemed suddenly to stop its
+beating as he leaned forward listening, for, faint and distant but quite
+clear, there came an answering whistle.
+
+He whistled again, and he pressed his hand upon his breast, feeling half
+choked with emotion.
+
+The signal was answered, and directly after there was a distant hail,
+followed by a joyous barking, and the dog came bounding up, to rush down
+into the hollow, thrust its sharp nose into the burrow, take it out,
+begin barking again, and then dash off once more among the clustering
+pine-trunks.
+
+Tom whistled again, then hailed, was answered, hailed again, and sank
+down half choked by the emotion he felt, and hard pressed to keep back a
+burst of feeling which tried to unman him.
+
+"This way! ahoy!" he yelled, as he leaped up out of the hole, himself
+once more.  "Quick! help! ahoy!"
+
+Then the dog tore up barking furiously, half wild with excitement, and
+directly after Tom caught sight of the Vicar, closely followed by his
+uncle; and then came David with a bundle of tools over his shoulder,
+followed at a short distance by the village bricklayer, the carpenter,
+and two more men.
+
+At this a peculiar giddy feeling came over the watcher, there was a
+strange singing in his ears, and he stood there as if stunned.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTY ONE.
+
+"Where is he?" cried Uncle Richard.  "Yes, I see!"
+
+The words brought Tom back to himself, and he was as active again as the
+rest, his strange seizure having lasted only a few moments.
+
+"Heaven grant that we are not too late!" said the Vicar.  "Here, Tom,
+you had better keep the dog back."
+
+"But you are sure some one is buried here?" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"Yes; it is Pete Warboys--he has a kind of cave here.  It's crushed in,"
+Tom hastened to explain.
+
+"If we try to dig him out we shall suffocate him," cried Uncle Richard,
+speaking as if he had no doubt of the boy living still.  "Look here,
+carpenter--David, there is only one way: three of us must be here with a
+rope fastened to this great root, and three others must work at a branch
+yonder.  We shall have great leverage then, and we may be able to turn
+the trunk right over."
+
+"Want a screw-jack, sir," said the carpenter.
+
+"We must make screw-jacks of ourselves," cried Uncle Richard.  "You,
+David, take the axe and lop off a few of the branches that will be in
+our way; you, carpenter, saw off three or four of these roots as closely
+as you can; Tom, keep the hole open; Mr Maxted, keep the dog out of the
+way; I'll make fast the ropes."
+
+Every one went to work at once as Uncle Richard fell back into his old
+way when he was a planter with a couple of hundred coolies under him,
+and acre after acre of primeval forest to clear before he could begin to
+cultivate the ground.
+
+Then the dog barked furiously for a few moments, but at a word from Tom
+crouched panting with its tongue out and ears pricked, evidently
+satisfied with the efforts being made to release its master.  The
+strokes of the axe fell thick and fast, the saw rasped through the wood,
+and dust and chips flew, while the forest echoed to the sounds of busy
+work.
+
+Best part of an hour's hard toil, and then one side of the tree was
+fairly clear; the ropes were tied to root and branch projecting at right
+angles, and the ends passed round tree-trunks.
+
+"Now then!" said Uncle Richard.  "Ready?"
+
+"Hadn't we better haul straight, sir?" cried the carpenter.  "It'll give
+us more power."
+
+"No," said Uncle Richard; "the pulling will be harder, but we can hold
+inch by inch this way, and make fast the ropes when we have turned the
+trunk over."
+
+"Right, sir," said the man.
+
+Then the word was given, and after a glance to see that the burrow was
+still open, Tom seized the end of the rope, to add his bit of weight,
+wondering the while whether they would injure the poor fellow beneath,
+but pretty well satisfied that they were pulling right away.
+
+The tree creaked and moved, some smaller branches snapped, but no good
+was done.
+
+"All together again," cried Uncle Richard; and they panted and hauled,
+but all in vain.
+
+"Off with that rope from the branch," cried Uncle Richard.
+
+This was done, and it was then made fast to another projecting root, so
+that all could pull at the one end.
+
+Again the word was given, but there was no result, and after a couple
+more tries the task seemed hopeless, when Tom seized the saw, and began
+to cut at a piece of root which he had seen rise a little and move some
+sand.
+
+"Hah, that's right," cried the Vicar; "that's a sound root, and holds
+the tree down."
+
+In five minutes the saw was through, and once more all began to haul,
+when the great tree seemed to give, turning over slowly like a wheel,
+and amidst shouts and cheers, and a furious burst of barking from the
+dog, the mass turned more and more, till the whole tree, with its vast
+root, had made a complete revolution; and when the ropes had been made
+fast, to secure it, there was the great hollow clear, but the sand had
+gone down with a rush, and the burrow was covered in.
+
+Tom did not wait for the trunk to be secured, for he had seen the
+result.
+
+"Don't, boy, don't," shouted the Vicar; "the tree may come back and
+crush you."
+
+"Let it!" muttered Tom between his teeth, as he dropped upon his knees,
+scooping away at the sand, helped now by the dog, which began to be too
+useful, and got in the way.  All the same though, by the time the tree
+was fast the sand had been swept from Pete Warboys' face; and David and
+Uncle Richard stooping and passing their hands beneath him, very little
+effort was required to draw him right out of the hole, and up among the
+pine-trees, where he was laid gently down, amid a profound silence,
+while Uncle Richard knelt beside him, and the dog, after a furious
+volley of barks, began to snuffle at its master's face.
+
+"Dead?" whispered the Vicar, as Uncle Richard carefully made his
+examination, just as he had many a time played medicine-man or surgeon
+to a sick or injured coolie.
+
+He made some answer, but it was drowned by the dog, which threw up its
+head and uttered a mournful howl, while a feeling of awe made those
+around look on in silence.
+
+"You are in too great a hurry, my good friend," said Uncle Richard then,
+as he turned to the dog.  "There's a little life in your master yet, but
+one arm is broken, and I'm afraid that he is badly crushed."
+
+Tom drew a breath full of relief, while his uncle rose to his feet.
+
+"I think, Maxted, if you will go on first, and warn his grandmother, and
+have a bed ready, and also get the doctor there, we will make a litter
+of a couple of poles and some fir-boughs, and carry him home.  It would
+be better for you to go to the old woman than for Tom."
+
+"Yes," said the Vicar, who set aside his regular quiet, sedate bearing,
+and ran off through the wood at a sharp trot.
+
+"Out with your knife, Tom," cried Uncle Richard; "cut a piece three feet
+long off one of those ropes, and unravel it into string."
+
+Tom set to work, while the carpenter cut off a couple of straight
+fir-boughs, which David trimmed quickly with the axe, and a few
+cross-pieces were sawn off about thirty inches long.
+
+Then Tom stared in wonder to see how rapidly his uncle bound the short
+pieces of wood across the long, afterwards weaving in small pieces of
+the green fir, and forming a strong, fairly soft litter.
+
+"Not the first time by many, Tom," he said.  "Accidents used to be
+frequent in clearing forest in the East.  There: that will do.  Now for
+our patient."
+
+He knelt down beside Pete, placed a bough of thickly-clothed fir beneath
+the injured arm, and then closely bound all to the boy's side.
+
+"More harm is often done to a broken limb by letting it swing about," he
+said, "than by the fracture itself.  Now four of us together.  Pass your
+hands beneath him, enlace your fingers, and when I give the word, all
+lift."
+
+This was done, Pete deposited upon the litter, and secured there by one
+of the ropes, after which he was carefully borne to his grandmother's
+cottage, where the doctor was already waiting, and the old woman,
+tramping about stick in hand, looking as if prepared to attack her
+visitors for bringing down mischief upon the head of her grandson.
+
+At last, as the boy was laid upon a mattress, she began to scold at
+Uncle Richard, but only to be brought up short by the doctor, who
+sternly bade her be silent, and not interrupt him while he examined Pete
+and set his arm.
+
+This silenced the poor old woman, who stood back looking on, till the
+doctor had finished, and gone away to fetch medicine for his patient.
+
+"Yes," he said, "very bad, and will be worse, for in all probability he
+will have a sharp attack of fever, and be delirious when he recovers his
+speech.  It is really wonderful that he is still alive."
+
+As these words were said, Tom looked back through the open cottage door,
+to see Pete lying motionless upon the mattress, and the dog sitting up
+beside him, looking down at the still white face.
+
+"Looking at the dog, Tom?" said the Vicar.
+
+"Yes, sir.  What a faithful beast it is."
+
+"Splendid," said the Vicar.  "And yet I've seen Pete ill-use the poor
+brute, and I'm afraid it was half-starved; but it does not seem to
+influence the dog's affection for him."
+
+"No, sir, not a bit.  There are worse things than dogs, sir."
+
+"Yes, Tom," said the Vicar, tightening his lips, "a great deal."
+
+That night Pete's eyes opened, and he began talking rapidly about
+falling trees and sand, and the black darkness; but his grandmother,
+worn-out with watching, had fallen asleep, and there was no one to
+hearken but the dog, which reached over every now and then to lick his
+face or hands.
+
+And at the touch the injured, delirious lad grew calmer, to drop off
+into his feverish sleep again, while, when Tom came early the next
+morning, it was to meet the doctor coming away.
+
+"Don't go in," he said; "you can do no good; quiet and time are the only
+remedies for him.--Ah, good-morning, Mr Maxted."
+
+For the Vicar was up early too, and had come to see after his worst
+parishioner.
+
+"Good-morning, doctor.  May I go in?"
+
+"Yes, if you will be quiet."
+
+The Vicar stole in, stayed for some time, and then came out as silently
+as he had gone in, to look inquiringly at the doctor.
+
+"You think he will die?" he said.
+
+"I hope not," replied the doctor earnestly.  "Not if I can prevent it."
+
+Just then there was another visitor to the cottage in the person of
+Uncle Richard, while soon after David appeared round the corner, where
+there was a sharp bend in the lane, having risen and started an hour
+earlier so as to come round by Mother Warboys', and inquire about the
+injured lad.
+
+"Don't you go a-thinking that I keer a nutshell about Pete Warboys,
+Master Tom," said David, as he was looking into the cottage with the boy
+by his side, "because I don't, and it sims to me as the fewer Pete
+Warboyses there is in the world the better we should be.  It warn't him
+I come about's mornin'--not Pete, you know, but the lad as had had an
+accident, and got nearly killed.  See?"
+
+"Yes, I see, David," said Tom, nodding his head.
+
+"It's him as has got the friends--the young accident--not Pete.  Say,
+Master Tom?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"If Pete Warboys dies--"
+
+"Hush! don't talk about it," cried Tom in horror.
+
+"Oh, cert'ny not, sir, if you don't wish me to.  May I talk about the
+dog?"
+
+"Oh yes, of course," cried Tom, as he looked round at the bright,
+smiling earth, glittering with diamond-like dew, and thought how
+terrible it would be for one so young to be snatched away.
+
+"Well, sir, I was thinking a deal about that dog last night, for I
+couldn't sleep, being a bit overcome like."
+
+"Yes, I was awake a long time," said Tom, with a sigh.
+
+"Not so long as I was, sir, I'll bet a bewry pear.  Well, sir, I lay
+a-thinking that if--mind, I only says if, sir--if Pete Warboys was to
+die, how would it be, if master didn't say no, and I was to knock him up
+a barrel for a kennel to live in our yard?"
+
+"I should ask uncle to let me keep him, David, for he's a wonderful
+dog."
+
+"I don't go so far as that, sir, for he's a dog as has had a horful bad
+eddication, but something might be made of him; and it was a pity,
+seeing why he came yowling about our place, as you was so handy heaving
+stones at him."
+
+"What?" cried Tom indignantly.
+
+"Well, sir, p'r'aps it was me.  But it weer a pity, warn't it?"
+
+"Brutal," cried Tom.
+
+"Ah, it weer.  He's a horful hugly dog though."
+
+"Not handsome certainly," replied Tom.
+
+"That he arn't, sir, nowheres.  But if he was fed reg'lar like, so as to
+alter his shape, and I took off part of his ears, and about half his
+tail, he might be made to look respectable."
+
+"Rubbish!" cried Tom.
+
+"Oh no, it arn't, sir.  Dogs can be wonderfully improved.  But what do
+you say to askin' cook to save the bits and bones while there's no one
+to feed him?  I'll take 'em every day as I go home from work.  What do
+you say?"
+
+"Yes, of course," cried Tom; and from that day the ugly mongrel was
+regularly fed, but after the first feeding it did not trouble David to
+take the food, but left its master's side about three o'clock every
+afternoon, and came and fetched the food itself.
+
+"Which it's only nat'ral," said David, with a grim smile; "for if ever I
+did see a dog as had ribs that looked as if they'd been grown into a
+basket to hold meat, that dog is Pete Warboys'; but I hope as good meat
+and bones 'll do something to make his hair grow decent, for he's a
+reg'lar worser as he is."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTY TWO.
+
+It was about a fortnight after the accident, that Tom was returning one
+day from Mother Warboys' cottage, where the old woman had sat scowling
+at him, while Pete lay back perfectly helpless, and smiled faintly at
+his visitor, when he met Mrs Fidler by the gate looking out for him.
+
+"There's some one come from London to see you, Master Tom."
+
+"From London?"
+
+"Yes, sir; he said his name was Pringle."
+
+"Pringle!" cried Tom eagerly.  "Where is he?"
+
+"In the dining-room with your uncle, sir; and I was to send you in as
+soon as you came back."
+
+Tom hurried in, and found the clerk from Gray's Inn very smartly
+dressed.  His hat was all glossy, and there was a flower in his
+button-hole.
+
+"Ah, Pringle," cried the boy, "I'm so glad to see you.  This is Pringle,
+who was so kind to me, uncle, when I was at the office."
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard, rather grimly; "Mr Pringle has already
+introduced himself, and--ahem!--told me of the friendly feeling which
+existed between you."
+
+The clerk, who had evidently been very uncomfortable, had brightened up
+a little at the sight of Tom, but his countenance fell again at Uncle
+Richard's words.
+
+"Now, Mr Pringle, perhaps you will be good enough to repeat that which
+you have told me--in confidence, for I should like my nephew to hear it,
+so that he can give his opinion upon the matter."
+
+"Certainly, sir," said Pringle, brightening up, and becoming the
+sharp-speaking clerk once more.  "The fact is, Mr Thomas, I have left
+Mr Brandon's office--which I won't deceive you, sir, he didn't give me
+no chance to resign, but in consequence of a misunderstanding with Mr
+Samuel, because I wouldn't tell lies for him, he sent me off at once."
+
+"I am very sorry, Pringle," said Tom sympathetically.
+
+"So am I, sir," replied the clerk; "and same time, so I ain't.  But to
+business, sir.  So long as I was Mr Brandon's clerk, sir, my mouth
+seemed to be shut, sir; but now I ain't Mr Brandon's clerk, sir, it's
+open; and feeling, as I did, that there are things that you and your
+respected uncle ought to hear--"
+
+"About my uncle and cousin?" cried Tom, flushing.
+
+"Yes, sir.  There was certain papers, sir, as--"
+
+"Thank you, Pringle," cried Tom quickly; "neither my Uncle Richard nor I
+want to hear a single word about matters that are dead and buried."
+
+"Thank you, Tom," cried Uncle Richard eagerly.  "Mr Pringle will bear
+me out when I say, that you have used my exact words."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Pringle, looking into his hat, as if to consult the
+maker's name.  "I can corroborate that--the very words."
+
+"So you see, Mr Pringle," continued Uncle Richard, rising to lay his
+hand upon his nephew's shoulder, "you have brought your information to a
+bad market, and if you expected to sell--"
+
+"Which I'm sure I didn't, sir," cried the clerk, springing up, and
+indignantly banging his hat down upon the table, to its serious injury
+about the crown.  "I never thought about a penny, sir, and I wouldn't
+take one.  I came down here, sir, because I was free, sir, and to try
+and do a good turn to Mr Thomas here, sir, who was always a pleasant
+young gentleman to me, and I didn't like the idea of his being done out
+of his rights."
+
+"Indeed!" said Uncle Richard, looking at the man searchingly.
+
+"Yes, sir, indeed; I'd have spoken sooner if I could, but I always said
+to myself there was plenty of time for it before Mr Thomas would be of
+age.  Good-morning, sir; good-morning, Mr Thomas.  I'd like to shake
+hands with you once more.  I'm glad to see you, sir, grown so, and
+looking so happy; but don't you go thinking that I came down on such a
+mean errand as that.  I ain't perfect, I know, and in some cases I might
+have expected something, but I didn't here."
+
+"I don't think you did, Pringle," cried Tom, holding out his hand, at
+which the clerk snatched.
+
+"Neither do I, Mr Pringle, now," said Uncle Richard, "though I did at
+first.  Thank you for your proffer, but once more, that unhappy business
+is as a thing forgotten to my nephew and me."
+
+"Very good, sir; I'm very sorry I came," began Pringle.
+
+"And I am not.  I beg your pardon, Mr Pringle; and I am sure my nephew
+is very glad to see you."
+
+"Oh, don't say no more about it, sir; I only thought--"
+
+"Yes, you did not quite know us simple country people," said Uncle
+Richard.  "There, Tom, see that your visitor has some lunch.  Dinner at
+the usual time, and we'll have tea at half-past seven, so as to give you
+both a long afternoon.  I dare say Mr Pringle will enjoy a fine day in
+the country."
+
+"I should, sir, but I've to go back."
+
+"Plenty of time for that," said Uncle Richard; "the station fly shall be
+here to take you over in time for the last train.  There, you will
+excuse me."
+
+That evening, as Tom rode over to the station with his visitor, and just
+before he said good-bye, Pringle rubbed away very hard at his damaged
+hat, but in vain, for the breakage still showed, and exclaimed--
+
+"I don't care, sir, I won't believe it."
+
+"Believe what, Pringle?"
+
+"As them two's brothers, sir.  It's against nature.  Look here, I
+wouldn't have it at first, but he was quite angry, and said I must, and
+that I was to take it as a present from you."
+
+"What is it?" said Tom; "a letter?"
+
+"Yes, sir, to your uncle's lawyer, asking him as a favour to try and get
+me work."
+
+"Then you'll get it, Pringle," cried Tom.
+
+"That I shall, sir.  And look here, cheque on his banker for
+five-and-twenty pounds, as he would make me have, to be useful till I
+get a fresh clerkship.  Now, ought I to take it, Mr Thomas?"
+
+"Of course," cried Tom.  "There, in with you.  Good-night, Pringle,
+good-night."
+
+"But ought I to take that cheque, Mr Thomas? because I didn't earn it,
+and didn't want to," cried Pringle, leaning out of the carriage window;
+"Ought I to keep it, sir?"
+
+"Yes," cried Tom, as the train moved off, and he ran along the platform,
+"to buy a new hat."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTY THREE.
+
+"And you did not know anything about it, Pete?" said Tom one day, as he
+sat beside the lad in Mother Warboys' cottage, while the old woman kept
+on going in and out, muttering to herself, and watching them uneasily.
+
+Pete looked very thin and hollow-cheeked, but for the first time perhaps
+for many years his face was perfectly clean, and his hair had been
+clipped off very short; while now, after passing through a phase of
+illness which had very nearly had a fatal result, he was slowly gaining
+strength.
+
+The dog, which had been lying half asleep beside his master, suddenly
+jumped up, to lay its long, thin nose on Tom's knee, and stood watching
+him, perfectly happy upon feeling a hand placed for treating as a sheath
+into which he could plunge the said nose.
+
+"You give him too much to eat," said Pete.  Then suddenly, "No, I can't
+recklect.  It was blowin' when I got in to go and sleep, 'cause she was
+allus grumblin', and then somethin' ketched me, and my arm went crack,
+and it got very hot, and I went to sleep.  I don't 'member no more.  I
+say."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I shan't take no more doctor's stuff, shall I?"
+
+But he did--a great deal; and in addition soups and jellies, and sundry
+other preparations of Mrs Fidler's, till he was able to go about very
+slowly with his arm in a sling, to where he could seat himself in some
+sandy hollow, to bask in the sun along with his dog.
+
+"But it's bringing up all the good in his nature, Tom," said the Vicar,
+rubbing his hands, "and we shall make a decent man of him yet."
+
+"Humph! doubtful!" said Uncle Richard.
+
+"You go and look for comets and satellites," cried the Vicar
+good-humouredly.  "Tom's on my side, and we'll astonish you yet.  Wait a
+bit."
+
+Uncle Richard smiled, and David, when Pete formed the subject of
+conversation, used to chuckle.
+
+"Not you, Master Tom," he said; "you'll never make anything of him, but
+go on and try if you like.  I believe a deal more in the dog.  He arn't
+such a bad one.  But Pete--look here, sir.  If you could cut him right
+down the thick part below his knees, which you couldn't do, 'cause he
+arn't got no thick part, for them shambling legs of his are like
+pipe-shanks--"
+
+"What are you talking about, David?" said Tom merrily.
+
+"Pete Warboys, Master Tom.  I say, if you could cut him down like that,
+and then graft in a couple o' scions took of a young gent as I knows--
+never you mind who--bind 'em up neatly, clay 'em up, or do the same
+thing somewheres about his middle, you might grow a noo boy, as'd bear
+decent sort o' fruit.  But you can't do that; and Pete Warboys 'll be
+Pete Warboys as long as he lives."
+
+The old gardener had some ground for his bad opinion, for as the time
+rolled on, Pete grew strong and well, and then rapidly began to grow
+into a sturdy, strongly-built fellow, who always had a grin and a nod
+for Tom when they met; but it was not often, for he avoided every one,
+becoming principally a night bird, and only showed his gratitude to
+those who had nursed him through his dangerous illness, after saving his
+life, by religiously abstaining from making depredations upon their
+gardens.
+
+"Which is something," David said with a chuckle.  "But I allus told you
+so, Master Tom; I allus told you."
+
+Tom, too, proved that the country air and his life with his uncle agreed
+with him, for he grew wonderfully.
+
+"But you do sit up too much o' nights, Master Tom," said Mrs Fidler
+plaintively.  "I wouldn't care if you'd invent a slope up in the top of
+the mill; but you won't."
+
+"I often get a nap on the couch down below," said Tom, laughing.  "Look
+here, Mrs Fidler, come up again some evening, and you shall see how
+grand it all is."
+
+"No, my dear, no," said the housekeeper, shaking her head.  "I don't
+understand it all.  It scares me when you show me the moon galloping
+away through the skies, and the stars all spinning round in that dizzy
+way.  It makes me giddy too; and last time I couldn't sleep for thinking
+about the world going at a thousand miles an hour, for it can't be safe.
+Then, too, I'm sure I should catch a cold in my head with that great
+shutter open.  I was never meant for a star-gazer.  Let me be as I am."
+
+And time went on, with Tom plunging more and more deeply into the grand
+science, and rapidly becoming his uncle's right-hand man, helping him
+with the papers he sent up to the learned societies, till in the course
+of a couple of years people began to talk of the discoveries made with
+the big telescope at Heatherleigh.
+
+Then came a morning about two years and a half after the terrible storm.
+Tom, who had not retired till three o'clock, for it had been a
+gloriously clear night, and he and his uncle had been busy for many
+hours over Saturn's satellites, which had been observed with unusual
+clearness, was sleeping soundly, when he was awakened by the sharp
+rattling of tiny pebbles against his window.
+
+"Hulloo! what is it, David?" he cried, as he threw open his window.
+
+"I told you so, sir; I told you so," cried the gardener.  "I allus said
+how it would be."
+
+"Some one been after the apples again?"
+
+"Apples! no, sir; ten times worse than that.  Pete's took."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Just heard it from our policeman, sir, who has been out all night.
+Pete Warboys has been for long enough mixed up with the Sanding gang,
+and was out with them last night over at Brackenbury Park, when the
+keepers come upon them, and there was a fight.  One of the keepers was
+shot in the legs, and two of the poachers was a good deal knocked about.
+They were mastered, and four of 'em are in the lock-up."
+
+"But you said Pete was taken."
+
+"Yes, sir, he's one of 'em; and that arn't the worst of it."
+
+"Then what is?"
+
+"His dog flew at one of the keepers when they were holding Pete Warboys,
+and the man shot him dead."
+
+"Poor wretch!" said Tom.
+
+"Ay, I'm real sorry about that dog, sir.  He was a hugly one surelie,
+but just think what a dog he'd ha' been if he'd been properly brought
+up."
+
+The news was true enough; and fresh tidings came the very next day to
+Heatherleigh, Uncle Richard hearing that his brother had disposed of his
+practice, and gone to live down at Sandgate for his health.
+
+Then, as the days glided by, the report came of examinations before the
+magistrates, which the Vicar attended.
+
+"I went, Tom," he said, "because I was grieved about the young man, for
+I tried again and again to wean him from his life; but nothing could be
+done--everything was too black against him.  He and the others have been
+committed for trial, and Pete is sure to be severely punished."
+
+"Perhaps it will be for the best, Mr Maxted," said Tom.  "It will be a
+very sharp lesson, and he may make a decent man after all."
+
+"_Nil desperandum_," said the Vicar; "but I am afraid."
+
+The trial came on, and Tom felt tempted to be present.  It was not for
+the sake of seeing his old enemy in the dock, but out of interest in his
+fate, which on account of his youth resulted in the mildest sentence
+given to a prisoner that day; and as soon as he heard it pronounced by
+the judge, Pete rather startled the court by shouting loudly to Tom,
+whom he had sat and watched all through--
+
+"Good-bye, Master Tom; God bless yer!"
+
+The next minute he was gone, and somehow the young astronomer went away
+back home feeling rather sad, though he could not have explained why.
+
+It was about a month later that a legal-looking letter arrived, directed
+to him, beautifully written in the roundest and crabbiest of engrossing
+hands.
+
+It was from Pringle, telling how, thanks to Uncle Richard's letter of
+recommendation, he was never so happy in his life, for he was in the
+best of offices, and had the best of masters, who was a real gentleman,
+with a wonderful knowledge of the law.
+
+  "You'd have taken to it, Mr Thomas, I'm sure, if you'd been under
+  him; but one never knows, and it wasn't to tell you this that I've
+  taken the liberty of writing to you.  I suppose you know that your
+  uncle sold his practice, but perhaps you don't know why.  I heard all
+  about it from the new man they had.  I met him over a case my gov'nor
+  was conducting.  It was all along of Mr Samuel, who used to go on
+  awfully.  He got at last into a lot of trouble and went off.  You'll
+  never believe it; but it's a fact.  He's 'listed in the Royal
+  Artillery."
+
+"And the best place for him," said Uncle Richard, frowning, when he read
+the letter in turn; "they will bring him to his senses.  By the way,
+Tom, Professor Denniston is coming down to see our glass; he wants to
+make one himself double the size, and says he would like our advice."
+
+"Our advice, uncle?" said Tom, laughing.
+
+"Yes," said Uncle Richard seriously; "your advice, gained by long
+experience, will be as valuable as mine."
+
+One more reminiscence of Tom Blount's country life, and we will leave
+him to his star-gazing, well on the high-road to making himself one of
+those quiet, retiring, scientific men of whom our country has such good
+cause to be proud.
+
+Heatherleigh and its neighbourhood had been very peaceful for four
+years, and the word poacher had hardly been heard, when one day, as Tom
+was in the laboratory, he heard a sharp tapping being given at the yard
+gate with a stick, and going to the window he started, for there was a
+tall, dark, smart-looking artillery sergeant, standing looking up, ready
+to salute him as his face appeared.
+
+"Cousin Sam!" mentally exclaimed Tom, and his face flushed.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir; can I have a word with you?" came in a loud, decisive,
+military way.
+
+"Why, it's Pete Warboys!" cried Tom.  "Yes, all right; I'll come down,"
+and he went below to where the sergeant stood, drawn up stiff, well
+set-up, and good-looking, waiting for the summons to enter.
+
+"Yes, sir, it's me," said the stranger, smiling frankly.
+
+"I shouldn't have known you, Pete."
+
+"S'pose not, sir.  They rubbed me down, and set me up, and the clothes
+make such a difference.  Besides, it's over four years since you saw
+me."
+
+"Yes--how time goes; but I did not know you had enlisted."
+
+"No, sir; I never said anything.  You see, I came out of prison, and I
+didn't want to come back here, for if I had, I couldn't ha' kept away
+from the rabbits and birds, and I should have been in trouble again.
+You made me want to do better, sir, but I never seemed as if I could;
+and just then up comes a recruiting sergeant, just as I was hesitating,
+and I looked at him, and heard what he had to say, how the service would
+make a man of me."
+
+"And you took the shilling, Pete?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and the best day's work I ever did," said Pete, speaking
+sharply, decisively, and with a manly carriage about him that made Tom
+stare.  "I was was bombardier in two years, and a month ago I got my
+sergeant's stripes."
+
+He gave a proud glance at the chevrons on his arm as he spoke.
+
+"I'm very glad, Pete."
+
+"Thankye, sir.  I knew you would be.  You did it, sir."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Mr Maxted used to talk to me, but it was seeing what you
+were set me thinking so much; but there was no way, and I got into
+trouble.  I'm off to Malta, sir, in a month.  On furlough now, and down
+here to see the old woman."
+
+"Ah!  She's very feeble now, Pete."
+
+"Very, sir.  She's awfully old; but she knew me directly, and began to
+blow me up."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Throwing myself away, sir," cried Pete, with a merry laugh.  "Poor old
+soul, though, she knows no better.  Good-bye, sir.  I shall see you
+again.  I read your name in the paper the other day about finding a
+comet, and it made me laugh to think of the old days.  Good-day, sir.
+I'm going to see Mr Maxted.  I find he has been very good to the poor
+old granny since I've been away."
+
+"And some people say that the army's a bad school," said Mr Maxted that
+night at dinner, when Uncle Richard and Tom were spending the evening at
+the Vicarage.  "If they would only do for all rough young men what they
+have done for Pete Warboys, it would be a grand thing.  But I always did
+have hopes of him, eh, Tom?"
+
+"Ah," said Uncle Richard, "it's a long lane that has no turning."
+
+"I say, Master Tom," cried David, who never could see that his young
+master had grown a man, "did you see Pete Warboys?  There: if anybody
+had took a hoath and swore it, I wouldn't ha' believed there could ha'
+been such a change.  Here, look at him.  Six foot high, and as straight
+as a harrer.  'Member giving him the stick over the wall?"
+
+"Ah, Mr David!" cried Pete, marching up.  "How are the apples?--Beg
+pardon, Mr Blount, I forgot to say something to you last night."
+
+"Yes; what is it?" said Tom, walking aside with the sergeant.
+
+"There's curious things happen sometimes, sir; more curious than people
+think for."
+
+"Yes, often in science, Pete," said Tom.
+
+"Dessay, sir; but I mean in every-day life.  Your cousin, sir."
+
+"Yes.  What about him?" cried Tom eagerly.
+
+"Him that was down here, sir, and I fetched the ladder for to get in
+yonder."
+
+"Then it was you, Pete?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir; I helped him.  I was a nice boy then.  You'll hardly
+believe it, but he's in my company--a soldier.  Private R.A."
+
+"My cousin?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And is he getting on well?" said Tom.
+
+"Hum! ha!" said the sergeant stiffly.  "He gets into trouble too often.
+I don't think he'll earn his stripes just yet.  Good-morning, sir, and
+good-bye.  But--"
+
+"Yes, Pete."
+
+"Would you mind shaking hands, sir--once?"  Tom's hand darted out.
+
+The next minute Pete was swinging along at the steady, firm rate of the
+British soldier on the march, and Tom Blount went back into the mill, to
+continue a calculation connected with the stars.
+
+The End.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Vast Abyss, by George Manville Fenn
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