Hollowdell Grange, by George Manville Fenn. 

________________________________________________________________________This is one of Fenn's earliest books. The theme is that a boy fromLondon goes down to stay in the country with his cousins, where the wayof life is so very different, and challenging, from all that he hadknown in the great city. The descriptions of country life of those daysare very well done, but we must make one warning--that many of thecountrymen we meet in the story speak with a strong Lincolnshire accent, and the author has done his best to represent these sounds with whatmust very often look like mistakes in transcription. 

There are all sorts of country situations to be encountered, fromworking with animals, to meeting the various village characters, to anear drowning, and even, at the very end to an attempted rescue, onethat failed, of a drowning boy caught in a sluice on the beach. 

There may well be a few mistakes, because the copy used was very old, and the pages very browned, while at the same time not very wellprinted. But we have done our best and at least what we offer here isbetter than what you would have got from the book itself in its agedcondition. As so often with this kind of book it makes a very goodaudio-book, and listening to it is a great pleasure. 

________________________________________________________________________HOLLOWDELL GRANGE, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. 

CHAPTER ONE. 

A FISH OUT OF WATER. 

It was such a fine hot Midsummer day at Hollowdell station, that theporter had grown tired of teasing the truck-driver's dog, and fallenfast asleep--an example which the dog had tried to follow, but couldnot, because there was only one shady spot within the station-gates, andthat had been taken possession of by the porter; so the poor dog hadtried first one place, and then another, but they were all so hot andstifling, and the flies kept buzzing about him so teasingly, that hegrew quite cross, and barked and snapped so at the tiresome insects, that at last he woke Jem Barnes, the porter, who got up, stretchedhimself, yawned very rudely and loudly, and then, looking in at thestation-clock, he saw that the 2:30 train from London was nearly due, sohe made up his mind not to go to sleep again until it had passed. 

It _was_ a hot day--so hot that the great black tarpaulins over thegoods-waggons were quite soft, and came off all black upon Jem Barnes'shands. The air down the road seemed to quiver and dance over the whitechalky dust; while all the leaves upon the trees, and the grass in themeadows, drooped beneath the heat of the sun. As to the river, it shonelike a band of silver as it wound in and out, and here and there; andwhen you looked you could see the reflection of the great dragon-fliesas they flitted and raced about over the glassy surface. The reeds onthe bank were quite motionless; while, out in the middle, the fat oldchub could be seen basking in the sunshine, wagging their great broadfantails in the sluggish stream, too lazy even to snap up the flies thatpassed over their heads. All along the shallows the roach and dace layin shoals, flashing about, every now and then, in the transparent waterlike gleams of silver light. Down in the meadows, where the ponds were, and the shady trees grew, the cows were so hot that they stood up totheir knees in the muddy water, chewing their grass with half-shut eyes, and whisking their long tails about to keep the flies at a distance. But it was of no use to whisk, for every now and then a nasty, spiteful, hungry fly would get on some poor cow's back, creep beneath the hair, and force its horny trunk into the skin so sharply, that the poor animalwould burst out into a doleful lowing, and, sticking its tail up, gogalloping and plunging through the meadow in such a clumsy way as only acow can display. A few fields off the grass was being cut, and thesharp scythes of the mowers went tearing through the tall, rich, greencrop, and laid it low in long rows as the men, with their regularstrokes, went down the long meadows. Every now and then, too, theywould make the wood-side re-echo with the musical ringing sound of thescythes, as the gritty rubbers glided over the keen edges of the brighttools. 

Hot, hot, hot!--how the sun glowed in the bright blue sky! and how thedown train puffed and panted, while the heat of the weather made eventhe steam from the funnel transparent as it streamed backwards over theengine's green back! The driver and stoker were melting, for they hadthe great roaring fire of the engine just in front of them, and the sunscorching their backs; the guard was hot with stopping at so manystations, and putting out so much luggage; while the passengers, in thecarriages said they were almost stifled, and looked out with longingeyes at the shady green woods they passed. One passenger in particular, a sharp-featured and rather sallow youth about twelve years old, keptlooking at the time-table, and wondering how long it would be before hearrived at Hollowdell, for that was the name printed upon the ticketFred Morris held in his hand. 

But just at this time there were other people travelling towardsHollowdell station, and that too by the long dusty chalky road that camethrough the woods and over the wooden bridge right up to the railwaycrossing; and these people were no others than Fred Morris's countrycousins, and the old man-servant--half groom, half gardener--who wasdriving the pony chaise with Harry Inglis by his side, while Fred'sother cousin Philip was cantering along upon his donkey close behind--such a donkey! with thin legs, and a thin tail that he kept closelytucked in between the hind pair, as if he was afraid the crupper wouldpull it off. He wanted no beating, although he could be obstinateenough when he liked, and refuse to pass the green paddock where hegrazed; but he wanted no beating, while with his young master on hisback: he would trot off with his little hoofs going pitter-patter, twinkle-twinkle over the road, at a rate that it used to puzzle oldDumpling, the fat pony, to keep up with. 

Harry and Philip Inglis were rather different-looking boys to theircousin, for, stouter in build, they bore upon their good-tempered facesthe brown marks made by many a summer's sun. And now, upon thisoccasion, they were all impatience to get to the station to meet CousinFred, who was coming down to spend the Midsummer holidays. The visithad been long talked about, and now the boys were in a state of thegreatest excitement lest any disappointment might take place. 

"Oh! do drive faster, Sam, " said Harry, making a snatch at the reins; "Iknow he'll be there first. Tiresome old thing, you! Why didn't youstart an hour sooner?"

"What for?" said Sam, grumbling, and holding tightly to the reins; "whatwas I to come an hour sooner for? Think I don't know how long it takesto drive over to station?"

"But, " said Philip, from his donkey, "I'm sure we shall be late. There!" he continued, "I can hear the train now!"

"Nonsense!" said Sam. "Where's the steam? Why, you can see the steamfor two miles before the train gets in, and Dumps here could get in longbefore the train. "

But Philip was right, for just then the loud and shrill whistle of theengine was heard as it started again, after setting down one solitarylittle passenger in the shape of Fred Morris, who looked sadlydisappointed to find no one there to receive him but Jem Barnes, theporter, who stared very hard at the young stranger from Lunnun. 

Dumpling galloped, and Neddy went off at a double trot, upon hearing therailway-whistle, spinning along at such a rate that before Fred Morrishad learned which path he was to take across the fields to go theshortest way to Squire Inglis's, of the Grange, Hollowdell--and all ofwhich information he was getting very slowly out of Jem Barnes--Harryhad jumped out of the chaise. Philip leaped off his donkey, and theywere one on each side of Fred, heartily shaking hands with him. 

"I say, ain't you our cousin?" said Harry, breathlessly. 

"Our cousin from London, you know, " said Philip, "that was to come bythis train?"

"My name is Morris, " said the traveller, rather pompously, "and I'mgoing on a visit to Mr Inglis's at Hollowdell. "

"Yes, to be sure!" said Harry. "You're Cousin Fred, and I'm Harry, andthat's Phil. Come along into the chaise. Here Sam--Jem! bring the boxand let's be off. But I say, Fred, isn't it hot?"

Fred replied that it was, seeming hardly to know what to make of therough, hearty manners of his cousins, and he looked, if anything, ratherdisappointed when he was met by the rough grin of Sam, who was ofanything but a smooth exterior, and altogether a very different man tohis father's well-brushed livery-servant, who had seen him safely off tothe station in the morning. 

"I've come, " said Fred at last, when they were fairly started withPhilip and Fred in the chaise, and Harry this time upon the donkeybringing up the rear--"I've come because Papa said you would not like itif I did not; but I'd much rather you had both come up to me in London. One can find something to do there, and there's something to see. Ican't think how you people manage to live down here. "

"Oh! we find something to do, don't we, Harry?" said Philip, laughing. But Harry was very busy with Neddy, who had taken it into his head to godown a lane which led to the pound--a place where he had been more thanonce locked up; and it was as much as ever the lad could do to stop him;so Philip's question remained unanswered. "I say, " continued Philip atlast, after they had been conversing some time, during which Master Fredhad been cross-questioning Philip as to his educational knowledge, andgiving that young gentleman to understand what a high position heoccupied at Saint Paul's School--"I say, " said Philip, "can you swim?"

"No, " replied Fred. 

"Can you play cricket?"

"No, " said Fred. 

"Fish, row, shoot, rat, and all that sort of thing?" said Philip. 

"No!" said the other. "I have always lived in London, where we do notpractise that class of amusement. "

"Oh! come, then, " said Philip, "we shall be able to teach you something. Only wait a bit, and you'll see how we live down here. But here weare; and there's Papa waiting for us under the porch. "

As Philip said this, Sam had crawled down from his seat, opened a swinggate, and led the pony into a garden through which wound a carriagedrive up to a long low house, all along the front of which extended averandah, the supports and sloping roof being completely covered withroses, clematis, and jasmine, which hung in the wildest profusionamongst the light trellis-work, and then ran up the sides of the bedroomwindows, peeping in at the lattice panes, and seeming to be incompetition with the ivy as to which should do most towards covering upthe brickwork of the pretty place; for it really was a pretty place, --sopretty, that even Fred, who thought that there was nothing anywhere tocompare with London, could not help casting admiring looks around him. All along one side of the gravel drive there was a tall, smoothly-clipped hedge of laurels; while on the left the velvet lawn, dotted all over with beds of scarlet geranium, verbena, and calceolaria, with here and there rustic vases brimming over with blooming creepers, swept down in a slope towards the park-like fields, from which it wasseparated by a light ring fence. Right in front was another mightylaurel hedge, that looked to be almost centuries old; and on the otherside was what was called the kitchen garden, though, I think, it mighthave been called the parlour garden just as rightly, from the richbanquets it used to supply of all kinds of luscious fruits--peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries, apples, pears, currants; and as togooseberries, the trees used to be so loaded with great rough golden andcrimson fellows, that they would lay their branches down on the groundto rest them, because the weight was greater than they could bear. Butthe greatest beauty of the house at Hollowdell, or, as it was called inthe neighbourhood, "The Grange, " was the ivy, which did not creep there, but ran, and ran all over the place--sides, roof, and all--even twining, and twisting, and growing right up amongst the two great old-fashionedchimney-stacks, round the pots, and some shoots even drooping in them, and getting black and dry amongst the smoke that came curling andwreathing out. For Squire Inglis would not have the ivy cut anywhereexcepting in the front, where he used to superintend while Sam clearedit away now and then, so as to give the roses and creeping plants achance to show their beauties in the bright summer-time. And there theGrange stood, with flowers blooming around it in every direction, assweet and pretty a place as could welcome any one just come from thegreat desert of bricks and mortar called London, in which people who arenot compelled are so foolish as to go and spend their time in thesunniest and brightest days of the year. 

And, as Philip said, there stood Papa beneath the porch; and directlyafter there stood Mamma too, to welcome their sister's child, whom theyhad not seen since he was almost a baby. 

"Now, boys, " said the Squire, after all the handshaking had beenfinished, "I've nothing to do with this. Fred is your visitor for amonth, so I leave you to make him happy and comfortable, and mind yousee that he enjoys himself. "

Philip and Harry promised readily enough that they would. "But, Papa, "said Harry, "Dr Edwards said, when we broke up, that we were to do alittle work every day during the holidays, and--and--"

"And what?" said his father. "Eh, now, " said he, good-humouredly; "Ithink I can make a good guess at what you would like. You'd like me towrite to the Doctor to let you off, wouldn't you?"

"Oh! yes, yes, yes, Papa, " shouted the boys, clapping their hands. "Hurrah, that's capital!"

"Well, but would it be right?" said their father, seriously. 

"Oh! yes, Papa, " said Harry; "for we will do so much after the holidays, and work ever so hard to make up for it; and it is so very, very hard tolearn lessons away from school. I never can get on half so well, forone can't help thinking of the games we want to play at, and then onedon't feel to be obliged to learn, and it does make such a difference:so do please write, there's a good, good father, " said Harry, coaxingly. 

The Squire laughed, and that laugh was quite sufficient to satisfy thelads, who gave two or three frisks, and tossed their caps in the air;when Philip's fell on the top of the verandah, and had to be hooked downwith a long hay-rake. 

Dinner was nearly ready, so Fred followed his box up to the prettylittle bedroom he was to occupy--one which opened out of the room setapart for Harry and Philip; and soon after he was down in thedining-room eating a meal that called forth the remarks and comparisonsof his cousins, who were dreadful trencher-men. They told him that hemust learn what a country appetite meant, and so, by way of teachinghim, they dragged him off, as soon as dinner was over, to look at allthe wonders of the place. First over the flower-garden, and round bythe aviary, where Mamma's gold and silver pheasants were kept; and theninto the green-house, where Poll, the parrot, hung in her great giltcage, swinging about amongst the flowers, dancing up and down, andshrieking out whenever anybody came by; then swaying backwards andforwards in the ring in the cage, and climbing up and down all over thebars, this way and that way, head up and head down, and all the timelooking as wicked and cunning as a hook-beaked old grey parrot can look. 

"Sam, Sam, where's the master?" shouted Poll, in a reedy-weedy tone, like a cracked clarionet, as soon as the lads came in sight. "Stealingthe grapes. Stealing the grapes, " she shouted again. "Rogues, rogues, rogues! Two in the morning, hi! hi!" And then she gave a shrillwhistle, and burst out into a loud hearty laugh, that made Fred stare, it was so natural. 

"There, " said Philip, proudly, "you haven't got such birds as that inLondon. "

"Oh yes, we have, " said Fred, "but Papa don't care about buying them. Poor Polly, " he continued, putting his finger in to stroke the parrot. 

"Don't do that, " shouted the boys together; but it was too late, foralmost at the same moment Fred gave utterance to a most doleful"Oh-h-h!" Poll had made a snap at his finger, and hooked a piece offlesh out sufficient to make it bleed pretty freely. 

"What a beast!" said Fred, angrily, and binding his handkerchief roundthe place; "I'd kill it if I had my way. "

"But it was your fault, " said Harry, quietly, "for trying to touch it;wasn't it?"

"Ah! but he didn't know it would bite, " said Philip, "or he would nothave done so: but never mind, come along, and let's go down the garden. "

The abundance of the fruit made Fred forget his pain; and, having seenthe boys' gardens, the next thing was to have a look at the little pondwith the rock-work fountain, which they had made, and which played bymeans of a barrel of water hid in the shrubbery behind, the stream beingconveyed through a piece of small piping. Here it was that Harry andPhilip kept all the finny treasures they captured, and the little pondwas rich in carp, roach, dace, and perch; while, amongst othervaluables, Fred was informed of the existence of an eel a foot long, which had been put in two months before, and never seen since, but wasno doubt fattening in the mud at the bottom. 

Neddy had been seen, but round in the stable-yard there was Dick, theterrier, who could catch rats, rabbits, or anything, so Harry said; andthen there was Tib, the one-eyed, one-winged raven, which hopped aboutwith his head on one side, and barked at the visitors, and then began todig his beak into Fred's leg, and could only be kept at a distance byPhilip poking at him with the handle of the stable broom, when he hoppedoff, and sat upon the dog-kennel, every now and then giving a shortangry bark; but nothing like such a bark as Dick the terrier gave whenhe found that, in spite of all his leaping, whining, and howling, he wasnot to be let out that afternoon, but left straining at the end of hischain, with his eyes starting out of his head, while the boys went tosee Harry's pigeons and Philip's rabbits. 

Just then Harry went to a box in the stable, and pulled out a long, lithe, scratching and twisting thing, that looked more like a shortsnake than a quadruped, and offered it to Philip to hold. 

"No; I won't hold it, " said Philip; "I'm afraid of it. Perhaps Fredwill. "

"No, that I won't, " said Fred, shrinking back; "I never saw such anasty-looking thing in my life. What do you keep it for?"

"Keep it for? you cowards, " said Harry, stuffing the animal into hispocket; "you'll see to-morrow, when we are off rabbiting: why, it's thebest ferret for miles round. " And Harry really believed it was, for theold keeper that he bought it of had told him so, which was quite enoughfor Harry; but although it was such a good ferret, it had a nasty habitof stopping in a hole as long as it liked, which was sometimes verytiresome when any one was waiting outside upon a cold cutting day. 

"Well, I wouldn't touch it for sixpence, " said Fred; "but I ain'tafraid, only I don't want to be bitten again by any of your nastycountry bumpkin things, else I'd touch it fast enough. "

"I never do, " said Philip; "I hate it, it twines about so. It's worsethan an eel ever so much. "

"Hark at Mrs Phil, " said Harry, grinning. "I say, Fred, he is such acoward; worse than you are a great deal. "

"I'm not a coward, " said Fred, colouring up, and setting his teeth. 

"Oh yes, you are!" said Harry, teasing him; "why, all you London boysare cowards. I wouldn't be a Londoner for ever so much. "

And then, as if prompted by a mischievous inclination, he pulled out theferret, and pitched it right upon Fred's shoulders as he stood with hisback half turned. Fred gave a cry of fear and anger, and darting atHarry, struck him full in the face a blow that made him staggerbackwards. 

In a moment Harry recovered himself, and rushed at his assailant; andwhile Philip, pale and breathless, looked on, the two boys pummelledaway at each other like the bitterest enemies. 

From the very offset the struggle was all in favour of Harry, for he wasof a stronger and sturdier build than his cousin; but it was not untilHarry's nose was bleeding, and Fred's lug cut, and they had been up anddown half-a-dozen times, that Fred gave in, evidently bitterly humbledand mortified at his conquest, and suffering more from his defeat thanfrom the pain of the blows he had received. 

"Come here inside the stable, Fred, " said Philip, half in a whisper, andwith the tears brimming in his eyes. "Come in here and wash your faceand hands; I'll pump some water. " Saying which the boy fetched somewater in the stable pail, and, giving a reproachful look at his brother, took it into the stable where Fred was sitting upon a truss of straw, trying manfully to choke down a sob which sadly wanted to gain a vent. 

"I'm so sorry, Fred, " he said, dipping his handkerchief into the pail, and bathing his cousin's blood-besmeared countenance. "I can't thinkhow Harry could do so. Oh! what would Papa say if he came? Pray don'ttell him. "

"No, I shan't tell, " said Fred, stoutly, with his face half in the pail, and the words all the time half choked by that sob which would keeprising from his overburdened heart. "But I'm not a coward, though, amI? Is my face cut much?"

Upon inspection it proved that with the exception of the damaged lip, and an ugly cut on the back of his head where he had fallen upon thepaving stones in the yard, Fred was not much hurt; and when Philip hadwell rubbed down his clothes, and polished him off with Sam'sspoke-brush, the marks of the conflict were hardly perceptible. 

Just then Harry came sneaking into the stable, looking dreadfullyashamed of himself, with his face smeared all over with blood from hisbleeding nose, and carrying in his hand the body of the poor ferret: forit would frighten no more poor rats or rabbits to death, having met withits own by being trampled upon during the fray. 

"Will you shake hands?" said Harry, half sulkily, half sheepishly, toFred. 

Fred gave a sort of gulp, but he held out his hand, which was heartilyshaken; and directly after Harry was sitting on the truss of straw, andbeing sponged and cleaned by his late adversary and his brother. 

"I say, you know, " said Harry, "I am sorry, but you shouldn't have hitme; no fellow could stand that. But then I was wrong first I say, though, don't be hard on a fellow, for I do want to be jolly with you, and make you comfortable; but I'm such a vicious beast, and alwaysgetting into a row, ain't I, Phil?"

Phil nodded assent, but added directly after, "He won't let any one crowover me, though, at school, and he whacked Bill Sims, the biggest chapin the first class last half, for hitting a little un. "

"But I say, though, " said Harry, wiping his face with his pockethandkerchief, "it's all right again, ain't it? We've made it up again, haven't we?"

"Yes, to be sure, " said Fred, smiling. "But who killed the poorferret?"

"Why, you did, " said Harry; "you put your foot on his head; but itserves me right, it was all my fault. "

"Never mind, now, " said Philip; "let's go down the garden again tilltea-time; there's a linnet's nest in the hedge. "

"Ah! so there is, " said Harry; "come on. "

And away they went, for the storm had blown over, and to have looked atthe lads no one could have imagined that the slightest disagreement hadoccurred to mar the harmony of their afternoon. 

As they went down the garden Harry fetched a spade from the tool-shed;and when the little patch that he owned was reached, the boy, withsomething very like a tear in each eye, dug a hole, and laid his ferretin it, and had just filled it in when they were summoned to tea; butthey did not go until the spade was put away, and they had shaken handsall round in the tool-house, and vowed friendship for evermore. 

CHAPTER TWO. 

OLD SAM--CATCHING THE CARP. 

"Come, Fred, get up, it's such jolly weather. Make haste, and then wecan go down the garden before breakfast, " said Harry, the next morning. 

"Aw-aw-yaw-aw-aw, " said Fred, gaping dreadfully, and so sleepily that heforgot to place his hand before his mouth. 

"Oh! come, I say, that won't do down in the country; here, it's seveno'clock, and we're going to have such a stinging hot day. Do get up anddress. There is Phil down the garden now. "

"Ah-aw-aw--yes, I'll get up, " said Fred, yawning again. "But what earlyfolks you are; we don't get up so soon at home. What time do you havebreakfast?"

"Eight o'clock, and Papa never waits for anybody; so make haste down, orwe shan't have time to do anything before it's breakfast bell. "

"I want some hot water, " said Fred, grumpily. 

"What for?" said Harry. 

"Why, to wash in, of course, " said Fred. 

"Ho! ho! ho!" burst out Harry, laughing, "hot water to wash with inJuly! Why, we never use any all through the winter, when it's ever socold, and the jugs get frozen over. You try cold water, it's ever somuch better, and makes you have red cheeks like Phil's. "

"Hi, hallo-o-o!" shouted somebody front out of doors. 

"There's Phil, " said Harry, going to the window and throwing it open, when in came gushing the sweet morning air, laden with the dew sweetnessof a thousand flowers. The roses and jasmine nodded round the casement, and from almost every tree within reach of hearing, right down to thecoppice, came ringing forth the merry morning songs of the birds. 

"Oh!" said Fred, in a burst of admiration as he went to the window, halfdressed; "oh! isn't it beautiful? I never thought the country half sopretty. I wish I had got up sooner. "

"Do you?" said Harry. "Won't we have you up, then, to-morrow morning!But only look; Phil has found an old `bottle washer. ' Do make haste andcome down, and we'll put him in the ferret's cage. "

"Oh! do stop, " said Fred, splashing his face about in the cold water, and hurrying to get finished; "do stop for me, there's a good fellow. "

Five minutes after the three lads were together upon the lawn, rolling aprickly, spiky hedgehog over and over in the vain hope of getting him toopen out and show his black, bright little eyes, and sharp piggy likesnout; all which time old Sam was busy at work, making his keen brightscythe shave off the little yellow-eyed daisies that seemed sprinkledall over the green turf that was so soft and elastic to the feet. 

"Chinkle chingle, chinkle chingle, " rang out the scythe, as he held itover his shoulder, and sharpened it with his gritty rubber, and thenagain shave, shave, shave, over the velvet grass, till long rows of thelittle strands lay across the lawn. 

A comical old fellow was Sam, and he used to say that no one loved theyoung masters so well as he did; but somehow or another Sam never usedto see them out in the garden without finding something to grumbleabout. His complaints were generally without foundation; but Sam usedto think he had cause to complain; and, being rather an old man, he usedto consider he had a right so to do. 

"Now then, Master Harry, you're at it again! What's the use of mytrying to keep the garden nice if you will keep racing about over itlike that? I wish you'd keep indoors, I do. "

"We ain't going to, though, are we, Phil?" said Harry, laughing. "OldSam would be sure to fetch us out again if we did; wouldn't you, Sam?"

Old Sam grinned, and shook his head, and just then eight o'clock struckby the village church, which was about a mile off, so Sam wiped hisscythe, and, shouldering it, walked off to his breakfast, just as acheery cry of--"Now, boys, " came from out of the verandah, where Mr andMrs Inglis were standing, watching the lads upon the lawn. 

The pretty breakfast-room looked so bright and cheerful; there was suchan odorous bunch of dew-wet roses in a vase; such sweet scents, too, came through the open window, and such country farm-house bounty spreadupon the breakfast-table, that Fred told his cousins after the meal thathe had never enjoyed anything before half so well in his life. 

"Now, boys, what are you going to do to-day?" said Mr Inglis. 

"Going fishing, Papa, in Trencher Pond, " said Harry. 

"Why, there's nothing there worth catching, " said Mr Inglis. 

"Oh _yes_, Papa!" said Phil. "It's full of sticklebacks, and suchbeauties! Some are all gold and green and scarlet; the most beautifullittle creatures you ever saw, and it is so easy to catch them; and, besides, it is so pretty there now. "

"Oh, very well!" said their father; "only I've got leave for you to fishin Lord Copsedale's lake next week. "

"Hooray!" said Harry; "that's capital. "

After breakfast Fred was all in a state of ferment to be off to TrencherPond. All was new to him, for he did not even know what a sticklebackmight be, and he longed to see some of these gorgeous fellows that wereall over "gold and green and scarlet. " They were not long in gettingequipped for their trip, for Harry soon produced three willow wands, some twine, worms, and a tin can to hold the spoil; and, thus provided, away they started, with the full understanding that their dinner wouldbe ready at one o'clock precisely. 

They had only about a mile to walk down a green lane, and then to turnoff on the little common which contained the pond, but that mile took along time to get over, there was so much to do, to see, and to listento; there was the hole where the wasps had a nest to look at; there werethe nimble squirrels to watch as they darted across the road, and, scampering up the trees, peeped down at the visitors to their domains. Ah, how Fred longed to have one of the little bushy-tailed fellows, ashe watched their nimble tricks, scampering and leaping from bough tobough as easily and fearlessly as a cat would upon the ground. Thenthere were so many pretty wildflowers in the banks and hedge-rows; somany birds to learn the names of, for they were all strangers to Fred, who only knew sparrows--and they were different to the sparrows downhere at Hollowdell--and canaries and parrots. There was ahedge-sparrow's nest, too, to peep at, with its tiny little blue eggs;but not to touch, for, though Fred wanted to take it, Harry and Philsaid "No;" for Papa did not approve of the birds being disturbed. Thenthere was a beautifully-formed mossy little cup-shaped nest in the forkof a tree, just inside the coppice, smooth, round, and soft-edged, withthe horsehair and wool lining all plaited together, and made as even aspossible. It was so low down that, by bending the branch, the boyscould look at it, which they did, while the poor chaffinches, in thehorse-chestnut tree close by, cried "pink-pink-pink" in a state of thegreatest alarm lest their work should be destroyed; and the pretty cockbird, with his crested head, pinky breast, and white-marked wings, burstout into a loud and joyous song, short but sweet, as the three youngtravellers journeyed on. And what a horse-chestnut tree that was allone mass of pinky white blossoms, the tree itself one mighty greenpyramid of graceful leaves, and then, from top to bottom, hundreds andhundreds of the blossom-spikes standing like little floral treesthemselves; while from every part of it came a continuous hum, as thebees and other insects rifled the honeyed treasures and bore them away. 

"Oh!" at last burst out Fred, in perfect rapture; "oh! don't I wishMamma and Papa were here! I never did know how beautiful the countrywas. "

"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed his cousins, each holding one of his hands; "comealong, that's nothing to what we are going to show you. "

And away they raced through the gate, and across the little common tothe pond in the corner, where the golden furze-bushes hung over theside. 

Philip was right: it was a pretty pond. Such water--clear, bright, anddeep, with all kinds of water-plants growing therein; golden lilies, silvery water buttercups, tall reeds, short thin rushes with theirlittle cottony tufts, taller ones with brown tassels; and stoutbulrushes, with their brown pokery seed-stems, growing tantalisingly outof reach. Such silvery bright smooth water, with bright blue beetlesskimming about over the surface; and that skating spider that skimsabout over water with his long legs as easily as if it were ice, withoutgiving a thought as to the possibility of sinking. Then down in theclear depths where Fred was peering, every now and then boatman beetlescould be seen rowing about with their little pairs of oars, lying upontheir backs to make boats of themselves--curious little fellows that bynight come out of the water, and, opening a pair of cases, send out abright and beautiful pair of wings, and fly about through the air tillthe morning. 

"Oh! look at the little crocodiles!" cried Fred, to the intense delightof his cousins, as the showily-dressed newts went sailing easily throughthe clear water, with waving crests and lithe tails--such gay littlefellows, with orange throats; while swimming about in chase of oneanother by myriads were the sticklebacks, of which the lads had come inquest. 

Darting about over the pond were hundreds of dragon-flies, thin-bodiedblue or green fellows, with bright transparent wings, that seemedinvisible at times, so rapid was their vibration; while every now andthen, rustling upon the wing as they dashed about in chase of oneanother, came the larger dragon-flies, to make brighter the scene. 

And now began the fishing--fishing without hooks; for the voraciouslittle sticklebacks seized the worm as soon as it was dropped into thepond, sometimes two together, one at each end, so that the tin can theboys had brought soon had several dozens of the fish inside. The firstto draw out a painted "tiddler" was Fred, and a gorgeous little fellowit was, with a throat of the most brilliant scarlet, shaded off intoorange; while gold and green of the most dazzling lustres shone in thesun. 

"Mind his prickles!" cried Harry, by way of warning to Fred; but it wastoo late, for poor Fred's fingers were already bleeding from the effectsof the spines with which the fish bristled. 

Fred was in a high state of delight, and, novice though he was infishing, he succeeded in pulling out nearly as many as his cousins. Both he and Philip fished by means of tying a piece of twine round themiddle of a worm, and letting the ends dangle down; but Harry hadbrought a float and line, and secured his worm by hooking one end of it. 

The sport grew fast and furious, and might have been continued for anylength of time, but for a sudden alarm that was raised respecting worms, for Harry had just abstracted the last unfortunate wriggler from the tinbox. 

"Never mind, " said Philip, "I'll soon find some more;" and he directlyset to work, pulling up tufts of grass and kicking down pieces of thebank wherever it looked at all damp; but all in vain, not a worm couldhe find; and he was just about giving up his task in despair, when ashout from Harry took his attention. 

"Here, come here!" said Harry, "I've got such a thumper. "

Fred and Philip both ran up to him, and sure enough he seemed to havegot hold of a "thumper, " as he called it, for his line was running aboutbackwards and forwards through the water, while the willow wand whichserved him for a rod was bent half double. 

"Pull him to the side, and I'll get hold of the line, " said Philip. 

"But he won't come, " said Harry, trying to play his fish to the bank, but without success, for just then it made a dart right out towards themiddle of the pond. Harry's wand bent more and more, and, just as thegreatest strain occurred, the line divided about two feet above thefloat, the wand gave a smart rebound, and poor Harry, the picture ofdisappointment, stood with a short piece of line waving about at the endof his stick, gazing woefully after his lost fish. 

"Oh--oh--oh--h--h!" groaned Philip and Fred together, "what a pity!"

Harry continued to look most rueful, but said nothing. 

"It must have been a jack, " said Philip. "What a big one! Why didn'tyou pull it out when I told you?"

"How could I, " said Harry, "when it was dragging so?"

"I _am_ sorry, " said Fred; "it _must_ have been a great stickleback topull the line in half. "

"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the cousins, "it wasn't a stickler. They nevergrow any bigger than these. "

"Look! look!" said Fred, pointing to something that was bobbing up anddown in the pond, "there's Harry's floater. "

"So there is, " said Harry; "perhaps it will come in close enough to gethold of. "

But, instead of coming in any closer, the little coloured cork keptworking away towards a deep, dark-looking part, right under a largebeech-tree, whose arms hung over that portion of the pond. 

"Get up the tree, Hal, " said Philip, "and creep along that bough. You'll get it then. "

"No, don't, " said Fred, "you'll fall in; I'm sure you will. Don't, praydon't, " he continued, as Harry ran towards the tree. 

"I shan't fall, " said Harry; "don't you be a goose. I've climbed hardertrees than that, haven't I, Phil?"

"I should think so, " said Philip; "but don't go too far, Hal, so as toget in, for it's ever so deep there!"

"All right, " said Harry; "give me a bump up. "

Philip laid hold of his brother's leg, and gave him a lift just as hegrasped the tree with both arms, and then, taking advantage of theinequalities of the bark with his boots, Harry managed to climb slowlyand laboriously to where the tree forked, and the branch reached forthfrom the parent stem over the deep pool, while Fred stood half aghast atwhat seemed to him the most daring act he ever beheld. 

"Oh! take care, " he exclaimed, looking quite pale, while the palms ofhis hands grew moist and hot with excitement. 

"I'm all right, " said Harry, creeping slowly out upon the branch; andthen, seating himself astride, he began to work himself out over thewater, while the bough quivered and bent at every movement. "Can yousee it, Phil?" said the adventurer. "Just under the bough, now, andcoming nearer. It's gone!" he exclaimed, in dismay, as the float sankdown out of sight. "But keep on, Harry; perhaps it will come up again. "

Harry kept on till he was about twenty feet away from the trunk of thetree, and about three feet from the surface of the water, and then satwatching where Philip threw a stone at the place where the floatdisappeared. He could see some distance down into the black-lookingwater, which report said was here ten feet deep; there were weeds anddead branches sticking up here and there, but no float, and no fish. 

"It's of no use; do come back, " said Fred, "or I know you will fall. "

"Whoof!" said Harry, giving himself a kind of jump, so that the boughswung up and down, and his feet dipped the water, while his head nearlyrose to the branch above him. "Here's such a jolly ride; come and havea turn, boys. "

"Pray don't, " said Fred, "I know you'll fall. " And then--but not inobedience to Fred's request--Harry became motionless; for just beneathhis feet he saw, rising from the depth of the pond, the white top of hisfloat. Fred gave a half shriek at what he saw, for to him it seemed afeat of unsurpassed daring, as Harry clasped the bough with his legs, and swinging himself head downwards, he plunged his hands into the waterand grasped his truant line. 

There was a moment's struggle, for the fish was still at the end, but itwas beaten: and the effort of keeping the cork-float down so long, andits previous struggles, made it an easy prey. Tightly twisting the lineround his finger, Harry swung himself up again, and began carefully tomake the retrograde journey after the manner of a sloth, with his backdownwards, and arms and legs clasping the bough. The small twigs andbranches made this no easy task, but, to the great delight andadmiration of Fred, he soon reached the tree, where he passed the lineto Philip, who was elevated in his turn by Fred, till he could reachHarry's extended hand. 

"Now you won't pull him out till I come down, " said Harry. 

"Oh, no, " said Philip. 

"Honour bright, " said Harry. 

"Honour bright, " said Philip. 

Then, and only then, did the climber loose his hold of the line andproceed to make his descent. He contrived to get into the fork of thetree, and then let himself down until he hung by his hands, and tried toclasp the trunk with his legs, but somehow or other the tree seemed tokeep gliding away from him, and the more he tried the more tired hegrew, till at last his hands slipped, and down he came upon the groundin a sitting position. 

Happily, the distance was only small, and there was too much excitementawaiting him for Harry to spare time for anything more than a terriblegrimace. 

"Now, then, " he said, taking hold of the line and drawing it gently, "look out, boys, " and then, with his beautiful golden scales glitteringin the sun, and his strength completely gone, a carp of about a poundand a half weight rose to the surface, and, turning on his side, wasdrawn inshore. 

"Now hold the line, and I'll land him, " said Harry to his brother, whotook his post while the speaker went down upon his knees to grasp thefish. 

"Flip, flap, plish, plash, " went the carp, when Harry's hand came incontact with its shiny sides. 

"Oh!" groaned all the boys, "he's gone;" for the fish was free from theline, the hook having, broken out of his mouth. 

But he was not quite gone, for he lay in a shallow on some weeds, feeblyopening and shutting his gills. The next flap of his tail, however, would have taken him into deep water, but in went Harry into the mud upto his knees, and with one scoop of his hand sent the golden treasureflying out on to the grass, yards away from the pond edge. 

Didn't they cheer, and didn't Harry dance about, on the grass with hisblack muddy legs dripping about, and the water going "suck, suck, " inhis boots, and squeezing out at every step. How they gloated over thepoor panting prize; so much, that it was ever so long before they couldstop to rub Harry's legs down with bunches of grass; and it was no easymatter for Fred and Philip to do, for the wet boy kept dancing, andcheering, and skipping about like a mad thing, slapping his brother'sback; and at last, when they were half finished--

"Bring the tiddlers along, and let's keep carpy alive, " he shouted; andrunning to the edge of the pond, soaked his handkerchief therein, wrapped up the carp, and away they all ran homewards, to put the fish intheir little pond. Philip, who was carrying the can of little fish--which had now become almost insignificant in the eyes of their captors--kept splashing his legs at every step, till they were nearly as wet ashis brother's; while Fred, who bore the rods, had to stop more than onceto disentangle the lines from the overhanging branches as they went downthe lane. 

At last they reached home, to find Mary carrying in the dinner, afterMr Inglis had been waiting about an hour for the truants, and at last, exhausted in patience, had ordered it in. 

"Look! look! Papa, Mamma, " shouted Harry, rushing in through the Frenchwindow; "look, here's a fish!"

"Soak, soak, " went his boots as he went in. 

"Take him outside, " said his father to the two other boys, who were justcoming breathlessly in, only Fred was entangled by the rods crossing thewindow. "Take him outside, the young rascal is spoiling the carpet withhis wet boots. "

It was no use to think of dinner then, so Papa and Mamma both had tocome outside the window to see and admire the carp, and hear how it wascaptured, before the mid-day meal could be gone on with. 

"Ah!" said the Squire at last, "there used to be plenty of fine carp inTrencher Pond down the deep hole under the tree, but I did not knowthere were any left, for the dry summers killed them when the railwaycutting was made and took off so much water. But come, boys, dinner. "

And then he drove them off, and made them enter the hall-door so as tomake themselves fit for the repast that awaited them. But he was notquite successful, for Harry made a double, and ran off to pop his carpin the pond, but was back directly, and shortly after in thedining-room, feasting away with a country boy's appetite--an appetite, too, that Fred already began to show symptoms of possessing, as thefruit of his visit to Hollowdell. 

CHAPTER THREE. 

INDOOR AMUSEMENTS. 

Dinner had not been finished above an hour before the sky becameovercast; and, all at once, a rushing, sweeping wind came over thecountry. Far-off in the distance where the hills could be seen, athick, misty appearance almost hid them from sight. There was a low, muttering sound, then another, seemingly nearer; then came a dazzlingblue flash of lightning that made all the party stationed at thedining-room window start back; and then came a long, rolling, rattlingpeal of thunder, that sounded as though it had come bellowing throughgreat metal pipes; while before it had died away in the distance, splashing and plunging down came the rain in torrents, ploughing up theflower-beds, and making little rivers run along each side of thegravel-walks. Out in the home-fields the cows and horses were runningto get under shelter of the trees, and looked evidently frightened asflash succeeded flash of lightning, and peal after peal of thunderseemed to make the very heavens vibrate as they rolled round and round, east, west, north, and south. The rain kept streaming down so fast thatout of doors seemed one great watery mist that could have been almostswum through. 

All at once, just in the middle of a clap of thunder, Mary, thehousemaid, opened the dining-room door, and hurriedly said something, but what no one could tell, for her voice was drowned by the rumblingpeal. 

"Oh! my poor verbenas, " said Mrs Inglis. 

"Oh! won't this fill up the carp-pond, jolly!" said Harry. 

"Come in, Mary, " said Mrs Inglis; "what's the matter? Are all theupstairs windows shut?"

"Oh! yes, mem, " said Mary; "but the drain's stopped in the yard, andDick's kennel's floating, and the water's all coming into the kitchen. "

"Oh! come and see, " said Harry; and away the whole party went, to bejust in time to see the water taking its departure, and Dick's kennelwrecked, down by the gates where the yard was highest, for Old Sam, inspite of the pelting rain, was punching away at the sink-hole with thestump of an old birch broom, and the water was rushing down it like alittle maelstrom; while the bits of straw and twigs that floated near, represented the unfortunate vessels that get caught in that famouswhirlpool. 

And still the rain kept pelting down, although the lightning ceased toflash, and the thunder grew more and more distant, till it could only beheard to mutter occasionally afar off. And still the rain kept pouringdown, even after cook had made up a roaring fire and wiped up all thewater, trundling her mop outside the scullery door till it seemed to gooff like a wet firework, as she spun and twisted it upon her great redarms. And still it kept raining, after cook had smeared mason's dustall over the stone floor with the wet mop, and when it had dried up andthe floor looked beautiful and white--white like the clean dresser andtable that cook used to scrub with soap and sand as though she meant toscrub all the top off. And still it kept on raining, till tea wasbrought in, and the urn hissed and sputtered upon the table, and at lastit became very plain that there would be no more going out that night, to the great disappointment of the boys; for though in London Fredhardly went out at all except for a walk, yet now the liberty of themorning made him feel like a caged bird, and a melancholy feeling seemedto come over all three boys as they sat watching the leaden sky, thedripping leaves, the beaten down flowers, the sandbanks by the walks, and the great drops of water that formed upon the edge of the verandahand porch, and then came down plash upon the stone pavement. 

"Oh! come along, " said Harry at last; "I know what we'll do. "

"What?" said Philip and Fred together. 

"Oh! come along, you'll see, " said the other. 

Mrs Inglis was busy over some needlework, and the Squire deep in abook, so the boys slipped out of the room without any notice beingtaken, and perhaps half an hour passed away, when all of a sudden MrsInglis dropped her work and jumped out of her chair, while the Squire, leaping up, overturned his little reading-table, and with it thescreened candle-lamp, breaking the glass and setting fire to the greencrimped shade. 

"Whatever is the matter?" said the Squire, when he had extinguished theburning paper; "whatever is the matter?" he continued, as they heardanother scream similar to one that had caused the first start. 

Mrs Inglis ran out of the room, and through the passage into thekitchen, from whence the sound seemed to have proceeded; and, onentering, there stood cook upon the dresser, while Mary, having knockedoff the brass kitchen candlestick on to the floor, was balancing herselfupon the top of the little round table, which creaked and groaned andthreatened to break with the weight that had been put upon it. 

"What's the matter?" said Mrs Inglis. 

"Oh! do look, mem, " said cook, "do look; there it goes again!"

And Mrs Inglis herself started, for a gritting, grinding, scrapingnoise was heard, and then by the light of the fire she saw one of thelarge tin dish covers go creeping along the kitchen floor, till itreached the wall underneath the place where it generally hung. 

Mrs Inglis could not help feeling a little startled, but, knowing wellthat some trick must have been played, she told Mary to get down andpick up the cover and hang it in its place. 

"Oh! please 'm, I dussn't, " said Mary. 

"Then I must, " said Mrs Inglis, and stepping across the kitchen, shelifted up the cover, when out popped the great black tom cat, that wasgenerally toasting his back before the fire, but who now seemeddreadfully put out with being shut up so long under such an unpleasantprison-house. 

Just then an uncontrollable burst of merriment came ringing out of thepassage, where it was all dark; which gave Mrs Inglis a very good clueas to who were the authors of the mischief. 

The next morning at breakfast time all the trees, flowers, buds, lawns, and hedge-rows looked soaking wet, and the rain kept pouring down, --notso heavily, certainly, as on the previous night, but quite enough to doaway with all prospect of going out that day. 

"A bad job, as there's so much hay down, " said Mr Inglis; "but I thinkit will be fine again to-morrow, and it will swell out the cornbeautifully. "

"But how wet it will be, " said Philip, "when it leaves off raining! Weshan't be able to play. "

"Oh, yes, you will, " said his father. "Why, boys, you ought to go downto the mill early to-morrow morning. Old Peagrim will have had thefish-traps open to-night, for the river will be flooded, and then youwill be able to see some sport, --that is if it leaves off raining. "

"Oh! that will be capital, " said Harry; who then had to enter into along dissertation, explaining to Fred what a fish-trap was; and howwatermills went round; and which was the dam, and the tail, and thewaste-water, and all the rest of it. After this they helped the Squireto arrange his cabinet of birds' eggs; and Fred learned the differencebetween sparrows' eggs, and finches', and tits', and larks', etc, fromthe tiniest tom-tit's egg right up to that of the wild swan, which hadbeen known to breed in the marsh, five miles from Hollowdell; and sointerested did the boys get with the work they had in hand, that thedinner-bell rang before they could believe it was more than half-pasteleven. 

After dinner there was the vivarium to clean out in the conservatory;and a nice job it was, for there were the globes and glass jars to bringfull of clean water, and the gold fish to catch with the little net, andto place in the globes; all of which duties Mr Inglis set the boys todo, while he superintended. Then there was the syphon to draw all thewater off into the pails, which Sam had to come and empty; and thissyphon puzzled Fred a great deal, for he could not understand how thewater could run up, and then down the other side. 

"Well, but, " said Mr Inglis, "have you not learnt that at school inyour lessons on physics? Do you not know that it is by atmosphericpressure; the air being exhausted from the pipe, the water is forcedthrough?"

Fred said he had learned all these things, but never understood themwell. And then, when the water was all drawn off, there was no end oflittle, things to pop into the glass jars of clean water. Snails, andbeetles, and caddis worms; newts, frogs, toads, tadpoles, tiny crayfish, and about a dozen tiny eels; while the grandest fellow in the wholeglass kingdom was a little jack, about five inches long, who wouldn't becaught in the net, but dodged round the rock-work, and had at last to betaken out by hand. Then the bottom was all renewed with fresh graveland stones; fresh-water plants put in; and all the inhabitants restoredto their glass home to dash about with delight; while, as soon as hefelt himself in fresh-water, a great mussel, that lay down at the side, put out his pretty white mantle; the snails began sailing up and down, and the water spiders began to pop in and out among the fresh plants andweave webs, just as if they were out of the water, and did not have tocarry their supply of air down in a bright silvery-looking bubbleattached to their bodies. 

Mr Inglis said he had hard work with all his pets, for they were sofond of eating one another, and the jack was the worst of the wholeparty, and always in mischief; but he was such a handsome green and goldfellow, and so tame, that he could not be turned out, even though he bitoff the tiny gold fish's tail one day, and made him so bad that he died. 

So what with getting the aquarium to rights, assisting to rearrange theplants in the conservatory, and helping to water them, so that theyshould not be teased by seeing the rain fall outside whilst they werekept dry within doors, it got to be tea-time; and, dull as the day hadbeen, Fred declared he had enjoyed it wonderfully, and only wanted teato be over for Mr Inglis to fulfil his promise, and show them thepictures of the sea anemones, and the other wondrous things that werefound on the seashore, where they were to go one afternoon before Fredwent back. 

Mr Inglis used to say that he liked his boys to learn scientificthings, but not after the fashion of parrots; so he used to bring beforetheir notice the wonders of animal and vegetable life, that are spreadaround us waiting to be noticed; and then, in reply to their questions, give them the information they sought. The consequence was, that thelads gained a vast amount of information through having their interestexcited, and what they learned in this way was never forgotten. 

CHAPTER FOUR. 

VISITING THE FISH-TRAPS. 

Fred's first act the next morning on waking, which he did before six, was to jump out of bed and ran to the window. It was dull, certainly, and a great heavy mist was rising from the soaked earth; but the ram hadceased, and there were hopes that it might turn out a fine day. Havingsatisfied himself upon this point, he went on tiptoe to his cousins'room, where the lads were in their beds, one on each side of the window, fast asleep, and looking as though they would not wake up for anotherhour. 

Fred was so proud of his achievement in being up first that he stood fora moment considering what he should do, when, pulling a piece of stringfrom his pocket, he wetted it in the jug, and, twisting up one end, proceeded to tickle Harry's nose with the soft point. Harry gave avicious rub at the irritated organ, and then another, and another, butwithout opening his eyes. Fred then drew the string gently over eyes, cheeks, and forehead, making the tormented boy twist and turn in hisbed, muttering something about "bothering flies. " The next place ofattack was the ear, which was directly protected by the insertion of oneof Harry's fingers; so that Fred was obliged to return to the noseagain, all the time hardly driven to keep from laughing aloud; and thistime he titillated the poor fellow so unmercifully that he burst outwith a violent sneeze, and sitting up in bed was face to face with histormentor. 

"Er-tchishew, er-tchishew!" said Harry, bouncing out of bed with hispillow in his hand. "Phil! Phil!" he shouted, "here's a trespasser. "

Philip jumped up and followed his brother's example, and between the twopoor Fred got so bolstered, or rather pillowed, that he was fain to cryout for mercy, just as a sharp rapping at the wall told the boys thatthey had disturbed the Squire. 

Directly after breakfast the lads started to go to the mill, which wasthe property of Mr Inglis, but held by one of his tenants, Mr Pollard. 

"Oh! he has got such a rum fellow there for a man, " said Harry; "we callhim Dusty Bob; but he's such a good chap, and will tell you all sorts oftales about catching fish in mills; for he's always lived in watermillsever since he was a boy. But his proper name's Peagrim. "

The anxiety to see the "rum fellow"--Dusty Bob--made the boys hurry on, but there were again so many attractions by the wayside that stoppageswere very frequent. The sandy roads had soaked up all the rain, but onevery leaf and spray heavy dew-drops were hanging and glittering in themorning sun; while the birds were singing as though to make up for losttime. The road wound, along by the old mossy palings which bounded MrInglis's property, and the grove on the other side seemed to be thespecial resort of all the sweetest warblers in that part of the country. On every sunny bit of paling the flies were buzzing and humming;beetles and little sun-shiners were crawling about; while greatvariegated spiders were mending their nets, ready for the trade theyhoped to do in flies on that bright July day. 

Such a scent came up from the freshened earth; and bright and goldengreen looked every leaf, washed clear of the dust that had rested uponit a day or two before; while the hedge-side flowers, although noddingwith the watery weight they bore, had turned their opening petals to thesun, and seemed to laugh out their welcome to his warm bright beams. 

"There goes a peacock-eye, " said Philip, dashing after a lovelybutterfly, which kept on gently just before him for a time, and thensettled nicely in reach upon a robin-run-rake by the hedge-side. Philipstole cautiously forward, cap in hand, and then made a dab down tosecure the brightly-painted prize; but, with one or two flaps from thosegorgeous wings, it was out of reach, over the palings, and away acrossthe buttercup-gilded meadow on the other side. 

Directly after, Harry was off after a great sulphur-coloured butterfly, which led him a long chase down the lane--Fred joining in at first, butafterwards taking up a chase on his own account after a large bluedragon fly. The butterflies would not be caught that morning, but thechase had one good effect, for it led the lads down to the banks of thelittle river, now very full and muddy in its waters, which were rushingalong with great haste, and evidently in a hurry to get down to themill, and go tumbling and foaming over the muddy sluice at the head ofthe waste-water. The tops of the reeds were nearly covered, and in someplaces the water was out over the road; while down where the foot-plankcrossed the wide ditch that brought down the waters from Beaker Hill toempty into the river, the water had risen so that it touched the board, and supplied capital amusement to Harry, who danced in the middle of it, sending the water flashing and splashing about in all directions, andwetting everything around but himself. 

At last he grew tired, and Philip crossed too, but Fred hardly daredventure, for the board was muddy and slippery, and at last Harry had tocome back and half lead him over; but it was a new feat to him. And nowthey reached the mill, which stood upon a little island right in theriver--an island that stretched up the stream right to a point, with astout post driven in to break the force of the river, which now seemedquite angry at being divided, and rushed round on both sides, foamingand roaring as though it was determined to carry island, mill, andeverything else away. 

"Come along, Fred, " said Harry; but Fred felt nervous; it was all new tohim, and he could hardly summon up courage to cross the frail bridgeover the foaming waters that rushed down the sluice, and formed acataract on the other side--the waters plunging down in a muddy torrent, and then boiling up in the maddest way. But he grasped his cousin'shand tightly, and, crossing the bridge, walked round the mill to theother side. And now he could feel the whole place tremble and vibrateas the water rushed under the dark arches to the mill wheels, which weregoing swiftly round; while inside the tall wooden building, pair afterpair of stones were spinning round and round, turning the hard, firmcorn into white nutritious flour. 

Philip led the way, and they entered the mill, where the warning bellswere ringing to give notice that the corn was flowing down rightly; andthe mill-hoppers kept on "ruttle, ruttle;" the water hissed, seethed, and rushed under their feet; the millstones rumbled round and round; andthere on the top of the sacks, with which the place was half filled, satthe two great white cats belonging to the miller, fast asleep; while ina corner, upon a heap of empty corn bags, sat Dusty Bob himself, noddingand nodding as though he meant to shake his head off. 

"Hallo, Bob, hoy!" shouted Harry in a voice which was hardly heard abovethe din in the mill. 

"Hullo!" said Bob, gruffly, jumping up. "Oh, it's you, young masters, is it? Well, I expect I've been asleep. I was up half the night, forwe were so busy, and had so much water. "

"Here's our cousin from London; and Papa said we might bring him to seethe fish-traps; and he said you were to have that for showing us, " saidPhilip, pulling out a shilling from his pocket; which action made Bob'seyes twinkle, and removed all sleepiness. 

"Stop a minute, young genelmen, " said he, going to a cupboard in acorner, and taking out a black teapot--at least what should have beenblack, but it was all over flour. "There, " he said, "that's what Ialways keeps there to drink when too much dust gets down my throat. "Saying which Bob took a long drink of cold tea out of the spout, andthen generously offered it to all the visitors, who declared that it wassuch a little time since they had had breakfast that they would rathernot. 

"More left for me then, " said Bob; "and now for the fish-traps. Iopened them last night, but I forgot to look this morning; so you'rejust right, my lads--just right. Shouldn't wonder if there was a whaledown in the big trap after all this water; should you, Master Harry, eh?"

"None of your gammon, Bob. Think I don't know better than that? Whydon't you come and look at the traps?"

"'Cos I ain't in such a hurry as you are, " replied Bob. "You'd like meto run, wouldn't you, eh?"

"Do come, Bob, " said Philip, putting in his appeal to the rough anddusty object before him--an appeal not without its effect, for Bob gavea very dusty smile; and then, reaching down a bunch of keys from a nailin the wall, proceeded with one of them to open a door which led down adark flight of damp stairs to the under regions of the mill, where thetwo great toothed wheels were swiftly revolving--dripping with water, and looking horribly wet, slimy, and muddy; while between them, and oneach side, were what Harry had called the fish-traps: large contrivancesof strong laths about half an inch apart, forming very wide and deepcages, down into which, in a torrent, the water rushed and passedthrough--of course leaving therein everything in the shape of fish thathad been brought down by the swiftly speeding current. 

At the first sight of the gloomy cellar-like place and the sound of therushing stream, mingled with the hollow cavernous plashing noise of thewater running from the wheels as they rose from out the deep well-likechasms where they did their duty, Fred shrunk back and hardly liked todescend; but, seeing how coolly and confidently his cousins went down, he summoned up courage and followed, while Bob proceeded to inspect trapnumber one. 

"Well! that's a pretty go, " said Bob; "shan't catch many fish that away, anyhow. "

"Why, what's the matter?" said Harry, looking at the great wooden fishcage. 

"Matter!" said Bob; "why, some one's left the door open. "

"I know who it was, " said Harry, laughing, as he inspected the openingat the bottom of the trap, through which everything that had enteredmust have escaped. "I know who it was, " said Harry, again. 

"Who?" said Philip, innocently. 

"Who? why, old Bob!"

"You _are_ right, " said Bob, grinning. "I did leave it open, becausesome one came in the mill, and then I had to go. Never mind, I couldn'thelp forgetting to come down again, could I?"

On going to the next trap they found that the force of the water hadbroken two of the bottom laths away, leaving room for any sized fish toget out; but for all that there was a great black-backed slimy-lookingmonster of an eel, nearly a yard long, gently gliding about over oneside of the cage, close to the hole. 

"Now, Bob, " said Harry, "here he is, such a stomper; get him out quick. "

But Bob did not get him out quick, for upon the first touch of thebarred door, the eel gave a glide, went through the broken bottom of thetrap, and was gone. 

"Oh--oh--oh!" chorused the boys, "what a pity!"

"Why didn't you be quicker, Bob?" said Harry, "I know I could havecaught him. How jolly tiresome! Do be careful next time. "

"Why, wasn't I careful?" said Bob. "There ain't a slipperier thinganywheres, than one of them big eels. There ain't no holding of them atall when there are no holes in the bottom of the traps; and of course Icouldn't stop that un without any salt to put on his tail. "

"Don't talk such stuff, " said Philip; "we are not children, and youdon't think we believe all that rubbish about salt on tails, do you?"

Bob indulged in a long low chuckle, and then led the way to the lasttrap under the mill, though there was one at the head of the waste-wateroutside. It was very dark in the corner where they now went, but inspite of the darkness the boys could see the silvery gleam of somethingmoving behind the bars, while Bob suddenly grinned out--

"Now then, young gents, here they are; but stop while I fetches a pail. "

Bob went upon his errand, and slowly ascended the steps that led intothe mill, while the boys crept as close as possible to the trap, throughwhich the water was rushing swiftly. It was very evident that therewere several good-sized fish in; but while they looked, something seemedto dart down from above, there was a great splashing and flapping about, and then it grew pretty evident that a new-comer had joined theprisoners--who had all commenced bobbing and flopping about, as thoughto remonstrate against his arrival. 

And now came Bob with a great pail, which he held under the sliding doorof the trap, telling Harry to pull it open. He did so, and into itglided the pailful of different kinds of fish, while one monster of aneel got half his body over the side and slipped out on to the dampfloor, where he began to wriggle and twist, evidently meaning to getdown one of the wheel channels. But Bob had seen one fine fellow slipaway that morning, and did not mean to lose this one; for he knew itwould be worth shillings to him, either to sell, or to send by his youngvisitors up to Squire Inglis's; so at it he dashed, nearly upsetting thepail as he hastily banged it down. And now began a regular battle, theeel making for the water, and the eel-catcher keeping him away. It wasone of those monsters that are rarely caught by hook and line, but whichlie in the deep muddy holes of rivers, out of which places they mostlysally when there is a flood. 

Strong! it was as strong, Bob said, as a horse, and writhed and twistedabout so that he could not retain his grasp upon its slippery shinyskin. 

Twice he got it up in a corner, tight up against the brick wall, andaway it went again close to the water's edge and was nearly lost, butfor a lucky kick from Harry which saved it. No one else cared abouttouching the monster, and at last it appeared as though the prize wouldescape after all, for Bob was trying to retain it with one hand only--the other appearing to be disabled in some way or another; but it wasnot so, for Bob meant mischief, and his hand reappeared with his greatbread and cheese knife, which he opened with his teeth, and then, withone great gash, nearly severed the unfortunate eel's head from his snakybody. 

"There!" said Bob, triumphantly; "that are the biggest eel I ever caughtin this here water. Why, he weighs six pound, I know he do. Shut thedoor of that ere trap again, Master Harry, and there'll be some moreto-night, I know. "

Saying this, Bob made a commotion in the pail by laying his great prizeon the top of the other captives, and then carried them all carefully upinto the mill, where the visitors proceeded to gloat over the spoil. 

Two or three sacks were laid upon the mill floor, and then Bob emptiedthe pail, and there they were, flapping, leaping, and writhing about;such a collection of fish as would have made any angler glow and feelproud to carry home. First there was the great eel--such a monster, with body as thick as Bob's wrist: then there was a beautiful troutabout two pounds' weight; a little jack about half the size; about twodozen of fine roach; and about thirty eels of all sizes--one so small, that the wonder was that he had not got through the bars; and thelargest so big, that it would have almost passed for the big one'sbrother; while all of them seemed to consider that it was their duty toget off the sacks as soon as possible, and therefore wriggled andtwisted towards the edges, giving the boys plenty of occupation to turnthem back, which Fred did with a piece of stick, wisely keeping theuncouth creatures at a distance. 

"Now, what's to be done with them all?" said Bob. 

"I should like to have the little jack to put in our pond, " said Harry. 

"Why, he'd kill all the roach, " said Philip. 

"So he would, " said his brother; "but then he's a nicer-looking fellowthan any there. "

"Well, I'll tell you what, " said Bob, "we'll put the six biggest eelsand the trout into a basket, and you shall take 'em home--young jack andall; and them tothers I shall send up into the village to sell. "

This was considered to be a capital arrangement; and soon after, off theboys started with their basket tied tightly down to keep the eels fromgetting out during the journey. Fred declined to help carry on accountof the eels, so Harry and Philip took a handle each and swung it betweenthem--a nice easy way for them, but very uncomfortable for the pooreels, for every now and then Master Harry would swing so hard that thebasket would make a complete revolution, twist Philip's wrist, and, making him leave go, the basket would come down bump upon the gravelpath. On they went, however, till they came to the little plank bridge, over which Fred tripped lightly; and stood on the other side, laughing, out of the reach of any splashing that Harry might feel disposed tofavour him with. 

The water had sunk a few inches lower during their visit to the mill;and when Harry and Philip stood in the middle of the plank, which couldnot of course be passed without having a splash, Harry began to springup and down, and the board being tolerably elastic, he and his brotherhad a pretty good ride; but although there was double weight now uponit, the plank would not touch the water. 

"Try again, Phil, " said Harry. And up and down went the brothers for aminute, but still clear of the water. 

"Come along, now, " said Philip, "it's no use. "

"One more try, and a good one, " said Harry; and then they began again. "Now, " he continued, "both together. One: that was a good one. Two:better still. Three: and a--"

"Snap. "

Just as they gave the last spring, there was a sharp crack from theplank; a shriek from all the boys simultaneously; and Harry and Philipwere struggling in the deep water, for the plank bridge had divided intwo just in the centre. 

Fred ran to the edge, and, by kneeling down, managed to catch Philip'shand, which was the only portion of him visible, as he was being sweptout of the broad ditch, which was running swiftly, into the river, forfear and excitement had robbed him of his swimming powers; while Harry, who could swim well, had given two or three strokes, and then, catchingthe long grass, climbed out upon the opposite side. The next thing theyall did was to stand and stare at each other in blank amazement, fromwhich Harry was the first to recover, for he jumped about, shook himselflike a Newfoundland dog, and then said bluntly:--

"Don't you cry, Phil, we're quite wet enough. Never mind; Papa won't bevery cross if we go and tell him directly. I'm coming across now, " andin spite of the protestations of Philip and Fred, he got sloth fashion--hanging hands and legs--upon the pole that had served as a hand rail tothe broken plank, and which maintained its own bearings, and in spite ofits bending beneath his weight, he shuffled across, and stood wet anddripping beside his companions. 

"Come on, " said Harry, shaking himself again, and addressing the others, who were still standing with long faces by the broken bridge: "let'srun; we shall soon be home, and nobody will meet us in Park Lane. "

"But where's the basket?" exclaimed Fred. 

"Oh!" cried Harry, aghast. 

"Why, it's gone, " said Fred, "and the fish can't get out, though theyare in the water. "

Gone it was; there was not even a handle of the basket to be seen abovethe water, though they looked long and anxiously up and down the river, and everywhere that seemed impossible for it to have got to. But it wasgone, and no doubt the poor eels were drinking in their natural elementand twisting about in their little wicker prison; turning theircompanions, the decapitated eel and the dead trout, over and over, andup and down, in their efforts to escape. 

At last the trio started off, but with anything but light hearts, fortheir appearance was far from being as neat as when they set off in themorning. Fred was all over flour, through kneeling in the mill andlolling up against the sacks; while his cousins looked as wet, muddy, and pitiable, as two unfortunate, half-drowned young monkeys could look. The butterflies flitted before them and danced up and down in the sunnyair, displaying their gorgeous wings; the yellowhammer flew out fromamongst the nettles, and betrayed the place where his sober-hued littlemate was sitting upon her grassy nest; a stoat ran across the road witha bird in his mouth, and disappeared in the bank unchased; the corncrakesang his harsh song in the park, seemingly close beneath the pales; andtwo squirrels ran along the road right in front of them, and then satdown with their little bushy tails cocked up, watching the boys ever solong before they darted up the beech-tree bole, and hid behind the greatbranches. But it was of no use; there was no tempting the boys out oftheir solid sombre moodiness; and on they tramped, fishless anddisconsolate, for their young spirits were not damped, but literallydrenched; and then, too, they had lost their wicker idol, full ofcaptives--captives which, like those of the ancient Britons, were tohave been roasted; but now, alas! were in danger of being drowned; if, as old anglers tell us, fish can be drowned. 

The day was brighter than ever, but for them it had lost its brightness;and sadly and slowly they crossed the stile, crept across thehome-field, round to the stable-yard, and in by the back door; and, noone seeing them, hurried up to their bedrooms, so that Harry and Philipwere able to make a decent appearance at dinner-time, withoutfrightening Mr and Mrs Inglis by their half-drowned aspect. 

It took a long time before it came to the surface, and a great amount ofdetermination before Harry could speak out respecting the morning'smishap; for he, though the younger, was always the chief speaker; but atlast out it came with a rush, while Papa was helping the pudding, makinghim give such a start that he put the wedge-shaped piece of rhubarbpudding right upon the snowy white tablecloth instead of Fred's plate. 

"I say, Papa, Philip and I tumbled into Whaley Dyke, coming home fromthe mill to-day; and it was so full that Phil would have been drowned, for he was too much afraid to swim, only Fred pulled him out. "

And then, as the ice was broken, Harry told the whole tale, not omittingthe loss of the basket; and, though both Papa and Mamma looked seriousas they thought of the danger their boys had run, yet, as Harry hadprophesied, Papa was not very cross about it; and, after a littleserious admonition, shook hands with them all round, and said how proudhe was to think he could always trust his boys to tell the truth, fornow he could always have confidence in their word, and feel that hecould depend upon them in everything. 

"But, papa, " said Harry at last, breaking out into a regular whimper, "they were _such_ eels!"

"And _such_ a trout!" said Philip. "And _such_ a jack!" said Fred. "And they've all gone back to the river again, " said Harry; "and I didwant the jack for the little pond, and old Bob will be sure to come upto-night to see if you will give him something for the eels, and wedidn't get them. "

"Never mind, boys, " said Mr Inglis; "I dare say we can make it allright with Bob, the miller; and no doubt there are as fine eels in theriver as ever came out of it. "

As for Mrs Inglis, she seemed to take a more loving fancy to Fred thanshe had before accorded to her sister's child; for had he not saved herboy's life?

Sure enough, Bob came down to the house that very evening, grinning andsmirking, and looking as pleasant as if he felt sure that he was goingto have some of the squire's home-brewed ale, and half-a-crown as well. But Bob grinned a little more than he would have done in general uponsuch an occasion; and when he caught sight of the boys he kept grinningmore than ever, and beckoning them in his uncouth way to come to him;but Harry and Philip did not feel much disposed to go to Bob, for therewas all the dissatisfaction of the loss of the fish, and they did notlike Bob being paid for what they did not profit by. But at last Bob'sdemonstrations were so violent that the three boys went into the kitchentogether, and then and there the dusty old rascal drew from behind him, all the while grinning and showing his teeth more than ever, the verybasket they had lost, tied-up as though it had never been opened, andwith all the fish inside. 

Fred looked upon Bob as though he was a mighty conjurer. 

"Why, they came down the stream to the mill, " said Harry, beaming withhis discovery. "So they did, Master Harry; you're right. "

"And you found them up against the grating?"

"So I did, Master Harry; I did find 'em there. "

"And then you brought them here?"

"So I did, Master Harry; you're right, I did. "

"Oh! hooray!" shouted Harry. "Hooray!" shouted Phil. 

"Hurray!" said Fred, hardly knowing why, but cheering because the othersdid. And then out came the Squire, and out came Mrs Inglis, and outcame the eels, and out came the praises, and out came Bob's half-crown;and the next day when those fish were cooked, the Squire declared thatthis was the best trout he had ever tasted; and as to the eels, why theywere the richest, nicest, and best eels that were ever eaten, and no oneenjoyed them better than the boys who had had so much difficulty ingaining them for a prize. 

CHAPTER FIVE. 

BUYING A NEW WATER-BOTTLE. 

And now one morning, as soon as it was daylight, Harry jumped out of bedand ran to his brother's, and with one whisk dragged everything off--sheet, blankets, counterpane, and almost Philip, and then the youngruffian rushed into Fred's room, served him in the same way, andnarrowly escaped a crack on the head from his cousin's boot, which wassent flying after him as he ran, but hit the wall instead, and then felltoe foremost into the big wash hand jug, that seemed as if it stoodthere on purpose to catch it. 

"Jump up, boys; why it's ever so late, I believe, " said Harry. "I'll goand see what time it is. Shrimping day!"

Directly after Harry reappeared in Fred's room, and found Philip there. 

"I say, the clock's stopped in the night; it wants a quarter to four bythat old stupid thing on the staircase. I'll go down to the dining-roomand see there; I know it's half-past seven, and everybody is lying inbed because Papa said we should all start in good time for the sands. Don't I wish I was behind old Sam! Shouldn't I like to put a wasp inhis bed!"

He then slipped quietly down to the dining-room. All was still; theblinds drawn down, but the room was light enough for him to see thehands upon the face of the little timepiece over the fireplace. 

"Ten minutes to four, " said the clock. 

"All the clocks are wrong, " said Harry, pettishly. "It must be late. Iknow it is. I'll go in the kitchen. "

So off he went, pat, pat, with his bare feet over the oilcloth, and thenupon the sandy stones in the kitchen. Plenty of light there, and theold Dutch clock plainly to be seen, only the pendulum stood still, andthe weights had run down; for cook had forgotten to draw them up on theprevious night. "Quarter to twelve, " said the clock. 

"Oh! come, that won't do, " said Harry. "I know it's late. Don't I wishI had a watch of my own; I should know what the real time was then. "

Up he went to Fred's room with the same tale upon his lips respectingthe time, but as unbelieving as ever. 

"Why, it is only four o'clock, " said Philip, looking out of the window;"and there's the sun just rising. Well, you are a chap, Hal, to wakeone up at this time of the morning and say it's late. I shall go to bedagain. "

"So shall I, " said Fred. 

"No, you won't, " said Harry; dragging the clothes together and making abundle, with which he ran off into his own room with both the others infull chase. And then began a regular scrimmage, French and Englishfashion, and Harry, having two enemies, was pulled down sprawling over arushbottom chair, and then nearly kicked over the washstand, making sucha clatter that the Squire knocked angrily at the wall; when off thenoisy ones ran back into Fred's room, Harry this time being the pursuer, armed with his bolster, "Bang, crash--crash, bang--whiz--wuz--rush. "Fred went backwards upon his bed, _hors de combat_, from a well-directedblow from Harry's bolster; and then at it went Harry and Phil--thelatter being armed with a pillow, down whose front a ghastly slit soonshowed itself; but Philip fought well, and Harry was getting worsted anddriven into the corner amongst the boots, where the footing was ratherbad for bare feet "Flop!" Harry caught it then and staggered back. "Flop" again, for Philip was surpassing himself, and Harry havingreceived the last blow full upon the top of his head went down upon oneknee; but he rallied again, ducked to avoid the next blow, and divingunder Philip's arm came up behind, and "Whooz!" went the bolster bangupon Phil's back, and "Crash!" went Philip forward, ram fashion, withhis head into the wardrobe door. 

At it again: "whop--whop--flip--flop--bang, " went pillow and bolster, while Fred, sitting tailor fashion upon his bed, was rolling withlaughter. At last Philip began to shew signs of being beaten, and Harrywhirled his bolster round his head in order to administer the _coup degrace_, when "crash!"--the water-bottle and tumbler were swept off thedressing-table, splintering to pieces on the floor, and covering thecarpet with feet-piercing fragments and puddles of cold water. 

"Oh! shan't we catch it!" said both combatants, ceasing the war, liketwo enemies who had just awakened to the fact that they had been doing avast amount of mischief to somebody else's property. 

"Oh! I say, whatever shall we do?" said Philip in dismay. 

"Pick up the pieces, " said Harry, laconically. 

The three boys set to work, picked up the pieces, and sponged up thewater; but there was a great, rugged, black-looking patch, like a NorthAmerican continent, with plenty of islands all round it, in the midst ofthe carpet; but then, too, there were the fragments of broken bottle andglass. 

"Oh! I say, what shall we do?" exclaimed Philip again, when all wasmade as decent as circumstances would permit. 

There was a minute's silence which no one seemed inclined to break; butat last Harry said, moodily, "Why, we must go and tell Mamma; she won'tbe so very, very cross. "

"She will, though; for she said we were not to bolster, because itspoiled the pillow-cases so, and--"

Here Philip caught sight of the pillow lying upon Fred's bed, the coverbeing nearly torn off. Upon seeing this ghastly object Philip lookedmore grim than ever, and he left his sentence unfinished. 

"Let's buy another bottle, " said Fred; "I'll pay. "

This was a new idea. 

"Capital, " said Harry. "I've got a shilling Papa gave me yesterday, andI'll pay half. "

"So will I, " said Philip, brightening up. 

But, as the bottle could not be bought by the lads all paying half, itwas decided that they should all bear a share in the proposed expense, and go and buy the new water-holder before breakfast. 

"Hooray!" said Harry, "jump into your clothes, boys, and we'll run downto the village and be back before breakfast's ready. "

In another quarter of an hour, the lads passed through the gate, andstood in the lane leading to the village. Such a bright fine morning, the sun gilding all the trees, and the birds singing away more merrilythan ever. The boys had looked at the clock as they descended thestaircase, and it was only five; so, as they had plenty of time upontheir hands to reach the village, they sauntered slowly along, havingonly two miles to go. 

"I say, " said Harry, "let's cross the fields and go round by the backlane; we shall then go over the shallows, and Fred has never seen thestepping-stones. "

"How much farther is it?" said Fred. 

"Only about a mile, " was the reply. 

Off they went, over the stile, and then across the dewy grass, over morefields, glittering in the morning sunlight, and then down into the backlane. 

"Tuck up your trousers, boys, " said Harry, setting the example; and thenwhen that preliminary was arranged, splish, splash, they went along thewet path. 

A splendid lane that was for a walk, always under water, with quite astream flowing in parts, and shaded on either side by high hedges andbanks. It was always considered impassable, except in very dry weatherand in carts. But mischievous boys rather liked the back lane; therewas some fun in going along it, for it was nearly always half-way up theboots, and then the water splashed so capitally when you ran down it. Besides which, there were rats there, and stray sticklebacks: and thenicest, smoothest, and roundest pebbles for throwing to be got anywhere;besides, boots and feet soon get dry again in the summer-time; and, after all, a good bit of fun is worth all the wet boots in the world--atleast, boys of twelve and thirteen think so. 

"Is it all wet, like this?" said Fred, rather taken aback at theappearance of the place. 

"Rat! rat! rat!" roared Harry, a cry taken up by Philip; and away theysplashed, running upon their toes in chase of the long-tailed burrower. But Rat never went very far from his residence in the day-time; and, consequently, he showed the hunters only just the tip of his tail for amoment, as he dived into his hole, and was gone. A little further onthe lane became dry again, and continued so, with the exception of alittle rivulet at the side, where the water was dimpling and glitteringover the stones, washed clean and smooth, and amongst which the boyssoon found plenty of those curious little fish, the stone loaches, forthe most part lying snugly beneath some great pebble, which had to beturned over to effect their capture. 

At last they reached the river and the stepping-stones. Here the streamhad widened out and was very shallow, great rough masses of puddingstone being laid on the bed to let wayfarers pass over dry-shod. Thiswas, however, a luxury looked upon with great contempt by Harry, whomerely drew his trousers into a roll above his knees, and walkedstraight in all amongst the water-cresses and forget-me-nots whichpeeped up here and there. Of course, such an example must needs befollowed upon the instant, and soon there were three young storks wadingabout in the shallows. 

"Look! look!" said Fred, all at once; "what's, that?"

They might well look, for with his scales glittering in the morning sun, and making the water surge as he endeavoured to reach a portion of theriver more suitable for his bulk, a large pike came down the stream onhis side. He was a monster, and seemed nearly a yard long, and so bigthat the boys could do nothing but stare at him at first; but Harry wasnot to be put out of countenance by the biggest pike in England, so athim he rushed. 

"Come on, " he shouted, "turn him back. If he gets past the stones, thewater is deeper, and we shall lose him. "

Philip and Fred closed in, but never put forth a hand to touch the pike. Not so Harry, for he boldly made a dash at it, and caught hold of theslippery monster, who gave a flash with his tail, and was off yardsaway, with Harry in full pursuit; and this time, the water beingshallower, he managed to give a good kick at the fresh-water shark, butonly one, for the fish gave another shoot, and was gone. 

"There's a brute!" said Harry. "He might just as well have been caught. Wasn't he a thumper?"

"Let's get some water-cresses and take home, " said Phil. 

"Where are there any?" said Fred, who had never seen them growingbefore. 

"Why, here, all about; here's lots and lots. "

So the lads set to, and picked a goodly bunch a piece, Philipremembering, too, a little bouquet of forget-me-nots for his mother; andthen, landing on the opposite side, they strolled up the river to see ifthey could see Harry's friend, the pike, but, no! he was invisible; andnot to be wondered at, after the manner in which he had been treated. Still, though there was no pike, there was plenty else to be seen, forthe fish were rising all over the river; and out in the bright calmplaces great chub were lazily basking in the warm sun. On everyshallow, shoals of roach and dace appeared, and rushed out in silverysquadrons over the pebbly bottom; while the minnows and gudgeon seemedas though they had been drilled, so regularly and closely they kepttogether as they darted out into the middle of the river. 

Plenty to be seen? Ay, plenty; pretty little reed-warblers twitteringand chattering in amongst the strands which formed their waving home;and every now and then the little bearded tits made their appearance, but only to dart out of sight again in a moment. High over head sangthe lark, "trill--trill--trill;" and the soft sweetness of the morningseemed to pervade everything. Now and then red and orange billedmoor-hens would lead their dusky little broods from amongst the reeds, and after a short swim, lead them in again when they saw that they werewatched. Plenty to see? Ay! so much, that the water, the sky, and thegreen banks took away every thought of the water-bottle and the village, and even of breakfast, till all of a sudden Harry burst out--

"Oh, I'm so jolly hungry! let's turn back. "

"I wonder what time it is?" said Philip. 

"Seven, " said Harry, "I know. Let's get down to the village and get thebottle at old Perkins's, and then it will be time to go home tobreakfast. Oh! what a jolly morning!"

They were soon abreast of the stones again where the path led down tothe village, and just then the distant church clock struck. 

"Told you so, " said Harry, counting. "One--two--three--four--five--six--seven--_eight_!"

The boys stared at one another quite aghast, and then, taking their cuefrom Harry, started off full speed towards home, forgetting everythingbut the idea of getting back in time for breakfast. 

When they entered the breakfast-room, nearly breathless, but withsparkling eyes and glowing cheeks, both Mr and Mrs Inglis lookedrather serious; but the boys seemed so bright and happy that they hadnot the heart to be cross with them, though the second cup of coffee wasbeing poured out, and the Squire loved punctuality; and though MrsInglis had been into the boys' bedrooms and seen the mischief they haddone. 

"Come, boys; come, boys, " said Mr Inglis, cheerily; "this won't do; youwon't last till night. Why, we're going down to get enough specimens tostart the salt-water aquarium; and Jem Baines, from the station, broughtthe glass last night. It came down from London by the goods train. There it is, " he continued, pointing to an enormous inverted bell-glassstanding upon a block of ebony fitted for its reception. 

But the boys were too hungry to do more than glance at the crystal bell, though Harry, with his mouth full, did say something that sounded verymuch like "booty, " though he evidently meant it for beauty. However, itwas excusable, as any of my young readers will say if they consider thatHarry had been up four hours, and out in the fresh air of the brightsummer morning. 

CHAPTER SIX. 

DOWN BY THE SEA. 

"Now, boys, " said the Squire, when the breakfast was over, "time flies. Harry, you tell Sam to bring the dog-cart round. Philip and Fred, youhelp me to get the jars and bottles into the hall. "

This was soon done, and, the cart coming round, it was packed with thedifferent odds and ends that naturalists take with them when going tothe sea-side; and also with those agreeable refreshments taken by allpeople, whether naturalists or not, when they anticipate being by therocks and shingle for a few hours in the fresh sea-breeze. The boysthen eagerly took their places, the horse leaped to the light shake ofthe reins given by the Squire, Sam left its head, Mamma waved herhandkerchief from the porch, the gate was passed, and away they wentbowling over the hard road, and past, green trees, hedges, and fields, with the sweet smell of new-turned hay borne on the morning breeze, while the sky above seemed clearer and brighter than ever. 

"Now, boys, which way shall we go; down by the marsh, or along theupland at once to the rocks?"

"Oh, through the marsh, Papa!" said Harry; "and then you can drive alongthe sands to the rocks. It is so nice and quiet riding along thesands. "

"Yes, " said his father; "but how about old Tom, here? He won't likedragging all you great fellows through the heavy sand; will you, Tom?"

Old Tom on hearing his master's cheery voice gave his head a toss, asmuch as to say, "I should think not, " and then trotted along faster thanever, making the wheels spin round, and the dust fly in a cloud behindthem. 

And now they began to leave the woods behind: the hedges began to getscarcer and shorter, and at last they were out in the marsh--a marsh nolonger, but a large and far spreading plain, divided by broad drains andditches, and dotted over with enormous cattle grazing in the rich fatgrass; while here and there the land seemed waving in the gentle breezeas it lightly passed over the bending crops of wheat, oats, rye, andbarley. Here and there were farmhouses scattered at wide interval whilein the distance stood a church with a few houses clustered round it, andtowards this point Fred could now see that the road tended. Soon theycould see the high bank that guarded the marsh from the ravages of thesea in its angry moments; and away to the right the beetling cliffs, with the downs running up to the summits, and ending in a sheerprecipice three or four hundred feet deep, at whose foot it was said aman-of-war had once been wrecked, and all souls drowned. Down beneaththe cliff, too, were the rocks of every fantastic shape or form, nowwith the water just gently lapping their weed-hung sides, but in stormyweather covering them with foam as it alternately showed their grim andjagged shapes, or hid them from view. Woe, then, to the unfortunatevessel that came amongst them, for the pitiless waves would lift it upbodily, and then dash it down upon the cruel stones, shivering it topieces, and sending the splintered fragments to beat against the tallcliffs or strew the shore! But the sea was now placid and beautiful, with the sun making his beams glance off the heaving waves in farspreading rays, while the tiny retiring wavelets left their marks uponthe sand in little ripple-marks, covered all over with the caststhrown-up by the sea-worms. 

Old Tom had no heavy drag over the sands, for the boys were down in aninstant, racing over the flat surface, while Mr Inglis drove gently ontowards the rocks, where he drew up the car, took out Tom, secured himto the wheel, and left him at last with his nose-bag on, under theshadow of the rocks, nibbling his corn, and whisking the flies away withhis long tail. His master then took a bottle or two, and a couple ofhand-nets and a hammer, and walked down towards the water's edge. Soonthe boys joined him, loaded already; for there were such heaps oftreasures--long razor shells, whelk and cockle shells, limpets, mussels, periwinkles, star-fish in the pools, seaweed of all shapes and colours, shrimps; while all over the sand where they stood, busy sea-lice werehopping about in myriads. 

Mr Inglis sent the boys for another glass jar or two, and an iron barthat lay at the bottom of the cart; and then down they went towardslow-water mark, and searched amid the rocky pools till the Squire foundone to his satisfaction, when he stopped. 

"Now, Fred, " he said, "you shall see what wondrous things there are in alittle pool, by the sea-side. "

And now, peering down into the clear, still water, they looked into alittle submarine forest of weeds--nay, of beautiful branching miniaturetrees; while on the rocks were what seemed to Fred like flowers of themost beautiful colours. 

"Now, Fred, " said Mr Inglis, "fill your jar with water, and pick thatfine fellow off the rock. "

"It won't bite, will it?" said Fred, nervously, for he felt somehow thatit was not what it seemed. 

"Bite? no!" laughed his cousins; "look here, " and Harry turned up hissleeve and touched the beautifully tinted petals. 

In a moment they were gone, and in their place a dull-looking thing, like a piece of soaking wet leather. At the solicitations of hiscousins, however, and following their example, Fred soon had severaldull, dumpy-looking discs in his jar. But now their attention wascalled to Mr Inglis, who had found a specimen of the brittle star-fish, which soon showed its right to the name by throwing off a couple ofray-like arms. Next there were pinky-looking sea-slugs to gaze upon;and at last, under a stone which Mr Inglis turned over with the ironbar, such a myriad of objects for wonder and admiration, that all eyeswere directed to the different specimens, while every ear was open todrink in the descriptions given by Mr Inglis. One of the curiositieswas a long, thin black ribbon, coiled and twisted about in all sorts ofawkward bends and curves; and this Mr Inglis told them was a curiousworm that lay with one end--the tail--firmly anchored to a stone, whilewith the head it seized the first thing that touched it as it swam by. Then would begin a struggle, the trapped one darting off, and draggingto get away; while the worm, tough, thin, and pliant as a fishing-line, let it play about till tired out, when the thin, black-looking monsterwould quietly swallow his prey, boa-constrictor fashion, till nothingwas visible of it but a large knob in the worm's thin body. Then therewere polypes; hermit-crabs with their tails in cast-off shells; tinyshell-fish tightly clinging to the stones; boring shells, weeds, andtangles, swarming with innumerable tiny living forms; and so at lastbottles and jars were as well filled as was possible with treasuresenough to afford them amusement for the next month. 

They were all so busy that they did not notice the return of the tide;but there is was, creeping slowly, surely, and silently in; and all atonce in came a fresh supply of water to the little pool, and showed ourvisitors how soon it would be covered by the coming waters. And so theyhad to retreat before the tide, like King Canute is said to have done, years ago. They took all their treasures to the car; and then set towork to unpack the basket which Mamma had prepared for the trip. And, oh, how they enjoyed that meal, sitting as they were upon the sands, with the cloth spread between them! There never was such delicious coldchicken before, nor yet such ham, such currant and raspberry and cherrytart, such a bottle of cream, that wouldn't come out, it was so thick, but had to be poked forth with a fork. Everything was delicious, downto the lemonade in the big bottle, although it had grown rather warmthrough standing in the sun. Altogether it was a glorious repast, eatenas it was on that delightful day, the dimpling sea spreading out beforethem as far as the eye could reach, with here and there a white saillike a speck upon the vast expanse. 

At last the lunch or dinner was ended, and then there was plenty more todo and see. There was the old man sitting in his donkey-cart, verystupidly as Fred thought, driving it along in the shallow water; butwhen they came nearer they could see there were a couple of ropesdragging behind; and just as they came up, out drove the old man veryslowly, and the two ropes at the tail of the cart dragged forth a longshrimping-net, in which, for the first time, Fred saw hundreds uponhundreds of the curious-looking crustaceans crawling about, black andugly, and in company with numbers of little silvery fish, which the oldman threw out, whereupon they shuffled their little bodies down out ofsight in the wet sand. Fred was about to rake them out again, but aword of warning restrained him, for they were the little sticklebacks ofthe sea, only their prickles made wounds of a poisonous nature that werea long time getting well. 

Mr Inglis bought a basketful of the shrimps, although Fred said theywere black ones and not good; but he changed his mind when they came upfor tea, hot and red, and steaming from cook's saucepan. 

Then the old man drove in again to his shrimping, and our party stoppedto examine the jelly-fish, like glass paper-weights, which were leftupon the sand, while Mr Inglis pointed out two or three which had beenleft by the morning tide, and were now dried up to a thin, filmy skin. There was plenty to see. On the cliffs there was samphire in abundance, which they could easily gather, without hanging half-way down likeShakespeare's samphire-gatherer. They picked a good bunch for cook topickle; and collected so many things of all sorts and kinds that Papa atlast cried, "Hold, enough!" for poor Tom would never be able to geteverything home. Pockets, baskets, handkerchiefs, even thing was full. There were perforated stones; shells of all kinds; sea-weeds; drystar-fish; pieces of jet; bright pebbles; smooth pearly pieces ofoyster-shell; tiny pebbles bright and glistening; in short, such acollection of treasures that Mr Inglis looked at his watch and declaredit was time to go, for they would have to travel slowly on account ofthe live specimens. One thing remained to do, and that was to fill thegreat stone bottle, brought on purpose, with water for the new aquarium. 

"Gluggle, gluggle--blob, blob, " went the big bottle as the air rushedout, displaced by the salt-water, till the great thing was full, securely corked, and deposited in the car. Tom's nose-bag was takenoff, his bit replaced, the boys mounted, for they were too tired to walkalong the sands, and they began their noiseless journey homewards, wherethey arrived just as the sun was beginning to sink behind the hills, andturning everything to burnished gold. 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 

LOST IN THE WOODS. 

"Whoo-oo-oo-oop!" sang out Philip Inglis. 

"Hoop--hoop--hoop!" shouted Fred as loud as he could. 

And then both stopped to listen, but not a sound could they hearanything like a reply. There was a regular deep humming from the gnatsand flies; the twittering of a few distant birds; but with theseexceptions all was solemn silence. 

The boys had been out in the woods ever since three o'clock, seeking foreggs for the cabinet, and had been very successful; but now the sun wassetting, and the last rays were turning the sky overhead into oneglorious golden canopy; the forest shades were getting deeper, and asFred said, he would not have cared only it was so dreadfully quiet, andHarry was lost; and what was worse than all was, they were lostthemselves; and this is how it fell out:

Mr Inglis had been talking about the collection of eggs they had in thelittle museum, and said he would go with the boys to Beechy Wood, to seeif they could get a few more specimens; for he particularly wanted twoor three eggs rather difficult to obtain, such as the great spottedwoodpecker's, hawfinch's, and coletit's. 

"Oh, do let's go to-day, Papa, " said Harry, clapping his hands. "Thatwill be capital. "

"Yes, yes, yes, " said Philip. 

"No; not to-day, " said the Squire; "I have several business matters toattend to in the town, so you had better play cricket in the field, andperhaps we may start to-morrow. "

Not the least disappointed of the trio was Fred, to whom the very nameof wood sounded romantic; he almost expected to find such a cave as AliBaba hit upon when out with his donkey, wood-cutting; or that the placethey went to would be the identical forest where the redbreasts coveredthe unfortunate babes over with leaves when they laid down and died. But it was of no use to be disappointed; they must wait till anotherday, and, therefore, they went into the field to play cricket tilldinner-time. 

Cricket is a capital game: it looks well to see light, active figureschasing the ball when the batsman has thrown all his power into the leghit, and sent the ball bounding and skimming far away beyond the fartherfielder; then backwards and forwards run the men at the wickets, whilethe onlookers cheer and shout at the bowler's prowess, as he stops thethrown-up ball, and hurls it at the wicket-keeper, who, with apparentlyone motion for catching and knocking off the bailes, puts the hardhitter out. 

Ah, it's a noble game, is cricket! it puts muscle on young bones, sharpness in young eyes, tone in constitution, and a readiness to meetdifficulties and to parry them. Health, that rosy-cheeked goddess, seems to have chosen the game for her own, and to love to place thereflection of her own cheeks upon those of the players, and to make themruddy brown as well. But, somehow or other, cricket grows to be ratherdull and tedious when the players are idle and will not work. Everything, if it is worth doing at all, is worth doing well: the heartmust be in it, and it must be done, as the sailors say, "with a will. "When you go to play cricket, it must not happen that you have your mindout in Beechy Wood seeking for woodpeckers' nests; or else it will besomething the same with you as it was with our lads on that bright Julyday, when things would keep going wrong. Harry would bowl too swiftly, and send the ball right past the wicket ever so far, for Philip to fetchback; and then, again, Philip would hit so savagely, and make Fred runso far after the rolling ball, which in its turn was obstinate, andwould keep creeping amongst the long grass, and getting lost; or amongstthe stinging-nettles, where Fred, who did not know their qualities, wasstung, and had to be rubbed with dock leaves, when they could find any, which, either from idleness or their unrule-like absence, was not forsome time. Then Harry sent the bailes flying with a vicious ball assoon as Fred went in for his innings, and so they were lost, and had tobe found; and soon after, while Harry was in, Fred threw the ball up sosharply, that Phil, in catching, missed it, and received a blow in thestomach that made him lie down and brought the tears into his eyes, asmuch from vexation as pain. Then the sun would shine so hotly, and theflies tease, and the nasty cows had been all over the place where theygenerally played; so at last the game of cricket came to a stand-stilltill dinner-time; when, having left their bats and stumps in the field, they went in to the mid-day meal. 

After dinner, they returned to the cricket-ground, but matters wereworse than ever: the flies seemed to be savage to think that the boyshad been having a hearty meal while they had been fasting, so they setto work to see if they could not take it out of them, and began byattacking Fred, then Harry, then Philip; till at last, what with theheat, the idle feeling, and the teasing of the flies, the boys gave upplaying in despair, and stood lounging under the great cedar, cross, tired, and ill-tempered. 

"I should like to go to bed, " said Fred. 

"There's an idle-back, " said Harry; "I shouldn't I should like to takemy clothes off, and lie down under a fountain, and let all the nice coolwater trickle and splash all over me. Poof! ain't it hot?"

"I know what I should like to do, " said Philip; "I should like to sitright up there on the top of the cedar, and rock--rock, rock--rock, backwards and forwards--looking up at the blue sky, and thinking I was asoft, downy bird. "

"Ho! ho! ho!" said Harry. "He'd look like an old cock jackdaw when he'smoulting. Ha! ha! ha! what an old stupid!"

"I don't care, " said Philip; "I know it would be nice; wouldn't it, Fred?"

"Well, but you couldn't sit there; the boughs would break, and you'dcome down, " said Fred. "But what makes all that thick bunch of hay andrags up there? Why, it's a nest, isn't it?"

"So it is, " said Harry; "why, I never saw that before. Let's get up andget it. There's sure to be eggs. "

"I shan't, " said Phil; "it's too hot. "

"What a lazy old chap you are, Phil, " said his brother. "It's atree-sparrow's nest, and we haven't got a single egg. I mean to go. "

Saying which Master Harry stripped off his blouse, threw down his cap, and commenced operations. 

"Don't go, you'll fall, " said Fred; "it's ever so high up, and theboughs won't bear you. "

"Pooh!" said Harry, "I can do it;" and running along under the greatbranches that stretched away, drooping towards the ground, he gave aspring, and caught a bough, turned up his heels, and so made his way, hanging head downwards, to the trunk after the same fashion as he did onthe day of the fishing excursion. On reaching the trunk, he scaled upfrom bough to bough, almost as actively as a monkey, till at last hereached the branch which bore the nest, where he stooped puzzled, forMrs and Mr Passer must have had an eye to safety when they constructedtheir nest; for unless Master Harry had possessed the activity andlightness of body of the old cock jackdaw he was so lately talkingabout, there was no chance of his getting any of the tree-sparrow's eggsfor his collection. 

"Well, why don't you throw the nest down?" said Philip, jeeringly. 

"'Cos I can't, " said Harry. "Why don't you come and sit up here, andlook at the blue sky, and then perhaps you could? I'm not going on athin branch that wouldn't bear a cat. "

Whereupon down came Master Harry, all over green, and with the cedarspines sticking through his shirt, in his hair, and down his back, andmaking him shift and shuffle about in a most uncomfortable manner. 

"I say, " said Harry, "let's go off to the wood. "

"Papa wouldn't like it, " said Philip; "and besides, we are goingto-morrow. "

"Oh! ah! and then perhaps it will rain. Do let's go; we could get theeggs, and Papa would be so pleased. "

"I don't think he would, " said Fred. "My Papa would not if I went whenhe told me not. "

"But he didn't tell us not, " said Harry; "and I know he would like theeggs. I'll go. "

"That's right, " said Philip, "but I'll go and tell Mamma we are going. "

"No, don't, " said Harry; "let's tell her when we come back, because shemight say you had better not go. "

"I shan't go, " said Fred, stoutly. 

"There's a sneak, " said Harry. "Why, we could show you all sorts ofthings. There's the fox's cave; and the waterfall; and the old hollowtree that holds ten people; and the magpies' nests; and owls, andwood-pigeons, and turtle-doves. "

"And snakes, " said Philip. 

"Yes, " said Harry; "and snakes and adders, and the dark tarn where thegreat eels are. But never mind, you can stop; can't he, Phil? we don'twant him. We'll take Dick, and get some rats as we go along. I say, Fred, you can stay in Dick's kennel, and we'll put the collar round yourneck. "

Now Fred wanted to do what was right, and would not blind himself intothe belief that "Papa would be so pleased with the eggs;" for he knewhis uncle would not like them to go off in the way proposed; but he wasnot prepared to withstand the temptations held out to him, for they wereenough to turn the head of any town lad. To go to a wood was almostenough, but one with such wonders in was too much--nests and birds ofsuch rarity. Fox cavern, waterfall, and a dark tarn, besides catchingrats with the dog; he could not stand all that. And then when thesarcastic remarks of his cousin were put into the scale he wascompletely done for, and, turning quite reckless of the consequences, helet the scale containing duty fly up into the air, and jumped into theother with his cousins, and away they ran to loosen Dick. But this waseasier said than done, for Dick could see at a glance that there wasmischief afoot, and nearly ran mad with delight: he barked, he leaped, he tore at his chain, he tugged so that Harry could not unbuckle hiscollar; and when at last it was dragged over his head, turning his earsinside out, and making his rough hair stand up in a bigger Brutus thanever, and nearly making him blind, he raced round the yard with hismouth wide open; dashed at the old raven, and knocked him over before hecould hop upon the wall, where he got at last, and shook the dust offhis feathers with an angry "jark;" while Dick, withy staring eyes andhis tongue hanging out, ran right between Philip's legs, made a feint atFred, and then leaped right on Harry, who caught hold of his shortstumpy tail as he went down and dragged him towards the gate. 

"Whoop, " and away; over the field right to the far corner, where thecattle drank from the little horse-pond, which was black withpodnoddles, wagging and waving their little tails in their hurry to getinto deep water. "Whoop, " and away along the lane; all idleness andfatigue forgotten, and every nerve strained to reach the wished-forspot, which was only about two miles from the field where the ladsplayed at cricket. 

"Last man there to have two kicks, " said Harry, just as he was well infront, and starting off at full speed, but passed in a moment by Dick, who raced away, making believe to discover a treasure every two minutes;and sniffing and barking at every rat or rabbit hole they passed. Offand away--Harry in front with Dick, Philip next, and Fred panting in therear, hot and out of breath with his run, and asking his companions tostop. 

"Whup! whup! whup! yaff! yaff!" said Dick, as they came up to a fieldcontaining a flock of sheep, heavy with their long wool; and over thehedge he went headlong amongst them, making the poor timid, stupidcreatures run as fast as their legs would carry them, with their heavyfleeces touzling and shaking about till each sheep looked like amagnified thrum mop being shaken to get rid of the water. A fine gamedid Dick have of it, for as soon as ever he stopped and gave a farewellbark--as much as to say, "There, I've done"--and began to retrace hissteps, the sheep would come to a stand-still, stare after him as thoughhe were some unknown monster, never before seen or heard of, and thenbegin to follow him up, slowly at first, but afterwards at a canter. Now, of course Dick couldn't stand this running away, and all the sheepapparently in chase of him; so he was obliged to turn round and keepmaking charges at the flock; and, consequently, poor Dick, in thus beingso particular about his honour, would never have got out of the field, for every time he chased the sheep away they followed him up again; andit was all the fault of one great, black-faced, chuckle-headed wether, who was so stupid that he couldn't keep quiet, and of course all thesheep kept following him, for he had a tinkling copper bell attached tohis neck, which seemed to be an especial abhorrence to Dick, from theway he barked at it. But at last the dog heard a summons that he couldnot disobey, namely, a long whistle from his young masters; so makingone last furious charge at the old bell wether, and actually scatteringthe forces as he got hold of him by the wool. Dick rushed after hismasters, and caught them at last with a lot of wool in his mouth, whichwas entangled in his teeth, and made him cough and sputter dreadfully. 

At last they reached the edge of the wood, into which Dick dashed with aleap and a bound, running his nose down amongst the dead leaves, andsmelling an enemy in every bush, and at last giving chase to a squirrelwhich ran across the open to a great beech-tree, up which it scampereduntil it reached the forked boughs, where it sat with its tail curledup, looking tormentingly down upon his pursuer Dick, who rushed headlongat the tree, scrambled up a couple of feet, and then came down flop uponhis back, without the squirrel of course; but he made up for it byrunning round and round the trunk, barking, baying, and snapping inimpotent rage, while little nut-nibbler gave a sort of "skirr, " and thenran up the tree, leaped to the next, and the next, and disappeared inhis hole far up the trunk of a great elm. Harry now took the lead downthe narrow path that led into the wood, parting the tangled branchesevery now and then to get through, and all the time looking carefullyround for nests. They very soon heard the harsh cry of the jay, who wasletting all the inhabitants of the woodlands know that enemies were athand, and away flew the birds. The blackbird was the first to take thealarm from the jay, and away he flew, crying, "Kink, kink, kink, " as hestarted from his nest in a great ivy tod on an old pollard-tree. Thelads soon found the nest, and peeped in, but instead of eggs there werefour wretched-looking little objects, all eyes and beak, with long, scraggy necks, wide throats, and naked bodies with little downy tuftsupon them. All three had a peep, while Dick snapped his teeth togetheras though to say he would like to make a meal of one or all of them; butthe callow brood was left unmolested for their yellow-billed parents totake care of, while Harry led the way to the fox's cave. This, however, proved rather a disappointment to Fred, who had been picturing tohimself a huge stalactite cavern, which they would require torches toexplore, while the cave in question proved to be only a hole in the sideof a gravelly ravine, big enough to creep in, certainly, but anythingbut majestic in appearance; while the probabilities were that a fox hadnever been in it since it was a hole. However, it was called the fox'scave, and that was enough. 

The waterfall was certainly better worthy of attention, for a tinystream trickled over a huge mossy rock, and fell with a musical plashinto a little rocky basin full of clear water; and all around it in thedamp soil grew mosses and ferns of luxuriant size. It was just such aspot as the old poets used to write about--cool, and shaded from theheat and glare of the sun; but, instead of there being wood-nymphs andsatyrs in the little dell, there was nothing but the three youngvisitors, and plenty of toads and frogs which crawled and hopped away asfast as ever they could. 

"Oh, what a pretty place!" said Fred; "do let's stop here. Look, look, "he exclaimed, "what's that?" as, like a streak of blue light, a birdwith rapid flight came down the dell, perched upon a bare twig just longenough for the boys to see his bright colours, and then, seeing himselfwatched, darted away again. 

"That's a kingfisher, " said Philip. "He's got a nest here, somewhere, Iknow. Let's look, for we must have some of the eggs, if we can. Perhaps the hen-bird is sitting somewhere close by. "

The boys then set to work searching the bushes of the little rivuletthat flowed from the basin, and no doubt their search would have been invain, but for the timid hen-bird, who flew out from the hole where, sureenough, she was sitting, and betrayed the place in which her nest hadbeen made. 

It was a hole in the overhanging bank, and Harry had little difficultyin thrusting his hand in and drawing out three eggs, which he carefullydeposited in his pocket. 

They then followed the course of the rivulet for about a quarter of amile to where it emptied itself into the tarn or little lake of whichHarry had spoken. It was indeed a dark tarn, with water looking almostblack from its depth, which was said to be enormous, and here somegigantic eels were supposed to dwell, though nobody had ever caught, nobody had ever seen, and nobody ever heard of any being either seen orcaught; but still eels of a mighty size were said to be in the tarn, andthe reason for their not being caught was supposed to be the depth. Asthey came up to the lake, Dick ran on first and dashed into the reeds atthe side, splashing and paddling about, and here and there taking toswimming. Just as he entered one great tuft of green reeds, rushes, andwithes, there was an extra amount of splashing, and away flew, or ratherran along the surface of the water, a moorhen, with her thin attenuatedtoes just paddling the surface. 

"Hooray, " said Harry, calling Dick off, "here's a nest; moorhen's eggs, boys, moorhen's eggs!" and off he started to reach the nest; but hereMaster Harry was as badly off as when in the cedar-tree at home, for themoorhen had evidently intended to keep human visitors away, and Harryfound that the coveted eggs, if any, were certainly not upon _terrafirma_. Every step the lad took showed more plainly how treacherous wasthe surface round the tarn; for it was entirely composed of bog-moss--that pretty moss that turns of a creamy white, tinged with pink orsalmon colour, when dried--and soon Master Harry could only progress bystepping daintily upon the little bunches of heath that grew amidst it, or upon the occasional tufts of last year's dead reeds and rushes. But, light as the boy was, he soon found this mode of progression would notdo, for, making a bound on to what looked a particularly dry spot, in hewent up to his knees in the soft bog, and it was only with greatdifficulty that he scrambled out again to where his brother and Fredstood laughing and cheering him. 

"I don't care, " said Harry, shaking himself like a dog; "I don't mindbeing wet, and, now I am wet, I mean to have the eggs. "

"No, don't, " said Fred, "you'll sink in. "

"No, I shan't, " said Harry; "I mean to make a corduroy-road, like theydo over the swamps in America, that we read about. "

"Ah, that will be capital, " said Philip; "come on. "

And so the lads set to work, and in amongst the trees close by they soonfound a large dead branch, and laid it down across the first soft place, and they very soon would have had a firm pathway to the moorhen's nest, but for the simple reason that they were not provided with woodcutter'saxes, ropes, etc; the consequence was, that they could find no more woodfit for the purpose, and Harry's corduroy-road was composed only of onecord. 

"Oh, " said Philip, "don't I wish we had a lot of the faggots out of thestack-yard. "

"Let's fetch some, " said Fred, which would have been a capital plan, only the faggots would have been rather awkward things to carry throughthe thick underwood; and, besides, they could only have carried oneeach, and home was now about four miles off, while they would havewanted at least twenty. 

"What a jolly bother!" said Philip. "Why don't you go round the otherside, Harry, and swim?"

"You go, " said Harry: "I'd go, if it wasn't for the eels, and the waterbeing so deep; I wouldn't mind, if it was only eight or nine feet, butthey say it's hundreds of feet to the bottom. "

But Philip did not feel disposed to go, and Fred could not swim, so, totheir great disappointment, they were obliged to leave the moorhen'snest, --with at least a dozen eggs in, so Harry said; but, as he had beenvery little nearer to the receptacle than his brother and cousin, thisstatement was rather of a doubtful nature; still, as the others had notbeen so near, they did not feel themselves justified in contradicting, neither did they wish to, so the party reluctantly left the much-covetedtreasure, the two wet members of the party--namely, Dick and Harry--leading the way further into the wood. 

And now there were so many objects to take attention, that the professedpurpose of the trip was quite forgotten, till Harry by chance spied awoodpecker just entering a hole in a hollow tree, and then called hiscompanions' attention to the fact. To scale the tree was the work of avery few minutes, and, to Harry's intense delight, he found the holesufficiently large to admit his hand and arm, and this time he wassuccessful, for he drew forth with great care, one at a time, threewoodpecker's eggs, which he placed its his cap, and then descended. 

So far the trip had been most successful, for they had obtained the eggsgenerally reckoned as scarce in most parts of the country, from thesecluded habits of the birds; and now the lads turned their attention tofind the nest of a turtle-dove. The part of the wood they were in wasvery thick and full of underwood, a large proportion of which consistedof hazel stubs so dense that, almost before they were aware of it, Fredand Philip were separated from Harry and Dick; and when they did missthem, and called out, a faint and distant "Halloo!" was the response. 

"Never mind, " said Philip, "I'm tired. Let's sit down here and let himcome to us. "

Saying which he took his seat upon the mossy trunk of an old fallentree, an example which Fred was not long in following; and there theywaited, enjoying the delicious sensation of rest felt in a shady spotafter a long, toilsome walk, and thinking very little about poor Harry. 

"What a while Harry is, " said Fred at last; "isn't he coming?"

"Oh, yes; he'll be here presently, " said Philip; "he'll be sure to findus. "

After a few minutes' pause, "What's that?" said Fred, pointing to somerustling and moving leaves close by the opening where they sat. 

"Hush, " said Philip; "don't move; it's a stoat or a weasel. You'll seehim directly;" and in a moment after a long thin body came creeping outfrom the herbage. But it was neither weasel nor stoat, but a very largesnake, which came right across the open space they were in--making Fredturn quite pale, for his imagination immediately whispered to him ofpoison fangs, rattlesnakes, cobras, and all sorts of venomous brutes. But the snake had no idea of touching the intruders on the silence ofthe forest, but made directly for a spot upon the other side of theopening, which he would soon have reached if it had depended upon Fred;but Philip possessed the animosity of his race against the serpenttribe, so caught up a rough branch that he had previously broken from atree and slightly trimmed with his knife, and rushed after theretreating snake. 

The poor thing struggled hard for its life and liberty, but in spite ofits struggles and menacing attitude, Philip struck at it boldly with hisstick and soon rendered his adversary _hors de combat_, when the victordragged his prize to his companion, and displayed to his wondering gazea snake upwards of a yard long, and very thick. Philip then secured histrophy by slipping a noose of whipcord over its head, and tying it tohis stick. 

At last, time slipped by and no Harry made his appearance, while plentyof indications showed that evening was fast closing in: moths began toflutter about the different leaves; every now and then, too, came thelow evening drowsy hum of the cockchafer, while Fred gave a regular jumpwhen a gigantic stag-beetle stuck him right in the cheek and then fellcrawling about in his lap. 

"Ouf!" said Fred, "take the beast off. Is it poisonous?"

Philip laughed heartily at his cousin, as he assured him to thecontrary; but the beetle saved him the trouble of brushing his hornybody away by making a fresh flight, and disappearing over the trees. 

"Come on, " said Philip, "let's go. "

"But how about Harry?" said Fred. 

"Oh, we'll go and find him, " and so the lads pushed right ahead as theythought, and in the direction in which Harry's voice was last heard; butthey soon grew bewildered, and at last stood gazing disconsolately atone another, and then, as is stated at the beginning of this chapter, "Whoo-oo-oo-oop!" sang out Philip. 

"Hoop--hoop--hoop!" shouted Fred as loudly as he could, and then, feeling the loneliness oppress him more than he could bear, he sat downon a stump, and seemed half disposed to cry. 

"Oh, I say, " said Philip, who was nearly as bad, "don't look like that, or we shall never get out of the wood. Don't you know what a many timesRobert Bruce tried before he got his kingdom? Let's try again; the woodis not so very big, and we must come out somewhere. "

"Do you think we ever shall get out again?" said Fred. 

"Oh, of course we shall, " said Philip, "and there ain't no wild beastsor anything of that kind, so come on and let's start. "

And start they did--creeping through some bushes, pushing others aside, but somehow or another getting flogged by the returning twigs, andscratched by the brambles in a way they had not suffered in the morning. Once Fred tripped over a stump and fell heavily down, where he laycrying silently, but without trying to get up again; and it was only byPhilip dragging at him that he could be got upon his legs. Duskier grewthe wood, till under the big trees it was quite dark; but Philip pressedmanfully on, though he felt completely bewildered; still his good sensetold him that they must eventually find an outlet. 

On and on they went, slowly and toilsomely, and still nothing but treesand bushes, looking gloomy and shadowy--very different to the appearancepresented in the afternoon when the sun shone upon them, sending acheckery shade amongst the waving grass; and at last Philip felt hisheart sink within him at the hopelessness of his task. All at once ahappy thought struck the boy as they stood in a more open space, wherethey could see the stars shining down brightly upon them. 

"I say, Fred, " he said, "hasn't your papa ever told you about how thepeople used to guide their ships by the stars. "

"No, " said Fred moodily, "but I have heard they used to. "

"Well" said Philip, "let's see if we can't get out that way. I think wecan. I know which is the North-pole star, because Papa showed them allto us; and there it is, " said the boy, joyfully, "That's the north, andright hand will be west, and left hand east; no, it won't, it will beright hand east, and left hand west. That's right, isn't it?"

"Yes, I dare say it is, " said Fred, dolefully. 

"Well, when we are at home the wood lies in the west, because the sunsets behind it in the evening, so we must travel to the east, and thenwe shall be going towards home; and we have been going south, because Iwas looking that way, and had to turn round to find the Pole Star. Comeon, Fred, we'll soon be home now. "

"Oh, dear, " said Fred, "let's lie down and go to sleep; I've got such ablister on my toe. "

"No, come on, " said the other, "for poor Mamma will be so frightened. "

"Oh, and won't Uncle be cross?" said Fred. 

This last remark almost frightened Philip out of his hurry to get home, for he directly felt disposed to put off the evil--the scolding that heexpected to receive; but the knowledge that it would be making badworse, if he loitered now, made him summon up the determination toproceed; and it required no little determination, for, since they hadbeen star-gazing, their joints had grown stiff; aches and pains had comeupon them; and they both would have given anything to have gone to sleepwhere they were. 

"Oh, do come on, " said Philip at last, roughly shaking Fred. "It ain'tfar now; for I remember that the wood is very long, but not very broadfrom east to west, so if we keep walking east we shall soon get out. "

So onward they pressed again, very slowly and laboriously, for aboutanother half-hour, and then Philip stumbled and fell, for a spitefulbramble had caught him by the foot, and the poor boy could hold up nolonger; he had cheered his cousin on in every way he could, and takenthe lead throughout, though his heart was sinking, and he knew thetrouble all proceeded from their own folly; but though he kept down hisfaint-heartedness and tried manfully to put a bold face on the matter, he was beaten, thoroughly beaten, at last, and lay upon the dewy grass, completely jaded, and without energy or spirit to make another attempt, while Fred, seeing his cousin's heart fail, broke down as well. 

But all at once Philip's eyes brightened, and he started up as thoughtouched by the wire of an electrical machine. 

"Bow-wow-wow; wuph, wuph, wuph!" sounded upon the clear night air. 

"Trill--lill--lill--lill--chug--chug--chug--chug--chug!" rang out thesweet notes of a nightingale close by; and then again--

"Bow-wow-wow; wuph, wuph, wuph!" from a dog apparently not far off. 

"Come on, " said Philip again, with fresh energy; and casting one glanceup at the stars, he pushed forward due east for about a dozen yards withFred close behind him, and then, forcing his way through a dense hazelstub, he made a step forward, slipped, and went down crash into a deepditch. But he did not stop in despair this time, although scratched andbruised, for he was out of the wood, and leaping up he stood upon thegreen turf by the side of the white chalky road. 

"Jump, Fred, " he exclaimed, "right over the ditch. "

Fred jumped; but instead of jumping right over he jumped right in, andhad to be helped out by Philip; but he shared in his companion's renewedspirit, and now stood with him in the dusty road looking about. 

"Bow-wow-wow; wuph, wuph!" barked the dog again. 

"Why, I know where we are, " said Philip; "that's Mr Benson's farm, andwe are six miles away from home. Never mind; let's go and tell MrsBenson, I know she will let us rest a little while. "

Fred was willing enough, and in a minute or two they stood under theporch of the old farm-house, with the dewy roses bending over them asthey rapped at the door; while all the time the dog in the yard rattledhis chain, and made a terrible disturbance. 

"If you please, Mrs Benson, " said Philip, as the door opened and acomely, motherly young face appeared; "if you please, Mrs Benson, welost our way in the wood--and--and--and--and oh, dear! oh, dear; whatshall I do!" sobbed poor Philip, now out of his peril but thoroughlybeaten, "what shall I do?" and then he sobbed and cried as though hisheart would break, Fred helping him him to the best of his ability. 

"Why, thee poor dear bairns!" said Mrs Benson; "come in, and sit theedown. --Why, one of 'em's Squire Inglis's Philip, John, " she continued toher husband, "and here they be ammost bet out. "

Mrs Benson could talk, but she could act as well, and she soon had thetwo lads upon the snug "keeping-room" sofa. 

"Bless thou, my poor bairns!" she exclaimed; and then in a breath to herhusband. "Thou'dst better send Tom over to the Grange, and tell themwhere the poor things are, or they'll be frightened to death; and lethim tell Mrs Inglis well drive them over as we go to market in themorning. "

So off packed Mr Benson to send the messenger, while his wife bustledthe great red-armed maid about; and then with warm water and towelsbathed the boys' faces and hands, and brushed their hairs, as though shehad done it every day since they were babies; while during all this timethe red-armed maid had spread a cloth on one end of the table andtea-things on the other, while Farmer Benson, who had been taking hisevening pipe and hot gin and water when the boys knocked at the door, now insisted upon their each taking a sip or two out of his glass. Directly after there was a steaming hot cup of tea before each visitor, with plenty of rich yellow cream in it, while Mrs Benson cut from asweet-scented light-brown-crusted home-baked loaf slices which were asthough made of honeycomb, and which she gilded over with the brightgolden butter from her own snowy churn. Mr Benson; too, he could notbe idle, so he cut two great wedges out of a raised pork pie, and placedin the boys' plates--pie that looked all of a rich marble jelly, veinedwith snow-white fat, and so tempting after some hours' ramble in thewoods. 

"I ham glad thou came, bairns, " said Mrs Benson, kissing her visitorsin the most motherly way imaginable. 

"Ay, lads, and so am I; but there, doan't take on. Yeat, lads, yeat, and then ye'll soon be all right again. "

And the boys choked down their sobs, and did "yeat" in a way that madetheir worthy host and hostess smile with pleasure, as well as to see thefaces that a few minutes before looked so worn, pale, and wretched, brightening up under the treatment their complaint was receiving. 

All at once Philip came to a stand-still, and said, "I wonder whereHarry is?"

"What! was he out with thee?" said the farmer and his wife. 

"Yes, " said Philip, "and he had got Dick with him. "

"Ah!" said the farmer, "I don't know Dick. Who's he?"

"Why, our rough dog, " said Philip; "the ratter. "

"Oh, ah, ha!" said the farmer; "so he had Dick with him, had he?"

"Yes, " said Philip, mournfully, and with another great sob creeping uphis throat. 

"Theer, theer, " said Mr Benson, "doan't do that, bairn. He's safeenough if he's got that dog wi' him; he'd be sewer to find the way outo' the wood. "

This seemed to act as a kind of comfort to Philip, who resumed his meal, but only to find out a new trouble directly after. "Where's my snake?"he exclaimed, jumping up, and looking at the end of the rough stick hehad brought in with him. But nobody knew, so nobody replied to hisquestion; the snake was gone, for it had not been even remembered allthrough the time of their bewilderment, and now that it was brought tomind there was not even a trace of the whipcord. 

"Now, my dears, " said Mrs Benson, seeing that the lads had finishedtheir meal, --"now, my dears, I have had clean sheets put on the bestbed, so, if I was you, I should go and have a good rest. "

But Mrs Benson's motherly ideas were put to the rout by the sound ofwheels and directly after a horse was pulled up at the gate. Some onerapped at the door, and, upon its being opened, in rushed Dick, closelyfollowed by Mr Inglis, Harry, and Mr Benson's lad, Tom, who had notgone far upon the road before he met the above party in search of thelost ones. They had been making inquiries all down the road at everycottage they passed, and it was during one of these stoppages that Tomrecognised Mr Inglis's voice, and brought him on to the farm. 

The first act of Dick on entering the room was to leap upon Philip andFred, and bark as loudly as he could--scampering round the place, and atlast misbehaving so much that he had to be turned out, to stay outsidethe door, howling, till his master was ready to start again. 

Harry, who looked a perfect scarecrow, grinned with delight upon seeinghis lost companions found, while Mr Inglis warmly thanked the farmerand his wife for their hospitality, and then, refraining from utteringany words of blame, hurried the lads into the four-wheeled chaise, so asto hasten home to quiet the alarm of Mrs Inglis, who was, of course, ina state of great anxiety. 

"Good-byes" were said, and promises made to go and see Mrs Bensonagain, and then off trotted the horse, and round spun the wheels; whileDick every now and then gave a short bark, evidently of pleasure atbeing allowed to ride. As for Philip and Fred, they were both soon fastasleep, with their heads nodding and rolling about enough to shake themoff. 

At last the Grange was reached, Mrs Inglis's fears set at rest, and, half-asleep, all three boys were soon up in their bedrooms, and the nextmorning, when the eight o'clock bell rang, more soundly asleep thanever, so that they had to be shaken and shouted at to make them get up, which they did at last, yawning fearfully, and feeling so stiff, sore, and aching, that they could scarcely move. 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

A SHORT SCOLDING. 

Soon after breakfast on the morning after the wander in Beechy Wood, MrInglis sent for his sons and Fred to come to the library, into whichroom they all walked, after having almost a scuffle outside the door todecide who should be the first to enter, the scuffle resulting in Fredbeing made the advance-guard, and pushed in before his cousins; Harry, being the most active, securing to himself the last place. The boyswere in a dreadful fidget: they had done wrong, and they knew it well, and therefore felt prepared to receive a terrible scolding; but theanticipation proved worse than the punishment itself, for Mr Inglislooked up smiling when they entered, and seeing Harry's scheming to getlast, called him at once to the front, and said--

"Now, boys, you see that if you had behaved rightly yesterday all thattrouble and inconvenience would have been spared to us all. I cannotsay that you acted in direct disobedience to what you were told, for youhad no commands; but you all well knew that you had no right to go toBeechy Wood, which is of course proved by your hiding your intentionsfrom Mamma. But, there, I am not going to scold, for you have all beenwell punished; but, my boys, I want you to promise me one thing, andthat is, that full confidence shall always exist between us. I want myboys to grow up men of honour--Englishmen whose word and every actioncan be looked upon as the very essence of truth and openness. I wantyou to love, and not to fear me; and, there now, that's all over, wemust not make Fred miserable, so we will dine early, and start thisafternoon for a couple of hours' fishing; so bustle about, boys, and getall the baits and tackle ready. "

But they could not bustle just then, for--

But, there, I won't say anything about it, for the library door wasshut, and of course I could only be supposed to know what took placefrom seeing some eyes looking rather red, and hearing noses blown ratherloudly, besides knowing that all three boys wanted dry pockethandkerchiefs, when at last they did come out of the library, Mr Inglisshaking hands with them as he closed the door. 

As they stood upon the mat outside, "I say, " said Harry, with a greatgulp something like a sob, "I say, ain't he a jolly father?"

CHAPTER NINE. 

WHICH IS RATHER FISHY. 

That very same afternoon, Dusty Bob was in the mill, looking dustierthan ever, and trying, as he sat upon a sack of corn that had come to beground, to spell out the contents of the county paper; but he did notget on very fast, for the white or papery part had, through ill-usage, turned very black, and the black or printed part, by means of the fineflour dust, turned very white. Joining to this the fact that Bob was, as he expressed it, "no skollard, " it may easily be judged that he didnot arrive at very correct ideas respecting the news of the day, orrather of the day a month ago; for Dusty Bob did not indulge in theluxury of new news, but bought it fifth, sixth, or seventh hand, notdisdaining sometimes the piece which had come from the grocer's shopwrapping up the pound of salt. The mill was not quite so noisy thisafternoon as upon the last occasion when we were all here together, forthe flood had gone down, and there was no rush and hurried turmoil fromthe portion of the river passing down by the waste-water, while the millwheels turned slowly and steadily round as a sheet of crystal clearnessflowed upon them from the great dam. 

"Ah, aw, yaw--yaw, aw, " said Bob, bursting out into such a yawn that hisnot very handsome face looked as if it had been cut in two. "Aw, yaw, aw, aw, heigho--ha, ha--hum. "

"Knock, knock; rap, rap, rap. "

"Hah! more corn; more corn; more corn. Tain't no use to bring't, a bit;for we have more noo than we've got watter for; and then yow'll comegrummle, grummle, grummle, because 'tisn't doone; sow yow'd betthertak't somewheres else. "

"Knock, knock; rap, rap, rap, " came the summons at the gate again; andthis time, instead of muttering and "grumbling" to himself, Dusty Bobgot up and went to see who was there. 

"Sarvant, sir, " said Bob, as he saw who it was, and then burst out intoa grin; for behind Squire Inglis stood his visitors of a few daysbefore, and Bob was luxuriating in the recollection of how he hadrestored the lost basket of fish. 

"Well, Bob, " said Mr Inglis, entering the mill, followed by the threeboys, each armed with a fishing-rod and basket, big enough apparently tohold a great many more fish than they would catch that afternoon; "Well, Bob, " said Mr Inglis, "how are you off for fish?"

"Heaps on 'em, sir, down below in the pool; but I'm 'feard they weantfeed, for it's rather a bad time. Thou'd best fish off the right bankjust over the stream from number one wheel. There be plenty o' fishing, for this mornin', only, when the mill was stopped for half-an-hour, thegreat fat chub lay a-top of the water as long as your arm ammost; butI'm most 'feard that the roach weant look at a bait. "

Bob then led the way through the mill, and the fishing-party soon stoodon the long, narrow, tree-o'ershadowed strip of land that separated themill tail from the waste-water; and here, where the stream ran swiftlyand deeply, did the party prepare to secure some of the finny treasures. 

Rods were quickly put together; lines securely fixed; and best new guthooks added. Then the depth was plumbed; the floats adjusted andshotted to the correct "cock;" and then hooks baited, and ground-bait ofbran and clay and rice thrown upon the mill apron, to dissolve slowlyand spread all over the pool. Lastly, lines are thrown in, and silenceproclaimed, so that the first nibbles might be duly attended to. 

In every place where there are fish one is sure to hear of a mighty jackthat lies out in some particular part, and is occasionally seen in theearly morning, or basking in the mid-day sun, looking almost as big as aman, --in fact, so big that nobody could catch him, one that ever so manyfishermen had had hold of, but which always broke away and escaped; andsomehow or other, although this mighty fellow must have swallowed andgot stuck in his mouth and gills enough hooks, and trailing away fromhim enough line, to stock a small shop, yet, leave alone being caught, he never even dies, and floats wrong way up on the top of the water. Well, this was the case here: Bob had seen a pike so big that no mortalrod and line could ever bear it; he could tell of somewhere about ten ora dozen fishermen who had once had hold of him, so that Mr Jack musthave thought no more of the sharpest barbed hooks than he would of somany quill toothpicks. 

"Lord, sir, " said Bob, "whoy doan't thee trowl for the big jack? I seehim this morning ligging a-top of the waiter like a big log o' wood. "

"Indeed, Bob; well, I'll try for a few chub first, and then, ifunsuccessful, see what I can do in the pike way. "

So Mr Inglis fished very patiently and quietly for some time, and triedtwo or three different kinds of bait to tempt the chubby fellows; butthey would not be tempted, until at last a small gudgeon was placed onthe hook, one which Fred had caught, being the first fish taken thatafternoon, for Bob had turned out a very respectable prophet, and theboys were having very poor sport indeed. 

And now Mr Inglis tried in all the most likely spots for a chub withhis live-bait, and at last one took it, was struck, and then darted awayswift as an arrow from a bow--right, left, straight ahead, through thesmooth water, and off again where the stream ran swiftest; but it was ofno avail; the line that he had run out was wound up, and the fine fellowdrawn inshore so closely that Harry could put the landing-net under him, and then, with a tremendous burst of impotent flapping and splashing, agreat chub about two pounds and a half weight was laid upon the grass, with his broad scales glistening in the sun. 

"That's a napper, " said Bob. 

"Oh--oh--oh--oh!" burst in chorus from the boys--a shout of pleasurenearly turned into a groan, for Philip, in lifting the fish to put himin the basket, felt it give a great spring, which so startled him thathe dropped it, so there it lay close to the edge of the wood embankment, and a single flap of his tail would have borne him away; but time enoughwas not allowed, for Harry pounced upon him like a cat after a mouse, and, in spite of his slimy jacket, he was soon safely shut down in oneof the baskets. 

The boys kept on with indifferent success--only securing a few smallroach and gudgeon; and Mr Inglis, too, seemed as though he would haveno further good fortune, for the chub appeared to have turned sulkybecause their big companion was taken away, and would not even smell thegudgeon. At last, however, Mr Inglis made a cast, and the littlebait-fish fell lightly just beneath a bush close under the bank; whenthere was a rush through the water, and a swirling that took everybody'sattention, and then, as Mr Inglis swiftly drew out the line from offhis reel, away it glided through the rings of the rod, yard after yard--yard after yard--swifter and swifter--as though the fish that had takenthe gudgeon meant to run the line all out; and sure enough it did thewhole fifty yards; and Mr Inglis was reaching out his rod as far as hecould stretch his hand, so as to avoid checking the fish, if possible, and so losing it, when the line suddenly grew slack. There all eyeswere strained towards the spot where the large tell-tale cork-floatslowly rose to the surface, and its white top could be seen stationaryright on the far side of the mill-pool. What little slack line therewas, Mr Inglis now wound in, and telling Harry to be ready with thelanding-net, he waited patiently for a few minutes to give the fish timeto gorge his prey, though, from the way in which the float had run tothe surface, he was afraid that the fish had left his bait. At last, Mr Inglis gathered the line up in his hand, and gave a sharp twist ofhis wrist, and all eyes were bent upon the spot to witness the struggle;but alas! there was no resistance. The great float glided easily overthe water, and then Mr Inglis began to wind in, for it was evident thatthe pike had merely taken the bait because he could not bear to see itpass him--not because he was hungry--and then, after playing with it, let it go again. 

"Never mind, boys, " said the Squire, "better success next time. "

The words, however, were hardly out of his mouth, when there was atremendous swirl and rush again in the water; and away with a bob--bob--bob--went the float, then under water, and out of sight once more. 

There was another pause of five minutes, and then again Mr Inglis drewin what slack line there was very carefully, waited another minute, when, the float again rose to the surface, but only to move off inanother direction, for it was evident that the pike had this time welltaken the bait. 

And now followed moments of interest, as the Squire struck the fish, andthen gave him line, for with one flick of his great tail he went acrossthe pool in a fresh direction, luckily making a great deal of slack lineas he did so. The battle now began in real earnest, for every time thepike felt the line tightened away he darted, first in one direction, andthen in another, while once he came close in to where his tormentor wasstanding, so that a great deal of the running line was wound in; but, the moment after, he started off with a swifter rush than ever rightacross the pool, making the line sing and the winch spin furiously, asthe thin cord ran through the rings as it was reeled off. Mr Inglishad to slightly check the line so as to retard his progress, or elsemost probably the cord would have been snapped; but no sooner did thefish find that he was held than he made a leap of fully a yard right outof the water, displaying to the lookers-on his great gold and greensides, and looking, in the momentary glance that was afforded, almost ayard long. 

In he dashed again, full of fury, and round and round, and backwards andforwards, he was played; at one time sweeping right up to the millwheels, and nearly getting the line entangled in the piles; then makinga mighty spurt to gain the river where the weeds grew so thickly; but hegot no farther than the sandy bar at the mouth of the pool, where he hadto turn on one side to swim in the shallows, for here he was checkedagain, and brought back almost unresisting into the deep water, hismaster's rod bending like a cart-whip as the fish was dragged back. Andso for nearly half an hour did the battle continue, the fish beinggently brought back after every dash he made, for Mr Inglis dared notattempt to land the monster till he was thoroughly exhausted; and wellwas it that the line was one of the newest and strongest, or the slightsilk cord would never have borne the strain that was put upon it. . . Butit held good, and now the exhausted fish seemed to make its last effortto escape; and it was very nearly a successful one, for, after dartingabout ten yards almost to the bottom of the pool, Mr Inglis found thatthere was some extra resistance, and that the line was entangled. 

Had this happened earlier in the struggle, the pike must have been lost, for the line would have snapped; but now the fish had fought out hisfight, and scarcely attempted to move, while Dusty Bob, who had beenwatching the proceedings with the most intense interest, went to themill-yard and fetched the great rake he used to clear the weeds awaywith, and by means of a little raking he got hold of the obstruction, which upon being drawn to the surface proved to be an old branch, andround a rugged part the line was just hitched. A sharp blow from therake snapped the bough in two, and the line was again at liberty, thegreat fish being drawn to the side at the mouth of the pool, where thewater was only a few inches deep, and landed amidst a burst of cheersfrom the delighted boys, while even Bob gave a loud "Hooray, " though heseemed rather sorry than otherwise that the water should lose so fine afish; but the "Hooray" was brought forth by the thoughts of aprospective shilling which Mr Inglis would most likely give him, andthen perhaps he would have to carry the fish home as well, and get somebread and cheese and ale up at the house. 

So "Hooray, " said Dusty Bob, with a most hypocritical countenance; and"Hooray--ay--ay--ay--ay--ay, " cheered the boys again; and there were noend of epithets lavished upon the fish, such as "Beauty", "Monster, ""Jolly one. " etc, etc, for the admiration of the party seemed boundless. 

Bob then had to carry the pike into the mill, where it was put into theflour-scales and weighed, and found to balance nineteen pounds and ahalf in the weight-scale--an announcement which was received withrenewed cheers; and upon measurement he was found to be two feet sixinches long; while of all the mouths that ever pike had, his seemed thewidest and fullest of long hooked teeth--projecting backwards, so as torender it impossible for a fish to escape out of his jaws if once hecaught hold of it. 

This brought the fishing to a conclusion for that afternoon; and so thelines were wound up, rods disjointed and placed in their bags, and allthe rest of the angling paraphernalia collected into the baskets, whileone was expressly devoted to the fish. But now a new difficulty arose--the chub could be got into the basket, but how about a pike two feet sixinches long? Then, too, Bob wanted to carry the pike right up to thehouse--evidently meaning to make a show of it by the way, so as to beasked to have a glass of beer or two for his trouble. But this was anhonour that Bob was not to have, for the boys were almost squabbling asto who should have the duty. Fred, however, soon backed out, for whiletouching the pike, and feeling its weight, it bent itself like a bow, and then gave such a spring that he jumped away as thou eh be had beenshot, and directly waived all claims to the honour of carriage, whichnow lay between Harry and Philip, who at last grew so warm on thesubject, that one had hold of the head and the other the tail, thelatter place of vantage being occupied by Harry, and a matter of Frenchand English tugging was about to commence when Mr Inglis interposed, and settled the matter by arranging that Philip should carry the trophyhalf-way, and Harry the remainder: which decision had hardly beenarrived at, when Master Harry must try whether the pike would bite;which he did by holding the gasping mouth to the tail of Dusty Bob'scoat. 

Whether sensible that it was biting or no, the fish's mouth closed uponthe floury cloth, and held there with such tenacity that the piece hadto be cut out--so firmly were the jagged and hooked teeth inserted inthe woolly fabric. 

This, of course, produced a scolding for Master Harry for hismischievous trick, and a piece of coin for Bob to get the hole repaired;and then the party returned in triumph to tea--the boys as proud oftheir acquisition as any Roman conqueror who led his treasure-burdenedslave through the streets of the city of Romulus. 

CHAPTER TEN. 

A SAD AFFAIR. 

"Oh do come in, Fred!" said Harry, blowing and splashing about in thewater like a small whale, on the day following the fishing excursion. The lads were down by the side of the river, in a spot called WithyNook--a green snug place entirely sheltered from all observation--a spotwith the emerald grass sloping down to where the river ran by, sparklingand dancing in the golden sunlight, flashing back the bright rays fromthe tiny wavelets, and making the golden waterlilies rise and fall asthey rode upon the bright surface. The water was so limpid that thesand and clean washed pebbles could be easily seen at the bottom, exceptwhen the water was put in a state of turmoil by the antics of the twoboys who were bathing. 

"Oh do come in, Fred!" echoed Philip; "it isn't a bit cold, and notdeep; and you ought to learn to float and swim. "

"Oh come on, " said Harry again. 

Fred felt that he would like to go in and have a dip, for the waterlooked so cool and bright and clear; but there was a certain amount oftimidity to be got over; he had never been in anything but a bath in hislife, and plunging at once into a river was a novel feat that he couldhardly summon courage to attempt. But at last the persuasions of hiscousins had the desired effect, and Fred quickly undressed, and thenstood upon the bank, afraid to take his first dip; but again were thepersuasions of his cousins brought into play, and the London boy tookhis first step into the water, and then made a half slip, so that hecame down sideways and went right under the surface, but regained hisfeet, with the water singing and rumbling in his ears, his eyes closeshut, and the drops streaming down him as fast as they could run. 

"Oh--ah--ah, " said Fred, gasping. 

"Haw--haw--haw!" burst from Harry, as he laughed heartily at his cousin. 

"Don't grin like that, Hal, " said Philip, helping Fred out of hisdifficulty, and steadying him as he stood breast high in the water, rubbing his eyes, and trying to get rid of the feeling of bewildermentthat had come over him upon his sudden immersion. 

"Oh, isn't it queer?" said Fred, as soon as he had finished gasping, andspitting out the water he had in his mouth. 

"Not a bit of it, " said Harry, "only you were in such a hurry to getunder the water. Now, then, try and swim: see me go dog's paddle, " andthen the young dog set to paddling away as though he had lived in thewater half his lifetime. "Hold his chin up, Phil, and he'll soon doit. "

But Fred did not want to have his chin held up, nor yet to be touched;he preferred to wade gently about in the clear water by himself, whilehis cousins swam backwards and forwards across the river--here nottwenty yards broad. 

"Make haste and learn to swim, Fred, it's so easy, " said Harry, "andsuch capital fun. Look here; see me dive. " And then, turning heelsupwards in the water, he went down out of sight, to Fred's great horror, but came up again directly, and then floated upon his back, swamsideways, and did other feats that seemed to Fred little short ofwonders--so easily and deftly were they performed. 

"Now then, Phil, " said Harry, "I'll race you up to the pollard, and backto Fred. Come on!"

Philip did "come on, " and the boys swam up stream towards the willowpollard which overhung the river about fifty yards off. Away they went, working away manfully, for it was hard work against the running water. Sometimes Philip got a little ahead, and sometimes it was Harry; butPhilip was first when they reached the pollard-tree, and he kept ahead, too, as they came easily back down stream towards the spot from whencethey started. 

"Hallo!" puffed out Harry, all at once, "where's Fred?"

"Got out, " gasped Philip, for he was getting out of breath with hisexertions. 

"No, he hasn't; I can't see him, " said Harry, getting excited. "He'sgot out of his depth and gone down stream! Oh, dear! oh, dear! whatshall we do?"

Just then Philip caught sight of something white slowly washing over theshallows lower down the stream, and he called his brother's attention toit. "It's Fred, " said Harry, swimming as hard as he could. "Come on. "Saying which he dashed out of the water and ran along the bank till hecame opposite the place, where sure enough poor Fred was slowly driftingover the shallow pebbly-bottomed stream; and then both lads dashed inand, by using great efforts, dragged their cousin inshore, and got himupon the bank. 

"Put your trousers and jacket on, and run for Papa, Harry, " criedPhilip, as he gazed upon the inanimate countenance of Fred, and tried invain to open the eyes which kept so obstinately closed. 

Harry was not long in obeying his brother's hint, and in less than tenminutes Mr Inglis, with a couple of the farm-labourers carryingblankets, arrived upon the spot. Very little was said, but in a fewminutes more poor Fred was carried off to the Grange; while his cousinsstopped behind, shivering with cold and fear, to finish dressingthemselves. 

Upon reaching home they found the house in the greatest confusion; oneservant was watching at the front door so as to give the earliest noticeof the doctor's coming, for a man had been sent for him at full gallop;another was running backwards and forwards from the kitchen carrying hotblankets; while Mr and Mrs Inglis were doing all that lay in theirpower to restore animation; but all seemed as yet in vain, and whenHarry and Philip crept on tiptoe into the bedroom, they trembled at theghastly look their cousin wore. 

Poor Mrs Inglis seemed quite in despair, and would have ceased herefforts but for the Squire, who warned her to persevere, saying thatpeople had been revived even after ill success for two hours or more;and, apparently hopeless as the case seemed, he kept on himself movingthe body on to one side and back again with a regular motion, so as toendeavour to promote artificial respiration. On the table was a numberof "The Life Boat, " which contained full instructions for recovering theapparently drowned; and to this Mr Inglis kept making references, andgiving his instructions accordingly. 

At length there was the distant sound of a horse's feet coming at agallop along the road; they soon came along the gravel drive, were heardto stop, and then in came quickly, but with a step soft as that of acat, that awe-inspiring personage--the Doctor. He saw at a glance whathad been done, and nodded his satisfaction, then examined the pupil ofpoor Fred's eye, felt his pulse, and listened at his chest; andafterwards, drawing off his coat and kneeling by the bedside, continuedthe efforts that Mr Inglis had so well commenced. 

An hour--a long, long hour--one with leaden seconds--slipped by duringwhich time not an effort was relaxed; though the faces of Mr and MrsInglis betrayed the despair that had crept over them, while Harry andPhilip sobbed so that they had to be sent out of the room; when theystifled the sobs as well as they could, and crept back to the door, where they sat listening outside. 

All this time the Doctor's face had been as solid as a block of marble, not a trace of any emotion--hopeful or despairing--appeared; he kept ongiving order after order, and worked till the perspiration stood ingreat drops upon his brow; and still no sign of life. The tears coursedsilently down Mrs Inglis's face, and it was only by a great effort thatshe could keep from sobbing. Glad would she have been to have left theroom, but a sense of duty forbade her, and she stayed, lending all theassistance that lay in her power. 

All at once, the Doctor brightened up, and turning to the Squire said, "Now, I'll have a glass of sherry and a biscuit. "

Mr Inglis saw nothing to cause the cheerful way in which the Doctorspoke, but felt that he must have a good reason for hope, or he wouldnot have spoken so lightly. So, ringing the bell for the refreshment, he leaned over the poor boy, and, as he did so, a faint, a very faint, sigh escaped from his chest, and then there was a slight twitching ofhis eyelids. 

"There, " said the Doctor, wiping his forehead, and turning upon Mr andMrs Inglis with a delighted aspect, --"there, I don't believe anothermedical man in the county would have persevered to that extent, andsaved the boy's life; but, there, all the credit belongs to Mr Inglisfor commencing the work so well. "

"No; it's not due to me. If it had not been for that book on thetable, " said he, pointing to the little pamphlet, "I should not haveknown how to proceed. "

"Ah, well, " said the Doctor, "then we will say it was all due to theLife Boat Institution. "

But all this while no efforts were relaxed, for, though symptoms ofrevival were plainly to be seen, they were like the flickerings of thewick of a lamp, liable at a moment to become extinct; but the endeavoursof those present supplied the needful oil, and by slow degrees thecadaverous hue disappeared from Fred's face; his breathing became firmerand more regular; and at last his eyes opened, staring vacantly at theceiling, and those bending over him; but, after another lapse of time, alight seemed to be added to the vacant look, and, to the intense delightof all, a smile came over his pale face as he recognised Mr and MrsInglis. It was thought better that the lads should not come in atpresent, so the joyful new was conveyed to them outside the door in awhisper; and then off and away went Harry, followed by his brother, toperform a kind of triumphal war-dance down in the dining-room, where hecould make a little noise without being overheard in the sick chamber. 

Not very long afterwards, the Doctor took his departure, promising toreturn in the course of an hour or two; and then Mr and Mrs Ingliscame into the room where the boys were, and, announcing; that Fred wasin a calm sleep, with one of the maids watching by his side, they askedhow the poor fellow came to be so nearly drowned. 

This was a question that neither Harry nor Philip could answer; but theytold what they knew, and could only suppose that he had walked out ofhis depth, when the swiftness of the current, and his own timidity, hadprevented him from regaining his footing. So that the full explanationhad to remain until Fred was in a condition to give it himself. 

Mr Inglis talked long and seriously to the boys; but he felt that hecould not blame them much, as bathing was an habitual thing with them inthe summer-time, and moreover a most healthy habit: joined to which, forsuch young lads, both Harry and Philip were powerful swimmers. But theact for which Mr Inglis blamed them was not for inducing their cousinto bathe, but leaving him, ignorant as he was of the power of thecurrent, by himself. 

"I think, Mamma, " said the Squire, at last, "we had better send poorFred home again. Here in a space of time of only two or three days hashe been lost in the wood; and, but for the blessing of God, he wouldhave this day been drowned. "

"Oh! pray--pray don't send him away, Papa, " pleaded both the lads atonce. "We will be so careful for the future. And--and, " said Harry, breaking down as he spoke; "and--and--indeed, Papa, I wish it had beenme to-day sooner than poor Fred, for we do feel that we ought to takecare of him when he's a visitor; don't we, Philip? But I am such anunlucky beggar; I'm always doing something wrong when I want to doright, and it does make me so miserable, and so it did when I pitchedinto Fred the first afternoon he was here, and I couldn't help it. "

"What's that?" said Mr Inglis; "pitched into Fred? What, have you twobeen fighting?"

Harry was in too great trouble to speak, so Philip narrated the littleskirmish, concluding with the loss of the poor ferret. 

Mr Inglis did not say any more upon the subject; but a smile passedbetween him and Mrs Inglis, and then, shaking hands with his boys, theyall went on tiptoe up the stairs to have a look at Fred--Mr Inglis, inspite of the events of the past few days, evidently of the opinion thathis boys were not so much worse than boys in general. 

Fred was fast asleep, breathing regularly; and the maid said he had notmoved; so he was left to his rest, strict injunctions being given thatMrs Inglis should be called directly the invalid woke, or showedsymptoms of so doing. 

CHAPTER ELEVEN. 

BUMPITTY BUMP. --THE WOPSES. 

For two or three days Fred remained very unwell, as might easily besupposed from the shock he had received; but the boys spent the greaterpart of the days with him reading or playing, and in the evenings cameMr and Mrs Inglis to sit in his bedroom, when Mr Inglis told themnatural history anecdotes, or talked about the wondrous changes ofinsects in so interesting a manner, that the little auditory heard himwith the most rapt attention. 

On the second evening, in answer to a question, Fred related how it washe managed to be carried away by the stream. It appeared that it wasthrough a sudden fright; for, while wading about with the water up tohis armpits, he felt what he thought was a great fish touch him--butwhich was more probably a piece of wood--and he was so startled andalarmed with the idea that it might be a great pike, such as he had onceseen in the river, and also caught by Mr Inglis, that he rushed awayfrom the fancied peril, and, by mishap, this was done on the wrong side;so that directly afterwards he was splashing and paddling in the water, out of his depth, and with the stream bearing him away quite fast. Hecould remember the water bubbling and thundering in his ears as he wasswept away; two or three great struggles to reach the side, and then itseemed like going to sleep, and waking to find himself in his bed, withthree faces leaning over him, and everything else misty and bewildered. 

On the morning of the fourth day, Fred was up again and out with hiscousins before breakfast, getting their feet well soaked by the dewygrass out in the cedar-field as they took it in turns to have a rideupon the pony--one boy running by his side once up and down the field, and holding the pony by his halter. He was a capital quiet fellow, wasold Dumpling, and put up with the tricks of his young masters asgood-naturedly as possibly, and, on the whole, rather seeming to join inthe fun, for he stood perfectly still by their side while they climbedup the fence, and from thence on to his back, and then went along at ajig-jog trot, just as they wished him. As for Harry and Philip, theywere well used to being upon his back; but when it came to Fred's turn, he prepared to mount with considerable trepidation. 

It might almost have been thought that, after the last unpleasantadventure, Fred would have been very diffident in joining in any of hiscousins' rather boisterous amusements; but he had a most wholesome dreadof being looked upon as a coward: the very idea of being despised by hiscousins rendered him ready to dare anything; so that, no matter whatthey had pressed him to, he would most probably have attempted it, however strongly his reason or inclination might have prompted himotherwise; so, when it came to his turn, he followed the instructions ofhis cousins, and made a sort of half leap or vault upon the pony's back;but in so doing he overshot the mark, and went scrambling down, headfirst, on the other side. The pony, however, never moved, and as Fredwas not hurt, he climbed the fence for another try, and this time camedown just in the right place, but in doing so, stuck his heels sotightly into the nag's side, that, without waiting for the leader totake hold of the halter, away he started at a canter, greatly to Fred'sdismay, for the bumping he received seemed something fearful to him, andhe had no small difficulty in keeping his seat; but keep it he did, andthe pony cantered away till nearly at the bottom of the field, when hesubsided into a trot, the boys behind in full chase, laughing andcheering away as hard as they could. Trot--trot, went the pony, andFred thought it was horrible, for it rucked his trousers up, and shookand bumped him ten times more than when he was cantering. But Fred wastoo much of a stoic to find fault, and sat it out famously, for Harrynow caught up to him, and, seizing the halter, ran by his side till theyreached the fence again, when Fred dismounted. 

"Why, I thought you said that you couldn't ride!" said Philip, nowcoming up quite out of breath. "Why, you ride better than we do; don'the, Hal?"

"Ride! of course he can, " said Harry, "better than I can; but a coupleof old clothes-props, tied together, and put straddling over the pony, would ride better than--Oh! don't, Phil, it hurts, " he continued, asPhilip indulged his brother with a few thumps in the back to repay thecompliment that he had given to the punisher. 

"There goes the bell, " said Fred, with a hunger-sharpened sense, runningoff full race towards the house, closely followed by his cousins, whocould not, however, catch up to him until they reached the side-door, through which they all rushed together with such impetus, that they camein contact with Mary, who was carrying a plate of hot cake and some eggsinto the breakfast parlour. 

"Squawk, " said Mary, as she was regularly upset, and they all wentdown--boys, plate, eggs, tray, and all--in one heap upon the passagefloor. 

Out came Mrs Inglis, and out came the Squire, and out ran the cook fromthe kitchen; and then everybody began to talk at once, so that theconfusion grew worse than ever. 

Master Harry was the first to get up, and, instead of trying to assisthis companions in misfortune, or to rub the dust off his clothes, hebegan to collect the cake together; and, as the plate was broken, hevery carefully arranged the three-cornered wedges on the top of hisstraw hat, as though the cake had been a puzzle. 

As for Fred, he had quite a job to disentangle himself from Mary; for, when she was going down, she loosed her hold of the little tray she wascarrying, and caught hold of Fred, and, of course, they went downtogether. But when Fred got up, he stood shaking his ear, and trying toget rid of the buzzing sound produced by Mary's piercing scream. 

Philip was in the worst plight, for he went head first amongst the eggs, and was in consequence rather eggy. He was quite aware of hismisfortune, and had been wiping the rich yolk off his face; but, nothaving a glass before him, he had made it rather smeary, and also left agoodly portion in the roots of his hair. 

Poor Mary gathered herself up, sobbing half hysterically that it wasn'ther fault. "No, " said Harry, stoutly. "It wasn't Mary's fault. We allhad a share in it. "

As for Mr and Mrs Inglis, they took the sensible view of the case, that it was an accident, which only resulted in the breakage of a plate, and the loss of two or three eggs; for Harry declared that the cake was"All right, " and they would eat it; go they returned to thebreakfast-parlour, mutually glad that Mary was not bringing in thetea-urn, when the accident might have been of a very serious nature. But when the boys had made themselves respectable, and descended againto breakfast, all this involved some rather serious talk upon the partof Mr and Mrs Inglis, but did not seem to spoil the boys' breakfastthe least bit in the world; while as to the cake, they said it wasn't abit the worse, only rather gritty with a few little bits of china thathad been left in from the broken plate. 

"Well, boys, " said Mr Inglis at last, "what have you been doing thismorning?"

"Riding, Papa, in the field, and Fred, too. We had such capital fun, and old Dumpling seems to like it as well as any of us. "

"Yes, I suppose so, " said the Squire; "but I should think he liked itbest when you left him in peace, and he had got rid of such a pack ofwild young dogs, baiting and bothering him. Now, " he continued, "whatare we going to do to-day?"

"Let's go and catch another great pike, " said Fred. 

Mr Inglis laughed, and told him that they might go fifty times and notcatch such another fish as the last; which I forgot to say in the properplace was baked by the cook, with what she called a pudding inside it, and eaten in triumph by the fishing-party, aided by Mrs Inglis, anddeclared to be the best fish that ever came out of the river. 

"Let's go botanising, Papa, " said Philip, "and go up the Camp Hill. Itwould be so nice, and then we should have to take our dinners with us, and Mamma would come too. Oh, do let's go there. You'll come, won'tyou, Mamma?"

But Mamma declined, for she had promised to go out for a drive with anear neighbour; but said that she should much enjoy, the trip uponanother occasion. It was therefore decided that there should be abotanising trip on the next day but two, the following day beingSaturday. 

"Let's play cricket, Papa, and you come and bowl for us, " said Harry. 

"Bravo!" cried the others. "Oh do, Uncle oh do, Papa!"

But Uncle and Papa, though always ready to do anything to please hisboys, seemed to think that bowling all day long, with the thermometermarking some few degrees above summer heat, was rather too arduous atask, so he declined, and said--

"Now, I think it comes to my turn to choose, and I'll tell you what Ithink; and that is, as several of the specimens in the butterfly cabinetare getting destroyed by the mites, we might take the nets and boxes, and have a very pleasant ramble by the side of Beechy Wood, and down themeadows, and then, if we happened to get so far, we could call and thankMrs Benson again; and coming back to a late tea, we should find plentyof moths along by the wood-side. "

"That's the best idea yet, " said the boys; although it is most probablethat they would have agreed to anything that Mr Inglis had proposed, and said it was the best idea that could have been thought of. 

But this arrangement only provided for the afternoon: there was stillthe morning to be employed. 

"If I were you, boys, " said Mrs Inglis, "I should find something quietto do indoors, and then you will not be tired before you start in theafternoon. "

"Ah, " said the Squire, "have a look at your lessons. You have nottouched them all through the holidays. "

"Oh-h-h--Ah-h-h--Er-r-r--Um-m-m, " groaned the boys. "Oh, Pa; oh-h-h, "they exclaimed, with such pitiful faces that any one might have thoughtthat they had been required to quaff, each of them, a great goblet ofsalts and senna, or something equally nasty. 

Mr and Mrs Inglis both laughed heartily, and the boys then saw thatPapa was only joking, and the clouds disappeared from their faces_instanter_; and off they scampered into the garden to spend the morningquietly, so as not to be tired at the time appointed for starting. 

"Come on, boys, " said Harry, taking flying leaps over all theflower-beds in the parterre, as they went down the garden--greatly tothe disgust of old Sam, who very reasonably said, "As flower-gardenswarn't made to be jumped over;" and he then took off his old batteredhat, and scratched his bald head viciously. 

"Shouldn't I like to kick old Sam's hat!" said Philip; "he always willwear such an old scarecrow of a thing. "

"I say, Sam, " said Harry, grinning, "we are going to stop quietly in thegarden all the morning and help you. "

Sam grinned too, as he looked sideways at the mischievous laughing facebeside him. 

"Then I shall go, " said Sam. "I won't stop; for I know you'll beplaguing my very life out. "

"No, we won't, Sam, if you'll come and help us do our gardens up. "

"Oh, ah!" said Sam, "and I've got no end of things as wants doing:there's all the wall fruit wants nailing in, and the grapes wantsthinning, and-- There now, just look at that! Master Harry, youmustn't. If you don't put it down directly, I'll go and fetch out theMaester. "

Sam might well exclaim, for Harry was beginning to help him, and hadseized the scythe. With cut number one he had shaved off the top of afine verbena. With cut number two, he had driven the point of the sharptool into the sod. Where the third cut would have gone, I can't say;for Sam, hobbling up to the young workman, the young workman friskedoff, and seized the barrow half full of grass. 

"Jump in, Fred!" he exclaimed; and of course Fred soon made himself aseat on the soft green contents, and then away went the barrow as fastas Harry could run, and of course right away from the place where Samwould require it next. 

Poor old Sam! He loved his master's boys, and he loved to scold themtoo, as much as they loved to torment him; and in all their skirmishes--one of which always occurred whenever they came into his garden, as hecalled it--Sam always got the worst of it, and had to yield to numbers. And so in this case he saw that he should lose the day, and therefore hedeclared a truce, and called up Philip to act as mediator. 

"Now, Master Phil, if you'll promise not to bother me any more, I'll putyou all up to something. "

"What is it?" said Philip. 

"Ah, you fetch them tother ones here, and I'll show you. "

Away darted Philip, and soon returned with Harry, the barrow, and Fred. 

Old Sam made sure of the barrow by sitting down upon the edge, and wouldhave been canted over by Harry, only he expected, and very naturally, that it would make the poor old man cross. 

"Now, Sam, what is it?" said Harry. "Come, look sharp. "

"Ah, " said Sam, "I've a good mind not to tell you. You don't deserveit, you know. "

"Oh, I don't care, " said Harry, seizing the old man's broom, and dartingoff with it. "Come along, Phil, Fred, and we'll have such a game. "

"Now, Master Harry, " said Sam, appealingly. Then to himself, "I neverdid see sich a young dog in my life. Do come, please, " he continuedaloud. 

"Well, what is it?" said Harry, advancing with the broom, held like agun with fixed bayonet brought to the charge, and poking with the birchpart at the old gardener. 

"Well, you know, you promised to be quiet, you know, didn't you?"

"Why, of course we did, " said Harry and Philip together. "Now, come, tell us what it is. "

"Well, " said Sam at last, "it's a wopses' nest as wants taking. "

"Capital!" said Harry, throwing down the broom; "where is it?"

Old Sam's eyes twinkled with triumph as he got slowly up and led the wayto his tool-shed, where he reached down the large fumigating bellows, and in the hollow made for the purpose he put in some hot cinders, whichHarry fetched in a shovel from the kitchen, and then on them a lump ofbrimstone, and closed the nozzle over all; but not so quickly but that apuff or two of the penetrating fumes escaped, and made the boys' eyeswater, and old Sam cough and choke most terribly for a minute or two. 

"Now then, " said Sam, wheezing away at a dreadful rate, "I'm not goingwith you, you know, so you take the bellows, Master Harry; and I shouldtake some boughs, if I were you, and beat the wopses off if they getsloose. The nest is in the plantation, in the dead willow-tree that liesby the path; so now go on, and good luck to you. "

The lads wanted no further incentive, but started off at full speed, tocome back again directly to say that the brimstone wasn't burning. However, on giving two or three puffs with the bellows, Sam found thiswas not the case, for it was alight; so off they started, half wild withexcitement, across the lawn, and old Sam rubbing his hands down thesides of his trousers to give vent to his intense feeling ofsatisfaction to think how well his device had succeeded; and then theold man returned to his work, chuckling away, and, I am sorry to add, muttering that he hoped they'd "some on 'em get stung;" an uncharitablewish, however, that had no fulfilment in the sequel. 

"Come along, boys, " said Harry, who was bellows-bearer; and away theyscudded till they reached the wooden bridge over the ditch, and thenthey stood together beneath the trees. 

Puff, puff. Yes, the brimstone was all right, and now for the wasps. 

"Let me do it, " said Philip, catching at the bellows. 

"No, no; I'll do it, " said Harry, putting them behind his back. 

"Now, Harry, you know I'm older than you, and you carried them here, soyou ought to give way, " said Philip. 

"Why, " said Harry, "we ought neither of us to do it, because CousinFred's here, and he's a visitor. Here, Fred, " he said, holding out thebellows, "you do it. "

"Do what?" said Fred, staring. "I don't know what you are going to do. "

"Why, take the wasps' nest in that old touchwood tree. You're only gotto put the nose of the bellows into the hole where they are going in andout, and blew, and then keep them tight there till all the wasps aredead. "

Fred looked at the bellows, then at his cousins, then at the hole in thefallen trunk where the wasps were flying about; and after giving a puffwith the bellows, when smoke issued from the nozzle, he slowlyapproached the hole, and stooped over it to insert the death-dealinginstrument. 

"Buzz--booz--whooz--ooz--ooz--ooz, " said a couple of wasps, coming homein a hurry, and circling round Fred's head so very closely that the boyshut his eyes, and, stooping down very low, backed away crab fashion asfast as ever he could. 

"I shan't do it, " said Fred, rather red in the face; "they'll sting. "

"No, they won't, " said Harry; "I'll go, " and catching up the bellows, hewalked boldly up towards the hole. 

"I say, " he said, "you two get boughs, and if the wasps do come out youcan beat them down. "

There was a minute of intense interest, during which Harry crept closeup to the hole, and Philip and Fred, armed with lime-tree boughs, stoodas body guard to protect the assaulting party. 

Nearer and nearer went Harry, and then pushed the nozzle right in up tothe part holding the brimstone, and puffed away as hard as he could. 

"Whir--whooz--whooz--booz--wooz--buzz--wooz--burr--urr-r-r-r--whir-r-r-r, " said the wasps, scuffling out past the nozzle by the dozen;and one, which must have been the leader, made a lodgment in Harry'shair. 

Down went the bellows, and away went the boys as hard as ever they couldrun out of the plantation, and over the wooden bridge, till they weresafe from the infuriated wasps, whose loud hum they could hear evenafter they were some distance off. 

"Here, " said Harry, "knock this beggar out of my head; make haste, orhe'll sting me. " For there, buzzing and struggling in the boy's curls, was one of the wasps, which was killed by Fred, who squeezed it betweentwo pieces of stick, and placed it beyond the power of doing mischief. 

"Ha, ha, ha!" said Philip, when there was no more danger: and when hehad got his breath again, "What a game!"

"Booh, " said Harry; "was it? You wouldn't like to go and try again. "

"I wouldn't mind, " said Philip; "I shouldn't run faster than you did. "

"Ah! never mind, " said Harry; "you run fast enough this time. I onlywish, " he continued sulkily, "that I had let you go. "

Now, Philip was generally most terribly teased by his brother, andtherefore it was not surprising that he, who was generally such a mildand inoffensive lad, should take this opportunity of making a littleretaliation. But one thing was very certain, and that was, that hewould have backed out of the task even if Harry had given it up to him. 

"Can't we fetch the bellows?" said Harry. "Let's go and see. "

Off they went again, but at a slower pace this time, in case thereshould be any of the fierce little insects waiting for them. But theircaution was needless, for the wasps were busy at work trying to sticktheir stings into the bellows, and some of them losing their livesthrough the vapour that came reeking out of the opening. But when thelads got near enough to see what a cloud there was buzzing about, theygave up all idea of getting the bellows till night, and took vengeancefor their defeat by getting a little farther off and pelting the tree, but only hitting it about once in twenty times, so that they very soontired of that pastime, and went back to see what poor old Sam could findfor them fresh. 

"Now, then, " said Sam, when they came up, "where's the wopses' nest?The Squire wants some grabs for fishing. "

"Ain't got it, " said Harry, shortly. 

"How's that?" said the old man; "you weren't afeard, was you?"

"No, " said Harry, stoutly; "I wasn't afraid, only they came buzzing outso we were obliged to give in. "

Chuckle, chuckle, went the old man at their defeat; but he would not gohimself to fetch the bellows, although he laughed at the boys' expense. 

"You'd better leave off laughing, " said Philip, taking Harry's part, "orwe'll stop here all the morning. "

Sam grew serious in a moment, for the boy couldn't have uttered a moredire threat against his peace of mind. 

"Ah! I ain't laughing, Master Phil, only it is good fun to see thewopses make any one run. If I was you, I should go and have a look atBramble Dyke; they say as the water's nearly all dried up, and you canget fish out of it. "

"It's too far, " said Philip, "because we are going out with Papadirectly after dinner. "

Sam was done for a moment; but a bright thought flashed across hisbrain. "Ah, " said he, "if I was a young gentleman, I should go down thenorth planting hedge, close to the dung-heaps; they do say there is asight of snakes there; but in course you young gentlemen won't go, foras you're afraid of wopses, in course you won't like to go where there'ssnakes. "

"Who's afraid?" said Harry; "I'm not; come on, boys, " and away theyscampered again on their new expedition; while Sam leaned upon his broomwith which he was brushing the velvet green lawn, and chuckled again atthe success of his _ruse_. 

The boys armed themselves with stout sticks, and let Dick loose to takewith them; and then away down by the big fence to the north plantingDick industriously hunting along the hedges and ditches as they went. 

"Keep back, Dick!" said Harry, when they reached the manure heaps; "keepback, sir; quiet; down, dog, down!"

But Dick was not a well-trained dog at all. He did not often come out, and when he did he seemed to make the most of it; so every command givenby his master Dick answered by a leap, a scamper, and a bark, and doingeverything but what he was told. 

"Catch hold of him, Phil; he'll frighten all the snakes away before wesee them. "

But Dick would not be caught hold of, but capered about just out ofreach, and lolled his tongue out as though in derision of the effortsmade to secure him, till, growing more bold and impudent, he kept makingcharges at his young masters' legs, until by one quick snatch Philipcaught the rascal by one of his ears, and so secured him in a mostignoble manner, dragging him along with his skin all drawn on one side, his eyes out of place, and his mouth wearing a most serio-comicalexpression. 

Poor Dick! he did not mean any harm; but as to being a trained andobedient dog, he was, as I said before, nothing of the kind, and oftenspoiled a great deal of sport by his wild harum-scarum ways. But now, as he was secured, a handkerchief was tied tightly round his neck, andanother to that by way of a chain or slip, and then the search wasprosecuted. 

The manure heaps were very long and large, and lay on a piece of wasteground beside the park palings, and it was through the rents and gaps inthese pales that the snakes came out of the plantation to lay their eggsin the warm manure; and, of course, if Master Dick had been left alone, he would have run barking and scratching all along and alarmed the game. As it was, they went the whole length of the first heap without hearingso much as a rustle. The second heap was nearly passed in the same way, when Harry, who was first, stepped nimbly back and caught hold of thehandkerchief that held Dick, who, seeing that something exciting wasgoing on, immediately became rampant, but was soon guided to a spotwhere a snake had nearly buried itself in the rotten straw, and lay withabout nine inches of its tail exposed, after the fashion of an ostrich, which supposes that if its head is hidden it must be all right and safe. But there was no safety for the poor snake, for Dick was down upon himin a moment and hanging on to its tail, in spite of the struggles of thepoor thing to get away. 

All Dick's efforts were directed towards dragging the snake out of itshole, while the snake, by means of its scaly and plated body, offered amost powerful resistance, and tried hard to creep farther in; and sothey went on for some time, the snake, however, gradually losing ground, until the lads began to dig round it with their sticks, and loosen themanure, when out it came all at once, writhing and twining, and tryingto fasten upon Dick's head; but the dog's shaggy, wiry hair protectedhim, and shaking the unco' brute off for a moment, he got another gripeat it close up to the head, and shook it, and worried it, until the poorsnake hardly moved, but gave in, conquered and dying. 

The trophy was secured, and Dick's stumpy tail wag-waggled, as much asto say, "Didn't I do that well?" and then he kept snapping and leapingup at the handkerchief which held the snake, while his red tonguequivered and stuck out between his sharp shiny teeth that were longingto have another snap at something. The huntsmen then cautiously wentalong the side of the two remaining heaps, but not another trace of asnake could they find, so they went back the whole length of the fourheaps, but with no better success, till Dick, who was down at the bottomof the bramble-covered ditch, suddenly set up a sharp, short bark, thenthere was a rustle and skurry for a moment, and he rushed open-mouthedup the bank head fust at the oak palings, and came against them with athud just after a snake's tail was seen to disappear through a hole atthe bottom, where a small piece had rotted away. 

Dick whined and howled with rage at being thus stopped in his career, and seizing a piece of the broken pale in his teeth, dragged it so thathe would shortly have made himself a way through, but his young masterswere soon by his side. 

"Throw him over, Harry, " said Philip, excitedly, and in a moment Harryhad the struggling dog in his arms, raising him till he got his feet onthe top of the palings, when he leaped lightly down on the other side, and began hunting about through the fallen leaves and twigs for theescaped quarry; but all in vain, as his whining testified, so that poorDick was called off, and had to run nearly a quarter of a mile before hecould find a place to creep through, which he did at last by scraping alittle of the earth from beneath the pales, and then grovelling through, getting stuck about the middle of his back, though, and whining till hegot free, which he did after two or three struggles, and then ran tojoin his young masters, who were whistling and calling him as loudly asthey could, and who now turned their steps homeward, for Harry declaredhe could smell the roast beef they were going to have for dinner. 

CHAPTER TWELVE. 

A FLIGHT WITH THE FLIES. 

I don't suppose Harry could smell the roast beef when he was a mile fromhome, but sure enough it was done when the boys got there, and they hadonly just time to get themselves ready before the dinner-bell rang. 

"Well, boys, I suppose you have been very quiet, " said Mr Inglis, "andare ready for a good long walk this afternoon?"

"We're ready for the walk, Papa, but we haven't been very quiet, " saidPhilip. "One don't seem as if one could keep very quiet this fineweather. I never do. I should like to be always out. "

"I shouldn't, " said Harry, with his mouth full of beef and potato; "Ishould like to come in when dinner and tea were ready. "

"Well said, Harry!" exclaimed Mr Inglis; "that was certainly not a verypolite speech, but there was a good deal of common sense in it; and Idon't think Master Phil, there, would care much about stopping out whenit rained. But make haste, boys; we must not stop talking, for thereare all the things to get ready, and we have a long walk before us. "

Half an hour after, Mr Inglis and the boys were passing out of thegate, and they soon reached the spot where the lads entered the wood theday they were lost; but this time they kept along the fields by theside; and beautiful those fields looked, and beautiful, too, thewood-side. There were wood anemones and hyacinths by the thousand, spangling the bright green grass here with delicate white, and therewith the dark blue bells; while the brionies and honeysuckle clusteredin every direction along the dwarf bushes by the side of the wood. 

"There he goes, " said Harry, all at once starting off full speed after asulphur butterfly. 

"Stop, stop!" cried Mr Inglis. "Here, Philip, take the net, and gosteadily and quietly and see if you cannot catch it, but you must nothurry, or you will send it right away. "

Philip took the green clap-net and went in chase of the beautiful flywhich flitted on before him, now stopping, now going on again, andsipping flower after flower. At last he got close enough, and stoopingas far forward as he could reach, popped the green gauze net down uponthe grass. 

The other boys ran breathlessly up, while Mr Inglis drew from hispocket a large-sized pill-box and a pair of forceps, and on coming up tothe spot where Philip and the other boys were, he stooped down to securethe prize. 

"Well, where is it?" said Mr Inglis. 

"Just underneath, " said Philip. 

"I don't think it is, " said Mr Inglis, looking down at the net. 

"Oh yes, it is, " said Philip; "I'm sure I caught it. "

So Mr Inglis looked through the net in all directions, but not a signcould he see of any sulphur butterfly, for Philip had popped the netdown just behind it, and the bright-coloured fly was off and away farenough by that time. 

"Never mind; try again, " said Mr Inglis, "only don't be so impetuous;go quietly after the butterfly till you get within reach, and then pressthe net down firmly and quickly, or close it over the prize. If you goso impetuously you agitate the air, and drive a volume of it before you, which not only alarms the insect, but helps to force it out of yourreach. "

"But I was sure I had it, " said Philip. 

"Just so, " said Mr Inglis, smiling; "but it does not do to be too sureof anything. Now, Philip, " he continued, "take the net again, and seeif you cannot have a little better success; there's one of the littleblue butterflies hovering over that dry bank--there, where we picked theharebells last year. Don't you see it?--it almost looks like a harebellitself. "

"Oh! I see it now, " said Philip, seizing the net and rushing off. 

"Not so fast--not so fast, " cried Mr Inglis; but it was of no use, forPhilip darted up to the bank, and as he did so the little blue butterflygently rose in the air, and disappeared over the hedge into the nextfield. 

"Here, Fred, " said Mr Inglis, handing his nephew a small bag net fittedto a joint of a fishing-rod; "now try what you can do, and see if youcannot creep up quietly without all that rush and fuss your cousinsmake. Now, then, there goes another sulphur butterfly. "

Fred started off, and followed the insect all along one side of thefield by the wood, and then partly along the other, when the game gentlyrose and went over to the other side. But there was a gap in the hedge, and Fred crept through; but on reaching the other side no butterflycould he see for a minute, when all at once it rose from a flower closebeside him, and began flitting down the hedge-side again. At last italighted upon a bunch of Mayflower, quite low down, a late cluster thatought to have been out in bloom a month earlier; and now Fred crept upcloser and closer till he stood within reach, when he dashed the netdown and just missed the insect, which began to rise, when, recoveringhis net, Fred made another flying dash, and to his great delight he sawthat the yellow treasure was fluttering about inside. 

Just then his uncle and the boys came through the gap, and thebutterfly, which Mr Inglis said was a very fine specimen, was securedand placed in one of the large pill-boxes. 

The captures now made became frequent: at one time it was a gorgeouspeacock admiral, with the splendid eyes upon its wings; then one of thepretty tortoiseshell butterflies, or a red admiral, with its lovelylace-edged wings; then again, one of the curious dusky-veined, or anorange-tipped, with its under wings so beautifully traced with green. Down by the pond side, too, they captured some of the fierce libellulae, the gauzy-winged dragon-flies, that darted about with such a powerfulflight over the water, and then hovered apparently motionless, as thoughlooking at their beautiful bodies reflected on the bright surface. Onone bank, too, a bright little green lizard was captured, and carefullysecured, to place in one of the fern cases; besides which there wererose beetles, watchmen, spiders, and tiny flies, that Fred consideredwere neither curious nor pretty, but which Mr Inglis said were quitethe contrary, being both curious and pretty, or, rather, beautiful, ashe would show Master Fred when they reached home. There were plenty ofspecimens, too, to have been obtained from the water; but this was not awater expedition, so they contented themselves with the productions ofthe air, and rich indeed was this part of the country in insect wonders. Fred at first only looked upon the gaily-painted butterflies, andbright rose beetles, as being beautiful, till he heard some of theexplanations from Mr Inglis, when he found that in some of the smallestinsects they captured there were ten times the beauties and wonders thatwere to be found in their larger companions. There were numberlessthings that he would have passed over because they were not striking atthe first glance, but which the eye of the naturalist had sought out, and made known to those who had not chosen insect life for their study. Fred never before saw such plumes of feathers as some little gnats woreon their heads, nor knew of such a wondrous or dangerous instrument asthe sting of a bee, so fine and so sharp; and yet fine as it was, ableto contain a channel by which the minute portion of poison was injectedinto the tiny wound to rankle and create such great pain. 

"But come, " said Mr Inglis, "we must talk about these things when weget back to-night, and have the microscope out. We must have some morespecimens yet. Try after those great cabbage butterflies, boys'--thosewe have are getting very shabby in appearance. "

Away started Harry and Philip, forgetting in a moment all the advicethey had received, and dashing off after the inserts in a wild chase, that ended, of course, in the butterflies soaring up out of reach, andthe boys coming back hot and out of breath to be laughed at by theirfather and Fred. 

At last they reached Mr Benson's farm, where they were most cordiallyreceived by the farmer's happy-faced dame, who seemed delighted to seeher belated friends again, and soon had them into the house to feastupon fresh-gathered strawberries and some of the thick yellow cream thatshe skimmed morning and night from the pans in her snowy dairy; and whenthey had finished, and Mr Inglis was having a quiet chat with FarmerBenson about crops, and markets, and similar matters, which Harryclassed together as "all bother, " Mrs Benson showed the boys her famousdairy, which I was quite right in calling "snowy, " for it was ineverything of the whitest and coldest. For Mrs Benson's dairy wasfamous for the butter and cream it produced, and was well known at allthe markets round, for from nowhere else was there such sweetgolden-looking butter to be obtained. 

After Fred had been initiated in the mysteries of churning and cheesepressing, they all went into the orchard, and saw what a goodly promiseof apples there was, and then and there Mrs Benson promised them abasketful, which she said she would send to them at the school. Theninto the garden, which seemed to be overflowing with fruit andvegetables; and then into the farm-yard to see the fowls, cows, andcalves, and have a peep in at the great brindle bull, whose lowthundering bellow made the door vibrate and rattle upon its hinges, andwho turned round his great heavy, stupid-looking face to the full lengthof his bright chain, and stared at his visitors as much as to say, "Didyou ever see such a great bull-headed thing before in all your life?"He seemed to be anything but the great savage, roaring beast that Fredhad expected to see. But for all his dull look, this very bull couldfly into a passion sometimes when he was out in the fields, and stampand bellow and tear up the ground, making the sods fly in alldirections. He once charged at the cowman who was going to drive thecows all up for milking, and as soon as the man saw him coming away heran for the gate, and after him came the bull, full tear. The more thecowman ran the more the bull ran, till at last the gate was reached, andover it went the poor fellow, in a half jump, half tumble sort offashion, and then away again on the other side; while the bull, evidently considering the gate as unworthy of his notice, disdained totry and leap, but went rush at it like a small railway train at acrossing where the gates have been accidentally left open. 

"Crash" went the gate, and "Bellow" went the bull, for it really hurthim, as was testified by one of his horns being broken short off, makingthe poor beast stop short, and stamp and bellow louder than ever; and, giving up all thought of chasing the cowman, run tearing round the fieldin a great clumsy gallop, frightening the cows till they all did thesame, with tails sticking straight up, and having plenty of difficultyto get out of the poor bull's way, I say "_poor_" bull, for the animalmust have been suffering intense pain, though he deserved very littlepity, for there is no knowing what might have been the cowman's fate ifit had not been for the gate. 

When the visitors stood looking at the great staring-eyed, one-hornedbeast, the place was quite well, and but for the one-sided appearancegiven to him by the ragged stump having been sawn short off, there wasno trace of the feat he had performed in rushing at the gate. 

There was so much to see at the farm that Mr Inglis had a hard matterto get away; besides which, the farmer and his dame were very anxiousthat they should all stay to tea, and the lads had not the slightestobjection; but Mr Inglis said, when they came out for a specifiedpurpose they ought no to turn aside from it, and now; as they had paidtheir visit to the farm, as previously arranged, they ought to return totheir collecting, for the moths would now be coming out fast. 

At last they were off, and this time took their way across the meadowsby the river side, so as to get to the wood again a couple of milesnearer home, Mr Inglis considering that several pleasing objects ofnatural history might here be collected. 

They had not gone far before he called the attention of the boys to theEphemene or Mayflies dancing up and down in their beautiful light overthe banks of the stream. Beautiful little objects they seemed, withtheir spotted wings and three tails, as straight up they flew rapidlyfor five or six feet, and then, spreading out wings and tails, allowedthemselves, without effort, but with evenly balanced bodies, to sinkdown again, presenting a beautiful appearance as the fast descending sunshone sideways upon them. 

Fred could have stopped for half an hour watching these Mayflies, buttime was flying as well, and they had to get home to tea; but two orthree fine specimens were captured by Mr Inglis and put safely in asmany pill-boxes, and during their stay as many more were snapped up bythe fish in the river. Then on the party went again towards the wood, capturing insect treasures as they passed through the pleasant greenmeadows and by hedge-rows, all now of a bright golden green with therays of the sinking sun. Now it was a great stag-beetle that wascaught--a great horny-headed and horny-bodied fellow, so strong that hecould force his way out of a closed hand by sheer pushing, like hisfriend the cockchafer, who now began to whirr and drone about under theshady boughs of the trees, but who would not come near enough to becaptured, till at last one of them came bump up against Mr Inglis'shat, in its headlong flight, when Fred picked it out of the grass whereit had fallen, and was astonished at the slow but strenuous efforts theinsect made to escape. 

As they came up to the wood Fred stopped short, for from out of its darkrecesses came a peculiar whirring sound, as if somebody was busy with aspinning-wheel. 

"Chur-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, " went the noise, rising and falling, now fartheroff, now nearer, and all the time kept up with the greatest regularity. 

"Whatever is that?" said Fred to his cousins. 

"Oh!" said Harry, laughing, "that's old Dame Durden spinning her yarn. "

"What?" said Fred incredulously. 

"There, look, " said Mr Inglis, for the noise had stopped. "There goesHarry's Dame Durden;" and just then there came swooping out of the woodwith noiseless flight, a large brown bird, which then went skimmingalong by the wood-side and back to where there stood a noble beech withwide-spreading boughs, beneath whose shade the bird went circling roundwith a beautifully easy flight, sometimes keeping quite in the shade, and every now and then rising higher up the tree; but still skimmingalong almost like a swallow, "There, " said Mr Inglis again, when theyhad watched the bird for some minutes, "that is the way to turnentomologist; see how easily that bird captures the moths that flitround the tree. If we could only secure specimens like that, what rareones we should get sometimes of those that always fly high out of ourreach! There, did you see him catch that moth, high up above the bigbough? With what a graceful curve he turned upon the wing, caught it, and then dipped downward. See, he must have got a mouthful, and hasgone off to the wood again, where perhaps he has nestlings. "

"Well, but, " said Fred, "that can't be a swallow, it is so big, and Ithought swallows were the only birds that caught flies and moths uponthe wing. "

"No, " said Mr Inglis, "it is not a swallow, though it has similarhabits, and always catches its prey upon the wing. It is a bird thatbears a good many different names; one of the most appropriate is thatof the `night-jar, '--though it is not really a night bird, but more ofthe twilight. It is called `jar, ' from the peculiar jarring noise whichyou heard, just like that made by the vibrating of a spinning-wheel. Insome places they call it the `goatsucker, ' from a foolish idea that itsucked the milk from the goats, as it is sometimes seen to fly closedown to them, and, between the legs of various animals, to capture theflies that infest them in the soft, tender parts of their bodies. Aglance at the bird's great gaping mouth should be sufficient to convinceanybody that it was meant for nothing else but catching flies, and thespiny fringe of hair at the side for caging them there when caught. Insome places it is called the `night-hawk, ' and I should scarcely thinkthere is any bird that has more names than our friend there. "

A few more moths and insects were captured, among which was a very finepuss moth, whose downy appearance made it a great object of attractionto the boys, as was also one of those noble-looking insects, the privethawk moth, which was also captured, with gold-tails, tigers, etc, etc;and at last, regularly tired out, the lads walked quietly along by theside of Mr Inglis, listening to the mellow evening notes of the cuckoo, the distant lowing of the cows, and the occasional "tink, tink" of asheep bell; while skimming along the surface of the fields, thenever-tired swallows kept sweeping away the flies front out of theirpath. With the setting sun, however, the last swallow disappeared; andone by one in the pearly-grey sky appeared the stars; and then, loud, sweet, and clear, from out the grove came the notes of the nightingales, ringing away through the distance, till bird answered bird, and the songseemed almost continuous, cheering the party till they finished theirwalk. 

Mr Inglis had been highly amused with Harry's humorous description ofhow they had attacked the citadel of the wasps. And how ignominiouslythey had been put to flight; and told them how foolish their plan was, for they might have been sure that a large number of the insects wouldbe out, seeking for food; and, as they would be constantly returning, they would be certain to attack those whom they found interfering withtheir castle; for soldiers as they were among insects, and armed toowith such a powerful weapon, the attack was nothing more than the boysmight have expected. However, he promised the lads that he would assistthem the next evening, and detailed his plan of attack, giving them along description of the way he should proceed, for he saw that theycould hardly get along; but his account so took up their attention, thatjust in the midst of one of his remarks they reached the gates, and heexclaimed:--"Now, boys, enough entomology for one day; for, like you, I'm tired out; so let's see what Mamma there, who is waiting at thedoor, has in store for us. "

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. 

RATTING WITH DICK. --THE END OF THE WOPSES. 

The evening after the entomological ramble passed away very quietly, forthe boys were too tired to care for anything but the hearty tea theymade, which partook more of the nature of a supper; and after this therewas such a disposition for sleep exhibited by the whole of the party, not excluding the Squire himself, that Mrs Inglis very soon began totalk about bed; and toe had to talk very loudly, too, for Harry hadcurled himself up in the great easy chair, dormouse fashion; Fred wassitting at the table with a book, whose leaves he was keeping fromflying open by resting his head upon them; while Philip was seated on asmall ottoman by his father's knees, and resting against them, fastasleep, as was also the Squire himself. 

Mrs Inglis looked up from the fancy work upon which she was engaged, and could not help smiling at the appearance the rest of the inmates ofthe room presented. However, judging that at all events the juniorportion would be far better in bed, she proceeded to arouse them, whichwas no easy task; and at last got them out of the room, Harry being byfar the most sleepy, and yawning fearfully as he was led off to bed. 

The next morning Fred was the first awake, and, after rousing hiscousins, he went to the window to raise the blind, when he found it tobe a regular soaking wet morning, one with a heavy, leaden-hued sky, andthe rain coming down "plish-plash" from the leaves and branches, andupon the edges of the verandah the drops running together like glassybeads until too heavy to hang, when they dropped upon the stones below, just in the same places where they had fallen for years, and wore thestone away into hollows. Little streams were slowly running down by thesides of the gravel-walks, and every bit of path looked muddy and dirty. As for the birds, they did not seem to mind the rain a bit, but werehurrying about the grounds picking up the worms, slugs, and snails thatthe cooling rain had fetched out of their hiding-places, so that theywere having a regular feast; while one thrush, who had evidently been anearly bird, and had the first pick at the worms, was up, high up, in thecedar at the corner of the field, whistling away as though the happiestof birds. The roses were getting washed clear of the blight that hadbegun to cover them; and everything seemed to be drinking in the softcooling drops that fell so gently and bathed the face of nature, forduring Fred's visit the only rain that had fallen was that whichaccompanied the thunderstorm, and since then the hot sun had drawn allthe moisture from the surface, so that many things began to appearparched, and to flag in the noontide heat. Altogether it was a regularsoaking morning; and, after being very tired overnight, when people getup on these very wet soaky mornings they are liable to get low-spirited, and to feel dull--there is a want of elasticity in the air, and theconsequence is that folks feel yawny, or gapish, whichever is the bestword; and after looking out at the gloomy prospect--for places will lookrather gloomy in these heavy rains, which are very different things tothe soft, passing showers which lay the parched dust, and when the sunshines forth brighter than ever soon after, and makes the pearly dropsglitter and sparkle where they hang to spray or leaf--I say, afterlooking out at the gloomy prospect, people often turn round and look attheir bed, and the nice comfortably-shaped impression they left there;and I have known people so weak as to get into bed again and go tosleep; and amongst those weak enough to get into bed was Fred; but hewould have required to have been strong enough to go to sleep, for, directly after, Harry and Philip charged into the room nearly dressed;and seeing what Fred had been doing, they seized the clothes, whiskedthem off, and then pretended to smother the poor idler with his ownpillow. 

"Now ain't that sneaky, Phil, to call two fellows up and then go andcrawl into bed again? Fetch the sponge. "

But Fred did not wait for the sponge, for he began to shuffle into hisclothes as hard as ever he could. 

"Well, look what a miserable, cold, wet morning it is, " said thesluggard. 

Harry ran to the window and looked out, and then made a grimace at theweather. "Oh, " said he, "what a bother; and we were going up the CampHill botanising. "

"No, we weren't, " said Philip; "Papa said we should not go till Monday. "

"Good job, too, " said Harry; "but never mind, we'll find something todo, see if we don't. Oh! I know; Papa promised to bring out themicroscope last sight and show us the insects, only we all went tosleep. I was so jolly tired. "

"You weren't so tired as I was, " said Philip. 

"Yes, I was, " said Harry, "ever so much more. "

"I know you weren't, " said Philip. 

"How do you know that?" said Harry. 

"How do you know that you were?" said Philip. 

"Because I felt so, " said Harry. 

"Well, so did I, " said Philip. 

"Oh! bother, " said Harry, finding no bottom to the argument. "I knowwho was most tired; it was Fred, for he went to sleep first with a bitof bread and butter in his mouth. "

"I didn't, " said Fred, indignantly. 

"That you did; didn't he, Philip? and Pa and Ma both laughed at him; andI wasn't so sleepy but that I saw Pa get Kirby and Spence's `Tomology'down to read, and lean back in his chair himself--now then!"

During this dispute no progress was made in the dressing; but, uponHarry suggesting that they should go and peep at the specimens theyobtained on the previous evening, they all scrambled through the rest oftheir dressing, and hurried down to the Study, where all the boxes hadbeen placed overnight. 

Harry finished dressing first, and would have run down stairs, but wasprevented by Philip, who locked the door, and then passed the key toFred, so that Master Harry was compelled to wait until the others wereready. At last they descended by sliding down the banisters, Philipleading off, and Harry nearly upsetting him at the bottom by slidingdown too quickly and coming into sharp contact. At last they burst, pell-mell, into the study, as if they were soldiers about to sack atown, and perhaps, too, a little more impetuously. 

"Gently, gently, " said Mr Inglis, who was sitting there reading;"what's the matter?"

"Oh! Papa, we did not know you were here; we came to look at thespecimens, " said Philip. 

But the specimens were not to be touched till the afternoon, for MrInglis was going over to the town. But he promised that the microscopeshould be brought out in the evening, and then sent the boys into thebreakfast parlour, where they found Mrs Inglis making the tea. 

Breakfast being finished, Mr Inglis started off through the miserable, wet, drenching morning, and the boys were left to amuse themselves asbest they could, which they did by getting ready their fishing-tacklefor the promised trip to Lord Copsedale's lake, which had been almostforgotten, so many amusements had been awaiting them day after day; butwhich it was now decided by Harry should take place on the followingTuesday morning. 

To the great delight of all, about twelve o'clock the clouds began tobreak, and the sun to peep out, so that by the time Mr Inglis returnedit was quite a fine afternoon, and he promised that he would go withthem in the evening to destroy the wasps' nest, while the afternoonbeing so fine left them at liberty to have a run and amuse themselveswith out-door sports, --always remembering, that the microscope was to bebrought out in the evening, the taking of the wasps' nest being onlylooked upon as a small portion of what was to be done. 

Mr Inglis got very little assistance over the arrangement of hisspecimens, for the excitement of catching them being past, Harry andPhilip cared very little for the more delicate operations of pinning outand arranging, which required great care and nicety--the tender wings ofa butterfly showing every rude touch and finger-mark in the despoiledfeathers or plumes with which its pinions are adorned. 

Mr Inglis was sitting in his study very busily engaged in this manner, and surrounded with entomological pins, when he saw the boys dash by thewindow in company with Dick to hunt for water-rats by the river side. 

Dick had be willing enough to go, for weather seemed no object to him--hail, rain, or sunshine, he was always ready for a hunt, race, oranything, and, by his actions, showed that he would far rather run afternothing at all than be tied-up by his kennel; this tying up being a tasknot easy to perform unless he was tired out, for Dick used to be seizedwith deaf fits upon these occasions, and would scamper off in some otherdirection, and at last have to be hunted out and ignominiously draggedto his chain, most likely by one ear, as we have seen when he was outafter the snakes; for a lover of liberty was Dick, one who abhorredchains as fully as any negro dragged from the burning coast of Africa;but the poor fellow was compelled to wear the chain for long hours everyday, and therefore his reluctance to return to his collar when, once hewas free of it. But upon this afternoon the dog was in full enjoymentof his liberty, and off to the river side, as I have said before, tohave a rat hunt. 

It was a capital hunt the boys had that afternoon, although nothing wascaptured; still Dick almost had hold of one great wet fellow by thetail, which he just managed to save by dashing into his hole as the dogcame up to it, and stood barking and snapping his teeth because he wasso disappointed. There was no end of rat holes in the bank overhangingthe river, but it appeared as though the little animals had aninstinctive aversion to making the acquaintance of a dog, for snugenough they kept themselves in the above-named holes, and, as itappeared after a couple of hours' search that no rats were to beobtained, the lads slowly sauntered back to the Grange in rather adisappointed frame of mind. But the boys consoled themselves with theidea that there was to be some good fun in the evening, when the wasps'nest would be taken; and at last, without any further adventure thanthat of Dick hunting somebody's ducklings through the horse-pond, andhaving to be pelted with large pebbles to keep him from catching one ofthem--greatly to the disgust of the owner, who would have been in agreat passion, only he knew to whom the dog belonged, and also knew thatif any mischief befel the ducklings he would be well recompensed for hisloss. However, Dick was persuaded to leave the pond at last, and, aftermaking a sort of canine fountain of himself as he shook the water out ofhis coat, he consented to walk quietly home behind his young masters, and was safely chained up by his kennel, to doze away the time, with theraven for company, until the next run he could obtain with the boys. 

As soon as tea was over, Mr Inglis made preparations for taking thewasps' nest, by making Harry take a spade and dig out a piece of stiffyellow clay from down by the little gravel pit; and then, after he hadwell-kneaded the mass, the fumigating bellows were once more obtained, plenty of hot cinders placed inside, and upon them a small quantity offlour of brimstone; after which the garden was crossed, the plantationreached, and the fallen tree reconnoitred. 

The sun was just setting, and the busy day hum of the wasps hushed to afaint, low murmur, while not a single insect could be seen either goingin or out of the hole. Mr Inglis then made Harry apply the mass ofclay to the nozzle of the bellows, and fix it tightly round them, sothat when the instrument was applied to the hole the clay could bepushed close up, and every cranny closed by the plastic mass, so thatnothing but the deadly vapour would go in. 

At last all was ready, and the first puff was given by Philip, for hewas operating under the direction of his father. At that first puff ofthe bellows the faint hum within the fallen tree increased to almost aroar, as the infuriated little insects vainly rushed about to gain anexit from the suffocating prison in which they were closely confined. Upon hearing the noise Philip almost dropped the bellows, but, at a wordfrom his father, he kept on steadily--puff--puff--puff, till the noisewithin the tree grew fainter and fainter, and at last entirely ceased;and then they knew that the fatal work was done then the bellows werewithdrawn, the hole carefully closed up with clay, and the tree left asit was till the Monday morning, when Sam was to get some wedges and abeetle and split it open, so as to obtain the nest without damage, ifpossible. Harry was for having the tree split at once, but Mr Ingliswas of opinion that it had better be left as it was for the time, andled the way towards the house. 

As soon as they were all seated in the dining-room, Mr Inglis broughtout the large mahogany box containing the microscope, with the differentspecimens which he had prepared for inspection, and Fred was soonastonished with the wonder which he saw, such as flies' eyes, displayingwithin themselves innumerable other tiny eyes, each evidently possessingits own powers of vision. Then there was down off a butterfly's wing;the wings of flies; the wing-cases of beetles, displaying colours of themost gorgeous hues, and glittering like precious stones; tiny insects, such as seen creeping upon the opening buds of roses: and all these, with numberless other things, were displayed to the astonished boy'sgaze. Most of these had been seen by Harry and Philip many timesbefore, so that Fred had a very long inspection of the microscopicalwonders, and was greatly puzzled to understand how many hundreds oftimes any little object could be magnified; and, on afterwards lookingbeside the microscope at the speck upon the glass plate, which, when helooked through the instrument, had appeared to be of the most gorgeoustints, he could scarcely believe that both objects were the same; and hekept taking his eye from the instrument to look down the side, and then, with a wondering air, back again. 

And so the evening quickly passed away, for Mr Inglis had a largecollection of objects for the microscope, and, what was more, a genialway of chatting about them, imparting plenty of useful knowledge at thesame time, but in so interesting a manner that the boys were never-tiredof listening, and would hardly believe it when they heard at last it wasbed-time. 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. 

SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY. 

The next day being Sunday, the boys walked over to church with Mr andMrs Inglis--to the pretty old church that looked as if it was built ofivy, so thoroughly were tower, nave, and chancel covered with the darkgreen leaves, which had to be kept cut back or they would have sooncovered up the windows; and even then, long green shoots were danglingabout in all directions, ready to take advantage of a week or two'sneglect, and commence veiling the old stone mullioned windows. 

This was Fred's first visit to the church, for on the first Sundays ofhis stay the days had been lowering, and Mr Inglis read prayers in thedining-room; and now that the lad followed his cousins out of the brightsunshine, through the old porch, and into the dim venerable-lookingbuilding, everything struck him as being so very different from what hehad been accustomed to see in London. Here there were the barewhitewashed walls, with the old tablets upon them, and here and there anold rusty helmet, or a breastplate and a pair of gauntlets. Then therewere the quaint old brasses of a knight or squire and his wife, with astep-like row of children by their side, and all let in the old blueslabs that paved the floor, ever which the worshippers of succeedinggenerations had passed for hundreds of years since. Then, too, therewas the recumbent figure of the Knight Templar lying cross-legged, withhis feet resting upon a dog, or some curious heraldic beast, and carvedto represent his having worn chain, armour; the old oak pulpit; thefragments of stained glass in the windows; and, above all, the quaintappearance of many of the country people, dressed as they were in theirSunday best. These were among the things that took Fred's especialattention when he first entered the old village church; but when, instead of an organ, the choir commenced singing to the accompaniment ofan old clarionet, a bassoon, and bass viol, Fred was completelyastonished, for he had never been in a church before where there was notan imposing-looking instrument, with its large rows of gilt pipes. However, the hymn, in spite of the bad accompaniment, was very sweetlysung, and the service beautifully read in the soft silence of that old, old church, with the thousand scents of the country floating in throughthe open doors and windows, like Nature's own incense entering thetemple of Nature's God. 

Fred sat and listened, and by degrees all that was quaint and odd seemedto fade away, and leave nothing but the solemn stillness of the place, with the calm impressive voice of the clergyman telling of the goodnessand love of his Maker. Then, too, the quiet walk back, with the breezegently waving the corn now in full ear, making shade after shade ofgreen appear to sweep over the surface of the many acres of rank wheat. The river, too, seemed to sparkle clearer and brighter than ever as thebright sun's rays flashed from the little Tipples. Altogether, Fredcould not help, boy as he was, contrasting the bright country air andthe lovely landscape with the fashionable London church in fashionableLondon: the hot dusty pavement--the noisy street and the oppressivechoky air; and then he thought how he would like to live at Hollowdellfor ever. 

Boys are very quick in making their determinations, and Fred thought hewas quite right in his; but he had never been down there in the winter, when the clay stuck to the boots, and the leaves had forsaken the trees;when the cold soaking rain came drenching down for day after day, andofttimes the swollen river would be flooding the meadows. Fred hadnever realised the country in those times, when it was in such a statethat by preference those who could stayed as much indoors as possible;but no one, to have looked at the present aspect of things, could havesupposed such a change possible. Sunday in the country, in the longbright days of summer, truly is delightful, for it is only then that theyoung fully realise the calmness and beauty, for the cessation fromsports leaves the young minds time to think a little more upon what isaround them. 

But I find that I am getting into too serious a strain, and my youngreaders will be for skipping all this portion of my story; so I musthasten to say that the calm summer evening was spent in a delightfulwalk down by the pleasant wood-side, where out of their reach the partycould see, as it grew later, the light mists begin to curl above theriver in many a graceful fold. Fred's friend, the night-jar, was out, and the nightingale in full call, while every now and then his sweetsong was interrupted by the harsh "Tu--whoo--hoo--hoo--oo, " of an owlsomewhere in the recesses of the wood. Then the return home was made, and soon after the lads were asleep and dreaming of their botanical tripto the Camp Hill. 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. 

STALKING ON STILTS. 

"Up--up--up--up--up--hilli--hi--he--o-o-o!" shouted Harry, who was firstawake the next morning. "Come, boys, botany for ever! Di-andria andPoly-andria, and ever so many more of them, will be up the Camp Hill;and then there will be monogamia, and cryptogamia, and ever so many moregames, here, there, and everywhere. Come, boys, get up;" and then Harryaccompanied the request with a hearty bang from his pillow, the resultof which was, in the cases of both brother and cousin, a leap out of bedand a regular scuffle; then hasty dressing, and out in the garden againamongst the dew-wet flowers. 

"There's old Sam, shaving away as usual, " said Harry, as they reachedthe lawn, and saw the old man busy at work with his scythe. "I wonderwhat he has got to tell us; I know he'll have something, so as to getrid of us all. Ah! don't old Sara hate to have us with him. "

But Sam, although he expected it, was not to be teased very much uponthis morning, for Philip made a remark which completely turned thecurrent of Harry's thoughts, and away they all started back to the yard. 

Dick greeted them with rapture; but Dick was not to be let loose, and hesoon showed his disgust by sharp angry barks. The old raven cameslily--hop, hop, hop--behind them, to give some one a dig with his hardbeak; but Fred knew his tricks now and kept him at a distance; whilePhilip, who was not attending, received a sharp poke right in the calfof the leg, which sent him chasing his aggressor round the yard, armedwith the stump of an old birch broom; but the raven hopped upon thedog-kennel, then upon the wall, and from thence up into one of thehorse-chestnut trees, and so out of reach, for when the broom was thrownat him it only crashed amongst the branches and came to the ground, while the raven burst out into a series of harsh barks, that soundedvery much like a laugh of derision. 

"An old beast, " said Philip, for his leg was bleeding a little, the dighaving gone right through his trousers. "Never mind. I'll serve himout, for I'll let Dick loose at him the next time I catch him in thestables. "

Meanwhile, Harry had entered the stable and climbed up the perpendicularladder into the loft, where the boys could hear him stumping about inthe dark place, stumbling over the hay and straw trusses, and at last heshouted--

"Why, they're not here, Phil. "

"Yes, they are, " said the one addressed. "I put 'em there myself, up inthe corner, after we had them out last time. Look again. "

Harry looked again, and again, and could not find what he was in searchof, and said so; and then Philip called him "Old mole's eyes, " and wentup himself; while Fred waited underneath the trap-door. But MasterPhilip had no better success than his brother, and they came to theconclusion that the stilts they were in search of were gone; so theyturned to descend, when Harry caught sight of the position Fredoccupied, and pointed it out to Philip; and then, making signs, andcatching up an armful of hay, Philip doing the same, the result was thatpoor Fred was nearly smothered beneath the fragrant shower that camedown upon his head. 

"Oh! I'll pay you for this, Master Harry, " aid Fred, freeing himselffrom his load, and rightly judging who was the author of the mischief. "Mind that's a debt of honour, so look out. "

Harry grinned defiance, and then hunted well through both stable andcoach-house for the missing stilts, but without success. 

"Why, I know where they are, " said Philip all at once. 

"No, you don't, old clever-shakes, " said his brother. 

"Well, you see if I don't tell, " said Philip. "I know old Sam hashidden them because we walked all down the gravel-walk last month, before Fred came; and don't you remember it was wet, and we pretendedthat it was a flood, and that we were obliged to use the stilts to keepout of the water; and then Sam went and told Papa that we had made thepath all full of holes with the stilts?"

"Oh! ah! I recollect, " said Harry; "and I remember your going down inthe puddle. But do you think Sam took them?"

"I feel sure he did, " said Philip. 

"Won't we serve him out then, " said Harry. "Come on. Let's pretendthat we know he's got them, and ask for them at once. "

Now, old Sam had been all this time very methodically shaving away athis grass, and congratulating himself upon the boys keeping out of thegarden; but, to his horror and disgust, he at length saw them all comebearing down upon him full rush, evidently bent upon some errand that hewould consider unpleasant. 

"Ha!" said Sam, stopping to wipe his scythe, and drawing his rubber outof the sheath on his back. "Ha! I know what you all wants. You wantsto know how the wopses' nest is a gettin' on. "

"No, we don't, " said chief spokesman Harry; "but we'll go presently andsee, though. We want our stilts, that you've got somewhere. "

"Laws, Master Henry, " said the old man, pretending to be innocent, "whatever made you think of that?"

"Come now, " said Harry, "give 'em up directly, or we'll run away withyour tools. Give us the stilts. "

"I ain't got 'em, " said the old man. 

"No, but you've hid them away somewhere; so tell us directly. "

"Stilts--stilts, " said Sam, wonderingly; "what's stilts?"

"Why, you know well enough, " said Philip; "and I know you've hid themaway somewhere, because you thought we should forget them and not wantthem any more; so come now, Sam, tell us where they are, or we'll allbegin to plague you. "

"No, I weant, " said Sam, throwing off all disguise. "You don't wantthem, and you'll only go `brog--brog' all down the walks, making theplace full of holes, and worse than when people has been down 'em inpattens. I weant tell ee, theer, " said the old man, defiantly, in hisbroad Lincolnshire dialect. 

"Yes, you will, " said Harry; "now come. "

"I weant, " said the old man again, beginning to mow. 

"Never mind, " said Harry, "we'll go and have a look at the wasps' nest, and see if they are all killed, and then I know what we'll do. I say, Fred, " he said loudly, "Phil and I will show you how they thin grapes. "

"Oh! laws, " said old Sam to himself, and bursting out into a coldperspiration, for his grapes were the greatest objects of his pride, andhe used to gain prizes with them at the different horticultural shows inthe district. Even Mr Inglis himself never thought of laying aprofaning hand upon his own grapes, until Sam had cut them and broughtthem in for dessert; and now the young dogs were talking of thinningthem, and the sharp-pointed scissors lay all ready; and what was worse, the key was in the door of the green-house. 

"Oh dear! oh dear!" said Sam, throwing down his scythe, and hobbling offafter the boys, who kept provokingly in front, and popped into thegreen-house just before him. "There, " he said, "I'm bet out with you;come out, and I'll tell ee wheer the stilts are. "

"Honour bright, Sam?" said Harry. 

"Oh! ah! yes, " said Sam. And then the boys coming out from beneath thependent green bunches of grapes which hung thickly from the roof, theold man locked the door up, and seemed to breathe more freely when hehad the key safely in his pocket. 

"I knew he'd hid them, " said Philip. 

"Now, then, " said Harry, "where are they?"

"I've a good mind not to tell ee, you young dogs, " said Sam. 

"We'll get in at the windows, then, " said Harry and Philip in a breath. 

The old man glanced over his shoulder, and saw how easily the threatcould be executed, and then, with a grunt of despair, said--

"Now, if I let ee have 'em, will you promise not to walk in them in thegarden, and make holes?"

"Yes, yes, " said the boys, and then Sam led the way to the stoke-hole ofthe green-house, where, tucked up in the rafters, and rolled tightly upin piece of matting, were the two pairs of stilts. 

The boys seized them with delight; and Sam turned to go on with hiswork; but just as the stilt-stalkers reached the yard, and prepared tomount with their backs to the wall, clatter went the breakfast bell downwent the stilts, and away scampered the boys to the breakfast-roomwindow. On the way, however, they met Sam going also to his breakfast, and in doing so he would have to pass the yard, and Harry rememberedthat they had left the stilts there unprotected; so he and Philipscampered back again, just in time, for the old man could not pass theinstruments which poked holes in his gravel-walks, and he was justgathering them up when he heard the boys' footsteps, and, leaving thestilts on the ground, he shuffled off as hard as he could. 

They took the stilts indoors, and into the hall, to place up in acorner, and just as they were inside it struck Harry how nice it wouldbe to walk along the large hall upon them; for the floor was composed ofblack and white marble in diamonds, so that he could have one stilt on ablack diamond and another on a white, and then change about again. Sohe got his back up in the corner where the macintoshes and great-coatshung, and then put one foot in one stilt, and made a spring to get intothe other, but gave his head such a crack against the brass hat pegs, that he came down quicker than he went up, and then rubbed his crownwith a very rueful expression of countenance. However, Harry's was nota nature to be cowed at a slight difficulty; so shifting his position alittle, he had another try, and was fairly mounted. 

"Stump--stump; stump--stump; stump--stump, " went Harry down the hall;and "stump--stump; stump--stump; stump--stump, " he went back again, witha face beaming with satisfaction, but so intent upon what he was doing, that his forehead came sharply into collision with the swing lamp, andmade the glass, and Harry's teeth as well, chatter quite sharply. 

"Bother the stupid things, " said Harry; "I wish they would not have suchthings in the hall. "

Philip stood on the mat and grinned. 

"Stump--stump; stump--stump; stump--stump, " went Harry again, butkeeping well clear of obstructions this time. 

"Whatever is that noise?" said Mrs Inglis, listening to the stumping ofthe stilts; but taking no further notice, for she was making the tea, while Mr Inglis was looking over the contents of a newspaper which hadjust come in by post. 

"Stump--stump" went the stilts, while Fred had slipped out of thebreakfast-room to see what was going on, and now stood in the doorwaymaking a sort of silent echo of Philip's grin. 

"Stump--stump; stump--stump; crish--crash--dangle, " said the stilts, thelamp, and Harry's head. 

"Whatever are those boys doing?" said Mr Inglis, jumping up and goingto the door, closely followed by Mrs Inglis, and just as the young dogwas stumping back after knocking his head against the swing lamp. 

Mr and Mrs Inglis had better have stopped in the room, for no soonerdid Harry see his father's face issue from the door, than he let go ofthe stilts, and one fell in one direction, and one in the other. Stiltnumber one fell to the right, crash into the flower-stand, and choppedsome of the best branches off the fuchsias; while stilt number two--oh!unlucky stick!--went crash down upon the great antique vase that stoodin the hall upon a pedestal, knocked it off, and there it lay, shiveredupon the marble floor. 

Harry looked for a moment at his father, then at the vase, and then atthe door and rushing out of it as hard as he could, was gone in amoment. 

"Fetch back that boy, " said Mr Inglis, sternly, as he walked back intothe breakfast-parlour, and rang the bell for one of the servants toclear away the fragments. "Fetch back that boy. "

Away darted Philip to execute his commission, while Fred, who felt veryuncomfortable, followed his uncle and aunt back into the room, wherethey continued their breakfast--Mr Inglis only reverting to thenewspaper again, and saying nothing about the accident. The first cupof tea was finished, but no Philip; no Harry. The second cup--noPhilip; no Harry. And at last breakfast was nearly done, when MrInglis said--

"Wherever can those boys be?"

He had hardly spoken, when Philip came in to say that he could not findhis brother anywhere; and all the time looking as miserable and dejectedas though he had himself been the culprit Mr Inglis told Philip to sitdown to his breakfast; finished his own; and then got up, and went outof the room. 

In about a quarter of an hour he returned, followed by Harry, with hisface bearing the mark of tears, and something uncommonly like a sobevery now and then escaping from his breast. 

Mr Inglis sat down again to his paper, and Harry tried to eat hisbreakfast, but was getting or very badly indeed, until, looking towardshis father, he caught his eye. Mr Inglis smiled, and that smile seemedto act like magic upon the lad, for he finished his breakfast in goodstyle--well making up for the lost time; while the sobs gradually ceasedto interrupt his meal, and by the time he rose, Harry looked as happyagain as ever. 

After breakfast, when the boys were alone, not a word would Harry sayabout where he had been, nor yet what his father had said to him: but Ihappen to knew that it was no wonder that Philip could not find him outin the garden, nor in stable, coach-house, green-house, tool-house, orany other place upon the premises; for the fact was, that the boy hadrushed out of the hall-door and round to the back door, where he hadentered and gone up the back stairs to his room, where Mr Inglis foundhim lying upon his bed. I know also that Mr Inglis had a long talkwith his boy, and that something was said about running away, making thefault worse; but, as upon another occasion, when the Squire had a longtalk with the boys in the library; I didn't feel disposed to play thespy, and then "tell tales out of school;" for I think that wherecorrection or admonition is administered, it concerns only those to whomit relates; and I do not approve of a boy's best feelings being wounded, and his being also lowered in his self-esteem, by having witnesses ofwhat takes place, or eaves-droppers, to carry the words about for otherpeople to catch up and talk about afterwards. 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. 

UP THE CAMP HILL. 

"Oh! isn't this a pretty walk?" said Fred, later on in the day, as theywere ascending the winding road that led up the Camp Hill, a road thatat every turn disclosed fresh views over the surrounding country. Thewhole party were there--Mrs Inglis and all, and busy enough they werecollecting sprays, flowers, and leaves, as they went along; for richindeed was the hill in floral beauties, fresh and bright, as they hadjust burst forth into bloom. Fred was busy as a bee collectingeverything, and getting confused, and placing in his tin box the samekinds of plants two or three times over: but Fred was no botanist, onlyeager to learn; and very hard and tiresome to remember he found thenames his uncle told him. However, he soon learnt which were thepistils, stamens, petals, and calyx of a flower, while of the otherterms, the less we say the better; for although Fred had read a littleupon the subject, his notions of classes and orders were rather wild. But for all that, he much enjoyed his trip, for no one could haveascended that path without feeling admiration of the many beauties itdisclosed. The path had been cut entirely through the wood whichsurrounded the hill, while the feet pressed at every step upon the softgreen elastic turf, that here grew of the finest texture, and in theshortest strands. Nowhere else could be found such large heaths, withtheir beautiful pinky lilac bells looking as though moulded in wax;while harebells, orchids, anemones, arums, formed only a tithe of therich banquet of flowers which awaited the collector--and a most staunchcollector was Mr Inglis. He used to say that he was one of the mostignorant of men, and the more he collected the more he found that out. No doubt, if he had kept entirely to one science, he would have beenmore skilled therein; but he said he liked that idea of a famousessayist, who compared a man who devoted himself entirely to one thing, to a tree that sent forth a tremendously great bough in one direction, while the rest of the tree was composed of wretched little twigs. Heconsidered it better to have a little knowledge upon a good manysubjects, than to excel so greatly in one only. 

The view from the Camp Hill was one that could not be seen everywhere, for it overlooked a wide tract of the richest farm land in England. Itwas called the Camp Hill from the entrenchment at the summit, for herehad the Romans in days long gone by established one of those mightyworks that, after fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen centuries, still existby the score in our country, to show how powerful and highly-disciplinedwere the armies that the Roman Emperors sent into Britain. Fred was, however, rather disappointed at the Camp: he expected to have seenturrets and embrasures, and, if not cannon, at all events a fewcatapults and battering-rams. But no; there was nothing to be seen buta broad ditch encircling the summit of the hill, and now completelycovered with trees and bushes, so that the bottom of the great trenchformed a walk, where, even at mid-day, the sun's rays were completelyshut out, and where the nightingale would sing, all day as well as allnight long. 

I am ashamed to say that all three boys very soon tired of botanising, and were searching about the shady paths for anything or nothing, as thecase might be. Now it was after butterflies; now the discordant cry ofthe jay told of its nest being, at hand; while every now and then thescampering rustle of a rabbit amidst the underwood would start the boysoff in full chase, and in almost every instance the fruit of their huntwas, seeing the little white tail of the rabbit as its owner scuffleddown its hole under some hazel stub. Once, while they were deep in thethickest shade, Philip gave a regular jump, for a great brown owlstarted from its roosting-place in an oak-tree, and softly and slowlyflapped its way down the dell, but soon to have its flight quickened bya host of sandmartins, which began to mob the stolid-looking old fellow, till they all passed out of sight in a curve of the pathway. 

Mr and Mrs Inglis were resting in a rustic seat placed opposite one ofthe openings in the trees, where there was a splendid view right out tosea; and while Mr Inglis was scanning the horizon with his telescope, the lads felt themselves quite at liberty to have a good ramble. Theirfirst excursion was right round the hill, down in the trench, and herethere was plenty to have taken their attention for a day: there was anant-hill, swarming with those great black ants found in the woods, whosehill looks one lightly shovelled-up collection of earth: then, close athand, they heard the regular "tip-tap" of the great green woodpecker;the harsh "pee-pee-peen" of the wryneck; while, from far off, floatingupon the soft breeze, came the sweet bell-tones of the cuckoo. Directlyafter, came again the harsh cry of the jay, to be succeeded by the softcooing of the cushat doves; and every interval was filled up by thebursts of song from the small finches, thrushes, and other denizens ofthe wooded hill. In one fir tree there was a pair of tiny gold-crestedwrens, beautiful little birds, which seemed to consider that theirinsignificance was quite enough to keep them from harm. So tame werethey that they could have been struck down by a stick, which would havebeen their fate but for the interposition of Philip, who seized hisbrother's arm as he was raising his hand to deal the blow. In abox-tree they found the pretty covered-in nest of a bottle-tit, beautifully compact, with its tiny opening or doorway--feather-eaved--atthe side. It was a great temptation, and hard to resist was the sightof that nest; it was only about five feet from the ground, and theycould have cut off the branch and brought it away with the nestuninjured; but they contented themselves with marking the spot bycutting an arrow in the bark of one of the beech-trees, and promisingthemselves that they would have the nest when the birds had done withit. All at once a bird fluttered from a bush close by--a bird with alarge head and marked in the wings with a good deal of white, and offwent the boys in chase; but almost at the first start, Philip stumbledby catching his foot in a long bramble runner, and went down sprawlingamongst the heather, with Harry upon his back, for he could not pull uptime enough to prevent stumbling over his brother. Away went Fred, allalone, and very soon he captured the strange bird, for its wing had beenbroken; but the muscles of the great beak it had were in a good state ofpreservation, as Fred soon knew to his cost, by the nip the prisonedbird gave him. 

Fred shouted out with the pain, but he had grown more stoical since hissojourn in the country, and he held on tightly to his prize, which Harrydeclared, when he saw it, was a chaffinch with a swelled head; butafterwards, when they brought it to Mr Inglis, he told the boys it wasa fine male specimen of the hawfinch, or grosbeak, rather a rare bird inthe British Isles. A temporary cage was made for the prisoner by tyinghim up in a pocket-handkerchief, and then the party continued theirramble, finding fresh objects to take their attention at every step. Once a weasel ran out into the path, sat up a moment to look at thestrangers, and then disappeared on the other side. 

Fred was for giving chase, but his cousins gave him to understand howfruitless such a task would be; so he gave up his intention, and onwardthey still went, with fresh beauties springing up before them everyminute. If they had been botanically disposed, they might have filledtheir boxes with mosses and lichens, from the tiniest green to thebright orange golden that clung round the branches and sprays of thebushes. Some of the beeches were almost covered with grey or creamypatches, of the most beautiful patterns and tints; while wherever arotten bough, or fallen tree, lay upon the ground, the moss seemed tohave taken full possession, and completely covered it with a velvetypile. 

"I'm so thirsty, Phil, " said Harry, all at once; "where's the oldspring?"

"Oh! ever so far down the hill; and I don't know which side we are onnow. Let's get back to Papa: I know there's something in the basket. Come along. "

"It's no use to go back, " said Harry, "let's go straight forward; theycan't be far-off; I'll shout. "

And shout he did, when a reply came from no very distant spot; so theystruck off in the direction from which the sound proceeded, and soonfound themselves again by the trench, where a portion of the gravellysoil had crumbled away, leaving the side so steep that Philip had tojump down about five feet before he could descend further. Harrythought this a capital chance for a practical joke, and gave a heavystamp with his heel, so as to send a small avalanche of gravel andstones down upon his brother. But Harry had not calculated rightly thistime, for Philip, as he heard the stones coming, made a buck leap, andcame several feet lower down the side of the trench amongst the bushes;whilst Harry, by his stamp, loosened about a cartload of gravel, and, incompany with Fred, went down with it, and they were buried up to theknees in the loose soil. 

The first sensation felt was fear; but, upon finding that there was nofurther mischief to apprehend, Harry burst out laughing; Fred extricatedhimself, for he was in the loosest part of the heap of _debris_; whilePhilip, who was to have been the victim, seeing that his brother wasstuck fast, indulged in a kind of triumphant dance round him, softlypunching his head, and, of course, making the soil tighter at everyjump. 

"Oh! don't, Phil, " said Harry; "pull a fellow out--there's a good chap. "

But Philip would not, and threatened to leave him to his fate; so Harryappealed to Fred, and at last, by his assistance, got one leg out, whenfreeing the other proved an easy task. After which his lordship had tosit down and pull off his boots, to empty out the gravel and sand. 

Meanwhile Fred was looking at the place where the earth had crumbleddown, for his curiosity had been excited by what at first sight appearedto be a bit of old iron, of a very peculiar shape, and then, just beyondit, what bore the appearance of a bone, but so earthy that it crumbledunder his foot. 

"I say; look here, " said he, pointing to something half enclosed inearth; "what's that?"

"Why, it's a skull, " said Philip, coming up. 

"You're a skull!" said Harry, leisurely buttoning up his boots again. 

"Well, come and look, " said Philip. 

"Not I, " said Harry; "you're up to some tricks. "

"I'm not, I tell you, " said Philip; "it's a skull, and there's anotherbit of one, and some bones; and here's an old farthing, such a thickone, and so badly made; and, ugh! why, that's a bit of jawbone, with allthe teeth fallen out. "

Just then Harry came up to them and saw that, indeed, they had hit uponsomething more curious--if less attractive--than anything they hadbefore been that day. 

"Why, this isn't a farthing, " said Fred, who had been examining thecoin; "I know what it is, it's a Roman coin. My Papa has got one, something like it. "

Just then they heard Mr Inglis calling close at hand, and Philipbounded off to fetch him and tell of their discovery. This hastened theSquire's steps, and very soon he was carefully inspecting what the boyshad laid bare. He immediately confirmed Fred's opinion that the coinwas Roman, and also said that it was of silver, and appeared to bear thename of Constantine. Fred's piece of old iron was unmistakably theblade of a sword, but almost completely eaten away, and the bones andtwo skulls were directly pronounced to be human; but they crumbled awayto dust almost immediately. 

"Bravo, boys, " said Mr Inglis at last; "you have indeed made adiscovery. I have long been under the impression that this old trenchmust contain some curious antiquities, but never thought to see themlaid bare in so singular a manner. We must have spades and pickaxes uphere to-morrow, if we can get permission: but let's turn over the gravelwith our sticks; we may, perhaps, find something more to-day. "

"But won't the skulls and bones be nasty, and poisonous, uncle?" saidFred. 

Mr Inglis smiled, and then said, "No, my boy. You have read how thatGod made Adam of the dust of the earth, and how that it is said, `Todust thou shalt return, ' and here you see how that it is so. Touch thatbone ever so lightly, and you sea it has crumbled away to `dust of theearth!' God has so arranged, by His great wisdom, that the earth shalldeprive everything of its ill odour and poisonous nature when buriedtherein, so that even in some great pit upon a battle-field where, perhaps, scores--of the slain had been covered-in, in the course of timenothing would be found there but rich soil, for our bodies arechemically composed of nothing but salts and water. I do not mean whatwe commonly call salt, which is chloride of sodium, but of earthysalts. "

"Well, but how can that be, Papa?" said Harry. "Has it ever beenproved?"

"Oh! yes, my boy; and in no way more simply than by the very people whodug this trench. What did they often do with their dead, Harry?"

"Why, buried them, didn't they?" said Harry. "Oh! no, I know; they usedto make a great wicker idol, and put them in and burn them. "

"Why, those were the Ancient Britons, who used to do that with theirprisoners, " said Fred. 

"Oh, ah; so it was, " said Harry; "I forgot. "

"Why, they used to burn them; didn't they, Papa?" said Philip. 

"To be sure they did, " said his father. "And what were their urns for?"

"Oh! I don't know, " said Harry, "if it wasn't to make tea with. "

"For shame, Hal, " said Mr Inglis, good-humouredly. "Why, the ashes ofthe dead were collected and preserved in these cinereal urns; and whatare ashes but earthy salts? Of course, in the process of burning, thewater would be entirely driven off. But, look, Fred has turned upanother coin. "

For want of more effective tools than walking-sticks, the search forrelics was not very successful. Fred found another coin, and Mr Inglisturned out two more; but nothing else was discovered, though it wasevident that a protracted search would lead to the discovery of perhapsmany curious antiquities; for Mr Inglis said that this had been a veryimportant station in the time of the Roman occupation of Britain; and heregretted that the owner of that property was not a person who took aninterest in such matters. 

Mr Inglis tried very hard to raise one of the skulls; but although theone that had been in the most perfect state at first seemed hard enoughto roll down the slope, yet, upon being touched, it seemed to be nothingelse but earth. 

At last the signal for starting was given, and, laden with treasures, the little party slowly moved homeward. The walk was lovely, for thesun was sinking behind them, so that the whole landscape and the far-offsea were flooded with the golden light. The heat of the day, too, waspassed, and for the most part they walked home in the pleasant shade ofthe trees, while, one by one, as the golden sunset paled, the moths andbats came out; the night-jar took his hawking flight round the trees;the beetles boomed and whirred; and just as they left the wood, as if tosay farewell, an owl cried out, "Tu--whoo--oo!" and then was perfectlysilent again. The evening now seemed so cool and fresh that the boysforgot their fatigue, and kept on chatting and planning for futureexcursions till they reached the gates of the Grange, just as the sunceased to gild the weathercock at the top of the church spire. 

"Now, boys, be quick, " said Mr Inglis, "for I'm sure we all want teaafter such a walk as we have had; so hurry, hurry, and come down againquickly; and after tea we will see whether we can find out to whatperiod the coins belong. "

If ever Mr Inglis was quickly obeyed it was upon this occasion, and, asto making a meal, I think no boys ever could--but, there--it is not fairto talk about it, for anybody would have felt hungry after such a ramblethrough the woods and over the hills. But at last the meal was ended, and Mr Inglis brought out his coins, and one or two books of reference. His first movement was to try and clean off the rust of about fifteencenturies--which time must have elapsed since they were last employed as"current money of the merchant:" but the efforts were not verysuccessful, neither were the attempts at deciphering the inscriptions, which were very faint and illegible; so he gave up the task for thatevening; for, if the truth must be told, Mr Inglis was, like the boys, very tired, and not much disposed for study. As to Harry, he expressedan opinion to his cousin in a very low tone, that the Romans were allbother, and so was their language. But, by way of excuse, it must besaid that Harry was very tired; and when people are very tired, theyoften say very cross and very stupid things; and this must have been thecase at this particular moment, or Harry would never have made such aremark to his cousin Fred. 

Mr Inglis afterwards had a long correspondence with the owner of theproperty, relative to the advisability of making excavations in the oldintrenchment; but nothing satisfactory came of it, for there did notseem to be any disposition to grant Mr Inglis's request; and, therefore, the place remained unexamined. 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. 

HIGH FLYING. 

The next morning the boys had their regular run in the garden beforebreakfast, and then Harry divulged the plan of their morning'samusement--for the next day was to be devoted to fishing at LordCopsedale's lake, when they hoped to persuade Mr Inglis to accompanythem; the present day, which was first chosen, not being consideredsuitable, as Mr Inglis was going from home. Directly after breakfast, they set about the first part of Harry's plan, which was to get all thebaits and tackle ready for the next day--a most business-likeproceeding, but quite in opposition to Harry and Philip's general habit, for they in most cases left their preparations to the last moment. Butnot so now, for, as I said before, they wanted Papa to accompany them, and they well knew that he would not go unless there were plenty of goodbaits, and the tackle all in order. The first thing to be done seemedto be to get some good worms from down by the cucumber-frames, and thenput them in some cool damp moss; but Philip opposed this, and showedsome little degree of foresight, for, said he--

"We have never had the wasps' nest out of the tree yet; and we shallwant the grubs, for Papa likes them for the trout and chub, and we shallwant old Sam to split the tree up with his big wedges; while, if we gopoking about round the cucumber-frames first, he'll turn grumpy, andwon't split the old willow-tree for us. "

"That's right, Phil, so let's go and get the tree split first; and thenwe'll turn up the old cucumber bed in fine style, " said Harry. 

Sam was soon found, but Sam was busy. Sam was weeding the "inguns, " and"inguns was more consekens than the nasty wopses. " So Sam had to becoaxed and cajoled; but Sam would not be either coaxed or cajoled, forhe was very grumpy indeed; and the reason was, that he had had the lawnto mow that morning, and there had been no dew, and the consequence was, the grass, instead of being easy to cut from its crispness and dampness, was very limp and wiry, so that poor Sam had a very hard andunsatisfactory job, and the effect of it all was that he was as limp andwiry as the grass had been. It was of no use to say, "Do, Sam, " or "Do, please, Sam, " or "That's a good old chap, now, " or anything of thatkind; for Sam weeded away viciously amongst the onions, and turned adeaf ear to everything; so Harry, the impetuous, was beginning to growcross too, and to repent that they had not obtained the worms at first, when Sam showed the weak side of his nature, and from that moment he wasa conquered man. 

"Ugh!" said Sam, straightening himself with a groan, and rubbing hisback where it ached, "Ugh! how blazing hot the sun is--always does shinelike that when I be weeding. Oh, my back! Oh, dear!" And then Samgroaned, and stooped to his work again, saying, "And nobody never asksnobody to have so much as a drop o' beer. "

"I'll fetch you some beer, Sam, if you'll go with us, " said Harry. 

But Sam didn't want any beer. Oh, no! He could do his work withoutbeer. He never did do more than wet his lips; and so on. But Sam hadgiven up the key of his fortress, and very soon Harry had been up to thehouse to fetch a jug of foaming, country, home-brewed ale, such as wouldreally refresh the old man in his toil; for the day had set inexcessively hot, and bade fair to become worse--if such an expression isnot a contradiction. So Harry took the cool jug up to the old man, but"No! he didn't want beer!"

But he did, though he would not own to it, and what was more, he wantedcoaxing; and until he was coaxed, Sam growled away as much as ever, andweeded his onions. 

"I say, Sam, " said Harry, with a knowing grin upon his countenance, andpushing the jug just under the old man's nose, "I say, how good itsmells!"

Sam couldn't help it, he got a good whiff of the foaming ale in hisnostrils, and he surrendered, sighed, and stretched out his hand for thejug, and then took such a hearty draught, that it seemed as though henever wanted to breathe again. 

"Ha-a-a-a, " said Sam at last, with a comical look at Harry. 

"Shall I fetch you the wedges, Sam?" said Harry. 

"Eh?" said Sam. 

"Shall I fetch the wedges?" said Harry again. 

Sam did not answer for a minute, for his face was buried in the beerjug; but when he took it away again, he gave another sigh, wiped hismouth with the back of his hand, and then said in a very different toneof voice to the one he had spoken in before--

"Well, I 'spose you may as well. "

So the wedges and the great mallet were soon fetched, when they all wentoff to the fallen willow, which soon gave way to the blows bestowed uponit, and displayed a large hollow containing the papery nest of thewasps. 

Fred gazed with astonishment at the curious structure, with itsinnumerable cells, many of which contained the grubs mentioned inconnection with the fishing excursion. The poor wasps were lying deadby the hundred, and were shaken out, brushed into a heap, and thenburied by Sam, who seemed to have an idea that, if this latter processwere not attended to, they would most probably come to life again. There was no fear of that, however, for the suffocating had been mosteffectually performed, and not a living wasp was visible. 

By means of a little careful cutting, the nest was removed from thehollow tree almost entire, and, without remembering to say "thank you"to old Sam, the boys carried the nest up to the house, and then went insearch of their worms. Harry soon fetched a fork, and Philip carriedthe moss-bag, while Fred, who hardly liked to touch the wriggling, "nasty things, " as he called them, looked on. 

Now Fred was not much of a student of nature after all, or he would nothave called worms "nasty things, " but have taken more notice of them asthey were turned out of their damp bed, and seen that they were clothedwith a skin whose surface reflected colours of prismatic hue, as brightand perfect as those seen upon some pearly shells. He would have seenhow wonderfully the worms were constructed for the fulfilment of theirapportioned position in the animal kingdom; how, without legs, or thepeculiar twist of the snake, they crept swiftly over the ground by meansof their many-ringed bodies; and also learned that, by their constanttunnelling of the ground, they prevented the water that sank from thesurface from lying stagnant amidst the roots of the trees, and thusrotting them, but enabled it to fertilise larger spaces. Then, too, bytheir peculiar habit of drawing down dead leaves and straws, and smalltwigs, how all these rotted beneath the surface, and helped to renew thestrength of the earth. Their casts, too, those peculiar little heapswhich they throw up at the mouth of their dwellings, formed anothersource of fertility to the earth, by bringing up from beneath thesurface unspent soil, and spreading it upon the top. 

However, I must say, that I believe the boys thought of nothing elsethen, but of getting the finest red worms, and those marked with yellowrings round the body, as being especial favourites with the perch at thegreat lake. 

At last a sufficiency had been obtained and put on one side in a coolplace; and now a tin box with a pierced lid was brought out half filledwith sand, and the boys started off to the village butcher's, to getsome gentles or maggots. This time they did not choose the path byWater Lane, as on the morning when they went to buy the newwater-bottle, but strolled round by the road, talking earnestly of thesports of the following day. Fred listened very attentively as theytrudged along, and rather strange were the ideas he had stored uprespecting the big lake by the time they reached the butcher's; itcontained fish of wonderful size--monsters, which always lay snugly atthe bottom of deep holes beneath overhanging trees--such profoundly deepholes! and when, by a wonderful chance, one of these enormous fellowswas hooked, down he went to the bottom and struck his tail into the mud, so that it was impossible to draw him out, and then of course the linebroke. 

"Ah, " Harry said, "there were wonderful fish in that great clear-wateredlake, with its bright gurgling stream, that came dashing down from thehills, and entered one end to leave it at the other in a cascade, thatwent plashing down the mossy stones, and along in a chain of streamletsand pools through the dark recesses of the wood, till it joined theriver half a mile below. There never could have been such beautifulgolden-scaled carp anywhere else, nor such finely-marked perch; while, as for eels, they were enormous. The pike, too, were said to be solarge and so tame, that they would come to the side to be fed, andtherefore would have been easy to capture; but his lordship forbade anyone pike-fishing in his lake, this being a luxury he retained forhimself, except on special occasions, when he invited a friend to joinhim. "

By listening to such a glowing account of the place, Fred's mind grew soexcited that he would have liked to have started at once for the lake, and feasted his eyes upon the wonders; but the butcher's was nowreached, and the fat dame in the shop having been told of the cause oftheir visit, "Willum, " the boy, was called, who armed himself with askewer, and then took the lads to a vile-smelling shed, where lay a heapof sheepskins and a bullock's hide, and from the insides of these, and, by poking out from amongst tendons of an old shin bone, the little tinbox was soon filled with the great, fat, white maggots, the end of whoselife, the beginning, and the middle, and all the rest of it, seemed tobe to keep continually in motion with one incessant wriggle. The boywas recompensed with twopence, which he acknowledged by a tug at hisgreasy hair with his dirty fingers; and then a visit was paid to theshop, where Harry bought a sixpenny ball of twine, and three sheets ofwhite and blue tea paper for some particular purpose, which Philipseemed to be alive to, but which they would not reveal to their cousinuntil they returned home. 

Only one more visit had to be paid, and that was to a pretty whitewashedand thatched cottage, standing in its little garden, which teemed withfruit and flowers, --bright crimson Prince of Wales's feathers, cockscombs, stocks, wallflowers, and roses; while gooseberries andcurrants were bending the trees down to the earth with the weight heapedupon the boughs. The window of this cottage was decorated with abouthalf a dozen glass jars, wherein reposed, in all their sticky richness, the toffee, lemon stick, and candy which old Mrs Birch used to make forthe delectation of the boys and girls round. She had nobrilliantly-coloured sweets; no sticks veined with blue, green, yellow, and red upon pure white ground; no crystallised drops, or those of clearrose-colour, for all her "suckers, " as they were called in theneighbourhood, were home-made, and she used to show all her customersthe golden bright brass pan which hung upon the wall by the fire, as theone in which all her succulent sweets were made. And where indeed werethere such others? Even town-bred Fred, who had feasted on Parisianbonbons, and made himself ill by eating strange fruits offChristmas-trees, owned to the purity and delectability of old MrsBirch's "butterscotch;" while, as to the brown lemon stick, it wasbeyond praise. Capital customers were the boys to the dame, who was awonderful business-like old body in her spotted blue print dress, andclean white muslin handkerchief pinned tightly over her neck; and shetold the boys in confidence what a wonderfully extended trade she mightdo if she gave credit; but how determined she was never to carry onbusiness except upon ready-money principles; which had been herintention ever since William, the butcher's boy, ran up a score oftenpence three-farthings, --a score that had never been paid to that day, and, what was more, the old lady expected that it never would be. 

The boys then returned in a state of cloyey stickiness, and very soonfinished their preparations for the following day; and at last, by dintof coaxing, Philip persuaded Cook to make a little paste; Harry borrowedthe housemaid's scissors, and then obtained from the tool-shed a coupleof straight laths. These he fashioned to his required size, and then, by means of a piece of waxed twine, securely bound one to the other inthe form of a Latin cross, the upright limb being about eight incheslonger than the others. These were now kept in their places by atightly-tied string passing from one extremity to the other of the limbsof the cross; and then by means of a loop of string the whole wasbalanced, and found to be equal in weight as far as the two side limbsof the cross were concerned. 

"Why, you are going to make a kite, " said Fred. 

"To be sure we are, " said Harry. 

"But the top ought to be round, and not made like that. That won't behalf a kite. "

"Won't it?" said Harry: "it will be more than that, for it will be awhole one. "

"But it won't fly, " said Fred. 

"Fly!" said Philip. "It will fly twice as well as your stupidLondon-made kites; you see if it don't. "

Harry was not a bit disturbed by his cousin's criticism, but continuedhis job to the end, pasting away in the most spirited manner, till hehad made a very respectable-looking kite, half blue and half white, which he then stood on one side to dry, just as the dinner-bell rang. 

Directly after dinner the boys set to work to make a tail for the kite, and also fitted it with wings--Fred being employed meanwhile in windingthe string off the ball on to a stick, and joining any pieces that mightexist, in case of an accident when the kite was up, as it would havebeen no joke for it to have broken loose. But Fred was not very well upin his task, and somehow or other made a perfect Laocoon of himself withthe string, and got at last into a regular tangle, so that fully half anhour was taken up in endeavours to get it right again, which was onlydone at last with a knife, and at the expense of many yards of string. 

At length all was in readiness, and away they went into the fields tofly the machine that had taken so much time to manufacture. 

"Now, I shall get it up, " said Harry, "because I made it; so you go andhold up down at the bottom of the field. "

Away went Philip with the kite, Harry unwinding the string as he went;when they found out that they had got to the wrong way of the wind, andmust change places. This was at length done, and then, when all wasready--

"Now then, " cried Harry, starting off to run, but Philip held the kitetoo tightly, and the consequence was the sudden check snapped thestring, and down went the kite again upon the grass. The string wastied, and a fresh trial made, and this time with rather better success, for up went the kite at a great rate for thirty or forty yards, whenover it tipped, and came down head first, with what Philip termed a"great pitch, " to the ground. 

"She wants more tail, " said Harry; so, by way of balance, two pockethandkerchiefs were tied to the end of the paper tail, and anotherattempt was made, but still without success, for on starting again, although the kite ascended capitally, yet when a little way in the air, Harry turned round to loosen out more string as he went, and runningbackwards, went down head over heels upon the grass, let go of thestring, and away went the kite in a similar way to Harry, but with thestick of string bobbing along the ground, and every now and thenchecking the kite by catching in the grassy strands. 

Philip and Fred tried hard to cut it off and catch it, but it was of nouse, for before they reached the string the kite had lodged in thecedar, and was ignominiously napping about as it hung by its tail. 

"Now, there's a bore, " said Harry, coming up, puffing and panting; "weshan't get it down without a ladder. "

"Pull the string and try, " said Philip. 

Harry did as his brother said, and pulled, and pulled, and at last setthe kite at liberty, but with the loss of half its tail, which hung inthe tree, with the two pocket handkerchiefs fluttering about. 

"Why, I can climb up and get that, " said Harry, "I know. "

"Well, why don't you try?" said Fred; for he had lost much of thenervous feeling which used to affect him when anything of this kind wasin progress. 

"He can't get it, " said Philip. "He couldn't get the sparrow's nest. "

But Harry stripped off his jacket, and, by means of a lift from Fred, got upon one of the great horizontal boughs, and soon contrived to reachthe one to which the kite tail was fluttering. But Harry was at thethick end, by the tree trunk, and the tail was twenty feet further off, at the thin end; and, as those who have tested the wood in their leadpencils well know, cedar is very brittle. Now, Harry was no coward, buthe knew that he would be laughed at if he did not succeed, so, in spiteof the danger, he prepared to creep along the branch, a very awkwardthing to do from the numbers of small projecting twigs, and the pricklynature of the spiny leaves. Still he persevered, and crept along a footat a time, and nearer and nearer to the kite tail, till at last thebranch began to bend terribly, bringing his feet almost in contact withthe bough below him. Still he went on, and stretching forth his handsnapped off the twig which held the kite tail, and threw it down. 

"Snip--snap--crish--crash--hurry--rustle--bump--bump--Bump!" went anoise; and, in less time than it takes to tell it, down came Harry, fully twenty feet, on to the grass at his brother's and cousin's feet, where he remained, looking very white, frightened, and confused; whenall at once he got up, and making a wry face, said--

"There, I told you I could get it. "

Poor Harry! He was much quicker in his descent than ascent, for thebranch upon which he sat had snapped in two and let him down from boughto bough of the thickly-limbed tree till he bumped on the last, whichwas not above five feet from the ground, and at its extremities almosttouched. It was a most fortunate thing that he was not injuredseriously; but a few bruises and scratches were the full extent of thedamages done to his skin, though his trousers and shirt told a verydifferent tale. 

"There, " said Harry again, rubbing the green off his trousers, "I toldyou I could get the tail, didn't I?"

His companions both acquiesced in the ability, but did not seem toadmire the plan of execution any more than Harry, who walked with a kindof limp, and contented himself with holding the kite up when the repairswere completed, and letting Philip run with the string, which he did sosuccessfully that the kite shot up into the air and seemed to be mostevenly balanced, for it rose and rose as the string was slowly let out, till it attained a great height, and then seemed to be quite stationaryin that soft and gentle breeze; but all the while pulling hardly at thestring as though alive, and desirous to fly away and escape to somefar-off region--though its destination would most probably have been thefirst tree, or, escaping that, the ground some quarter of a mile furtheron. 

The boys sat down in the long grass, and took it in turns to hold thestick, amusing themselves by sending disks of paper up to the kite asmessengers, --watching the paper circles as they skimmed lightly alongthe string. But they were very untrustworthy messengers as a rule, forsome of them stopped half, quarter, or three-quarters of the distance upthe string, sometimes for a long time, until an extra puff of windstarted them again, and, what was worst of all, they none of thembrought back any person. 

They were sitting down, dreamily watching the kite and the great whitesilvery clouds floating across the blue sky, looking like mountains insome far-off land; some with snowy peaks, some with deep valleys; butall with a background of that deep clear blue so little noticed by usbecause so frequently to be seen. All at once came from the field onthe right, rising and falling, now apparently close at hand, then asthough far-off, a peculiar cry--

"Creek--creek; creek--creek, " for about a dozen times, when there was apause. Then again, the peculiarly harsh creaking cry was heard. 

"There's an old meadow-crake, " said Harry, who was holding the kite:"let's go and hunt him up; perhaps we could catch it. "

"But who's to hold the kite?" said Philip. 

"Put the stick in the ground, and leave it, " said Harry, at once settingto work to put his project into execution, by thrusting one end of thestick to which the string was tied deeply into a crack in the ground. 

"That won't be safe, " said Fred, trying the stick. 

"Oh yes, it will, " said Harry, giving it a stamp on the top with hisfoot; "come along. "

"Creek--creek, " sang the landrail or meadow-crake, apparently a quarterof a mile off. 

"Come on, boys, " said Harry again, running off with a half limp, closelyfollowed by Philip and Fred. 

"Creek--creek, " said the landrail, far enough down, away from where ithad been heard at first. 

"There's an old stupid, " said Philip; "why, where are you?" hecontinued. 

"Creek--creek; creek--creek, " said the landrail again, as though justover the hedge, and not more than twenty yards from them. 

"Here's a gap, " said Harry, creeping through the hedge; "look sharp;we'll have him. "

Philip and Fred crept through, and stood with Harry, looking for thebird they were to catch; but all was silent, except the hum of theinsects amidst the hedge flowers. 

"Now, there's an artful thing, " said Philip. 

"Creek--creek; creek--creek, " came from the bottom of the field again. 

"He's down at the bottom, " said Harry, running along by the hedgerowtoward the bottom of the field. 

"Creck-creck; creek-creek, " said the bird again, and away started Philipin the opposite direction. 

"Creek--creek; creek--creek, " said the bird again, close at hand. 

"Why, I shall catch it, " said Fred to himself, for he had stayed behind;and now started off into the middle of the field in quest of themysterious stranger. 

"Creek--creek; creek--creek; creek--creek, " cried the bird, apparentlyhere, there, and everywhere, but always invisible; and up and down, andround and round, ran the boys, until they all stood together at last, wiping the perspiration from their faces, and fanning themselves withtheir caps; while the provoking "Creek-creek" kept on as bad as ever fora while, and then all at once stopped; and, though they waited andlistened attentively for a long while, not another sound could theyhear. 

"Ain't it funny, " said Philip, "that you never can tell where thosethings are?"

"I think they must run very fast through the grass, so as to keepseeming to be in different places, " said Harry. 

"Perhaps there's more than one, " said Fred; "and they keep calling toone another. "

"Ah! perhaps there may be; but I think there's only one. Did you everread the `Boys' Country Book, ' Fred? It's the jolliest book that wasever written, ever so much better than `Sandford and Merton. ' There's abit in it about some boys playing truant from school, and they gohunting after a corncrake, as they call it there, and get into no end oftrouble, and jump over a hedge into a garden, and break the glass, andget taken before a magistrate. Oh! I did like that book so. Phil andI always have had a hunt after the corncrakes since we read that; but wedon't get taken before the magistrates for it. "

The lads now returned towards their play-field to let the kite down, forit was growing towards tea-time; but they walked along, very slowly, forthey were hot and tired with their exertions. They were walking alongby the hedge-side, when something took Harry's attention, and made himleap over the great bed of nettles, which rose from the ditch, to thefurther bank. 

"Look here, boys, " he shouted; "here's a jolly nest, full of eggs; onlylook. "

The others were at his side in a moment, and, sure enough, Harry hadfound a nest in the bottom of the hedge worth finding, for it was thenest of one of the hens, which had been laying astray till there werefifteen eggs collected together, from which the old truant no doubtmeant to have a fine brood of chickens; and perhaps would have done sobut for Harry's discovery. 

The eggs were put in Fred's handkerchief, for Harry's and Philip's wereleft a hundred yards high in the air, when they went in chase of themeadow-crake; and then they went across the field to where the kitestick was left. They were at first too intent upon the eggs, --whichthey counted three or four times over, --to think of the kite; but whenthey did, and came to look, _the stick was gone_; the string was gone;The Kite Was Gone! There was no mistake about it; and though, as amatter of course, if the stick went, the string and kite must go too, yet the boys seemed to make the discovery in the above order, and thushave I recorded the facts. 

"It's blown away, " said Fred; "let's go and find it;" and off he startedin the teeth of the wind. 

"What's the good of that?" said Philip, shouting after his cousin; "itwill be this way. "

Fred returned as hard as he could; and off the boys started in, asnearly as possible, a line with the direction in which they left thekite flying. Every now and then they had to make a deviation, but stillthey persevered, looking into every garden, peering into every tree, till they were about a mile from home. Nobody had seen the kite, noryet heard of it; so nothing remained but to trudge wearily back--hot, fagged, and low-spirited, for, as Fred said, "It was such a beauty!"

"And then there were our two little white silk handkerchiefs, " saidPhilip. 

"And all that great ball of string, " said Harry. 

And then they trudged on again in silence. 

"Oh! do carry these eggs a bit, somebody, " said Fred; "they are soheavy. "

But they were not so heavy as they were at first, for Fred had managedto give them a rap up against something, and broken two or three, --therich yolks having filtered through the handkerchief, and left only theshells behind. 

"Yah!" said Harry, as he took hold of the handkerchief, and placed onehand underneath to steady it while he got fast hold. "Yah! how nasty, "he said, holding up his sticky hand, and then rubbing it upon the grass. 

In spite of the disappointment they had just met with, they all laughedheartily at Harry and the broken eggs, and soon after turned into thegate, and went in at the side-door--hurrying in, for it was pasttea-time; when the boys stared, for the first thing that met their gazeupon entering the hall was the blue and white kite, with the ball ofstring neatly wound up, and the tail arranged carefully from top tobottom, and all leaning up against the wall as though it had never beenused. The cheer the boys gave at the discovery brought out Mr and MrsInglis, when it came out that the Squire had strolled into the field tospeak to the boys, and found the kite flying itself, with the breezerather on the increase; and not seeing anybody, and at the same timethinking the kite might break loose, he had wound it in, and taken itwith him to the house. As may be supposed, the tired and dispiritedfeeling that oppressed the boys left them in a moment; and then theydisplayed the riches of the nest they had found in the bottom of thehedge, of course making exception of the three eggs Master Fred haddemolished during their search for the kite. 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. 

A DAY'S FISHING AT THE LAKE. 

Somehow or another nearly all my chapters begin with what the boys weredoing in the early morning; and, after all, I do not know that I couldbegin them at a better time, for really and truly these chapters werebegun early in the bright summer mornings, when the dew was sparkling onthe grass, and all the birds warbling away as though they had a certainamount of singing to do, and wanted to have it finished before the heatof the day set in. And now on this particular morning, which, for asummer morn, is all that can be desired--I mean the morning that I amabout to describe, not this one upon which I am writing--up jumpedHarry, and, as though in dread of some trick being played, up, almostsimultaneously, sprang Philip and Fred; had a good souse in their coldwater basins; and, having hastily dressed, ran down to see thateverything was ready for the projected fishing trip. 

There the things were: rods, lines, hooks, winches, landing-net, baits, ground-bait; in short, everything, from the basket that was to hold thefish, down to the tiny hook that was to catch them. 

Breakfast finished, the dog-cart was brought round to the door and soonpacked with tackle, baits, and baskets; for beside the fish-basket, there was another one that seemed to go by the rules of contrary, forwhereas the fish-basket went out empty and came back, or ought rather tohave come back, full, --this other basket invariably went out fall, andas invariably came back empty. There were no half measures about it, for it always came back according to the same rule. But then it was nota fish-basket; I don't think it ever did have fish in but once, and thenthe fish was pickled--pickled salmon. But it was a capital basket, aregular cornucopia of a basket, and used to disclose when opened suchtreasures as would have gratified any hungry person; and as for thescent that it exhaled, why the very flies from far enough used to comebuzz-buzzing about, so ravished were they by the rich odour. 

Harry brought the basket out to put in the cart, and he gave such asatisfied grin as he did so, and smelt at one corner of the lid, smacking his lips afterwards with quite a hungry sound, as though he hadnot just had a regular hearty breakfast, and left off eating last ofeverybody at the table. But I have said before that Harry was aterrible trencherman; and I almost wonder that the school authoritieswhere he went did not insist upon a higher rate of pay for him. 

Mr Inglis took the reins and mounted to his seat, and the boys totheirs. "Good-byes" were waved to Mrs Inglis in the porch, and thenaway started the horse, with such a vigorous leap, that the two boys, Harry and Fred, who were behind, nearly rolled out of their places, andonly held on by grasping the iron side-rail pretty tightly. 

What a delightful affair a country ride is on a bright morning beforethe sun has attained to sufficient height to render his beamsoppressive! There's a soft breeze plays upon the cheek, and rustlesthrough the hair; the distant view looks more beautiful than later inthe day, for the shades are deeper, and there is generally a soft hazelingering by the wood-side, where the sun has not yet driven it away;soft and shady look the great horse-chestnut trees, although theblossom-spikes have given way to little prickly seed-vessels, but thegreat fingered fronds droop gracefully towards the ground, and form oneof the thickest of leafy shades. At this hour the sun has not drunk upall the dew-drops, and bright they look wherever they hang in littlepearly rows, reflecting the sun in the most dazzling of colours; and yethow often we pass all these, and hundreds of other beauties of thecountry, either unnoticing or merely regarding the way in which theyblend into one beautiful whole. 

Mr Inglis had been persuaded into making one of the party, anddelighted the boys were with the success of their coaxing, each beingready to take the credit of the success to himself: though the realcause of Mr Inglis's agreeing to accompany them was that he thoughtthey would be better taken care of, and less likely to get into anyscrape. 

The wheels spun round merrily, and all congratulated themselves upon theglorious day they had for their excursion, a day that lent itsbrightness to everything, and would, no doubt, have sent the party homequite happy if not a fish had been caught. It was a pretty drive, between waving cornfields and oak-groves, and over a golden furzycommon, where Harry had to jump down and hold a gate open for the car topass through, and again on the far side; and then down in a valley wherea rivulet crossed the road, at the sight of which the horse pretended tobe dreadfully alarmed, and capered and frisked about as much as to sayhe dared not wet his feet, nor attempt to cross; until Mr Inglis wasreduced to one of two expedients, --to get down and lead the horseacross, or to give him a little wholesome punishment with the whip. Nowbright sparkling water is delightful and cool in the summer-time, but, as the pleasure is lost when the feet are bathed with boots and trouserson, Mr Inglis gave up all idea of walking through the water, so hegathered up the reins, and taking the whip, which had stuck unused byhis side, gave Mr Obstinate a sharp cut, when away he darted to oneside of the road, and expressed himself by his actions as ready to leapover the hedge. But this was not required, so he was backed, andanother smart application of the whip administered, when away he dartedto the other side, and even placed his forefeet upon the bank; but nowMr Inglis took him regularly in hand, and, turning round, trotted himback for a hundred yards, and then, tightening the reins, drove straightat the rivulet, which was only a few inches deep. But it was of no use, for the stupid thing had evidently taken it into its head that it mustbe drowned if the stream were forded; so, stopping short, it stood up onits hind legs and began to beat the air with its fore feet as thoughdancing. A smart crack from the whip brought the tiresome animal downagain upon all-fours, and, reluctant as the driver was to punish thepoor brute, he now found that it was absolutely necessary, and sharplyand vigorously applied the lash to its sides. 

For a minute or so the question seemed to be--"Who shall be master?" andthen the horse gave in, as much as to say, "Oh! don't; it hurts, " and, starting forward, gave a leap that cleared the dreadful stream, andnearly upset the dog-cart into the bargain; and then, as thoughfearfully alarmed at what it had left behind, the horse tried hard tobreak into a gallop to get away as fast as possible; but a strong handwas at the reins, and very soon old Tom settled down again into an easytrot, although dreadfully ruffled in his nerves by the late dreadadventure. 

And now Harry had to get down again to open another gate, which he didbefore they saw that a woman was coming out of a pretty lodge justinside, and then, for a quarter of a mile, they drove through a fineavenue of shady trees, to look down which seemed to be like peeringthrough a long leafy green tunnel, at the end of which could be seenportions of the noble castellated mansion of Lord Copsedale, built inimitation of the feudal homes of former days, but with a greaterattention to comfort and the admission of light and air. 

Mr Inglis drove into the large court, and, leaving the horse with oneof the stablemen, the party strolled down past the great walled gardenand the quaint parterre, past the head of the lake, where the waterrushed bubbling and foaming in, and where they could see the roach lyingby hundreds; and then along by the green edge of the lake to where, in asemicircular sweep, a well-kept piece of lawn-like turf, backed up witha mighty hedge of evergreens, formed about as delightfully retired aspot as could be found anywhere for a fishing-party to make theirresting-place, and dip their lines in the deep water, --here and thereovershadowed with trees, down beneath whose roots, in the great holes, the finest fish were said to lie. The water looked in beautifulcondition for fishing, not being too clear; and pushing about amidst thelilies and great water weeds that occupied the surface, in many placescould be seen great chub and carp, snapping every now and then at theflies, but in a lazy, half-hungry sort of manner. 

The spots Mr Inglis chose for fishing were three, reserving one forhimself, and all these were well clear of weeds, and at a few yards'distance the one from the other, so as to insure quiet, --about thegreatest requisite for making a basket of fish; for the finny denizensof the water seem to be as keenly alive to strange sounds as they are tostrange sights, and the unlucky youngster who laughs, and talks, andshows himself freely upon the bank of the place where he is fishing, mayfully expect that the fish near him will all be on the move, and seekfor quiet lodgings in some other part of the pond, lake, or river. Theydon't seem to mind seeing one of their relations hooked, and then dartfrantically about in all directions, as though seized with a madexploring fit, till, panting and tired out, he is dragged to the sideand landed. They do not seem to mind this, for they will follow theexample of the hooked fish, and eagerly take the bait one after another, until, perhaps, the greater part of a shoal is captured; but the anglermust be upon his guard, and mind that the wary fish do not catch sightof him. 

And now rods and lines were fitted together; hooks baited; ground-baitlightly thrown in, and the business of the day commenced; though, for mypart, I could have wished for no pleasanter business than to have sat inthe shade watching the fish and water insects darting about in the lake, and the myriads of insects in the air, to whom the lake seemed topossess so great an attraction that they kept falling in, and every nowand then were captured by some hungry fish. I could, I say, have wishedfor no pleasanter business than watching all this, and the fleckedclouds far up in the sky, so fine and soft, that they seemed almostmelting away into the delicate blue above them. But there was otherbusiness for the visitors, for the fish fed well that day, and roach andcarp of small size were freely landed. This was not all that waswanted, however, for the desire of the anglers was to hook one of thegreat carp that every now and then kept springing almost out of thewater, far out in the middle of the lake, and making a splash that ofitself alone whispered of pounds weight. But, no; the old fellows wouldnot be caught, --they left that to the younger branches of their family, who fell in tolerable numbers into the basket brought from Hollowdell. 

All at once Fred called out that he had caught a big one, and, from theway his rod bent, this was evidently the case--the fish seeming to bemaking determined efforts to perform the feat described by Harry andPhilip--namely, that of sticking his tail into the mud and thereanchoring himself. Mr Inglis and the boys came up to lend himassistance, when his uncle smiled, for he knew what it was that Fred hadhooked. 

"Isn't it a big one, Papa?" said Harry; "look how he pulls. "

"Don't I wish I had him, " said Philip. 

"Land it, Fred, " said Mr Inglis; "and mind it does not tangle yourline, --pull away. "

Fred did as his uncle told him, and pulled away, so that he soon hadtwisting upon the grass a very tolerably sized eel, writhing and twiningand running in beneath the strands; slipping through the hands thattried to grasp it; and seeming quite as much at home on land as in themuddy water at the bottom of the pond. As for Fred, he stood aloofholding his rod, and leaving all the catching to his cousins; the snakyeel presenting no temptation to him--in fact, he felt rather afraid ofthe slimy wide-mouthed monster. 

At last the eel was freed from the hook, and lay quietly coiled roundthe bottom of the basket, turning several small fish out of theirplaces, and making a considerable hubbub amongst the occupants of thewicker prison, the excitement being principally displayed by flappingsof tails and short spring-back leaps. 

All this time Mr Inglis was quietly landing a good many fish, most ofwhich were very fair-sized roach, with an occasional perch; but, soonafter Fred's exploit with the eel, he called gently to Harry for thelanding-net, and this summons caused the other members of the party tocome up as well, when they saw that Mr Inglis had evidently hooked alarge fish, and was playing him--many yards of his running line beingtaken out. The fish, however, seemed to be rather sluggish in itsmovements, keeping low down as though seeking the bottom; upon whichFred declared it was a great eel. But it was no eel, though amud-loving fish, as was shown when he became ready for the landing-net, Harry deftly placing it beneath the fish's slimy side, and lifting itupon the grass. --And now its golden sides glittered in the sun as it layupon the bright green daisy-sprinkled bank, in all the glory, as afisherman would term it, of a noble tench of nearly four pounds'weight--a great slimy fellow, with tiny golden scales and darkolive-green back, huge thick leathery fins, and a mouth that looked asthough the great fish had lived upon pap all its lifetime. He had beena cowardly fish in the water, and yielded himself up a prisoner withvery little struggling--nothing like that displayed by a perch about aquarter his size, which Mr Inglis next hooked and played, and then lostthrough its darting into a bed of strong weeds and entangling the line, so that the heavy clearing ring sent down towards the hook provedinadequate to the task of releasing it, and the line broke, and the fishescaped with at least a yard of shotted silkworm gut hanging to thehook. 

Fred was very fortunate, for he, sitting quietly beneath a tree, caughttwo or three very nice carp, independently of about a dozen roach andperch; while Harry, the impetuous, first on one side, then on another, caught scarcely anything, and would have hindered his brother and cousinfrom the success which rewarded their patience, if Mr Inglis had notkept to a rule which he made, that no one angler should fish close toanother; for Master Hal, directly a fish was caught on either sideimmediately concluded that where the fish was caught would be a betterplace for him, and accordingly began to trespass. 

All at once, just as Philip had hooked a perch and was drawing it toshore, there was a mighty rush through the water, and something seizedthe fish and began sailing with it backwards and forwards, bendingPhilip's light rod nearly double, for he had no running tackle, and onlya thin line. 

"Papa! Papa!" shouted Harry, "look here; Phil has such a bite!"

Mr Inglis came up to see what sort of a bite it was that Philip had, and at once perceived that a good-sized pike had taken his prize, andwas holding on fast, as though he did not intend to let go, althoughthere was a pretty good strain kept up by Philip. Of course, capturingthe pike would have been out of the question with Philip's light tackle, even if it were not forbidden; so there was nothing left for it but towait and see if the pike would leave the perch, for Philip did not feeldisposed to give his fish up if he could help it, for it was what Harrycalled a regular robbery; so, for three or four minutes, it was--pullpike--pull Philip, --till at last, quite in disgust, the pike let go, gave one swoop with his tail, and was gone. 

Philip then landed his perch, which seemed quite dead, and a piece wasbitten completely out of its side. 

"What a savage!" said Philip; "only look what a bite he has taken out ofmy poor fish! Don't I wish I could have caught him!"

"Ah, Philip, " said his father, "you did not expect to have hold of sucha fish as that; but it is not at all an unusual incident, for the pikeis a most ravenous fellow, and will take anything that comes in his way. On one occasion I caught a small pike with a piece of paste, andanother with a worm, --both very unusual baits for there to take, astheir prey is small fish, while most people are of opinion that theywill not touch perch on account of their sharp back fin; but we hadproof this afternoon that they will. But the most curious thing that Iever knew a pike to take was a leaden plummet, which it seized one daywhen I was plumbing the depth in a canal previous to bottom fishing, aswe have been to-day. As a matter of course I was much surprised, as nodoubt the pike was also, when he felt himself hooked, and, after astruggle, I drew him to land. But come, boys, I think it is time tostart; so let's be for packing up. "

"Oh! Pa, " said Harry. 

"Oh-h-h-h! Pa-a-a-a, " said Philip. 

And "Oh-h-h! Uncle, " remonstrated Fred. 

But Mr Inglis was inexorable, for the afternoon was passing away, andthe evening closing in; so the spoils were collected and placed in thebasket, when it was found that Fred's eel had disappeared, havingcrawled out, and, no doubt, wriggled through the grass into the lakeagain. However, there was a very fair basket of fish to take home; and, when all the tackle had been packed up, and they returned to the yardand placed the things in the dog-cart, the horse was put to, and, freshened with his long rest, he made the wheels spin merrily round, andthe dust fly back in a cloud from his heels, as he trotted homeward asfast as he could, well knowing that there was a snug, clean stablewaiting for him, and plenty of fresh hay and sweet corn to enjoy afterhis long journey. 

The sport of the day formed a never-tiring theme for conversation duringthe ride home; every finny captive being exalted into almost theimportance of a whale. The only person at all dissatisfied with theday's proceedings was Harry, who rather felt that his want of successwas owing to the lack of perseverance. However, he made vows of futureattention to everything he attempted, and was drawing a verybrightly-coloured plan for the future, when home was reached, and MrsInglis seen waiting in the porch to view the fruits of their day'sangling. 

CHAPTER NINETEEN. 

OLD SAM'S TROUBLES. --A SAD STORY. 

"Now, I don't care whether you gets punished or not; but I means to tellmaster, for you all oughter know better, and it ain't right. "

"But I tell you we didn't do it, Sam, " said Harry. 

"Ah! don't tell me; I knows you did. There's footmarks all along fromthe gap, right across the potato piece, and everybody else will begin togo the same way, and make a regular path of it. "

"But we didn't go that way, " chorussed the boys. 

"Why, what an old stupid it is, " said Philip; "he won't believeanything. "

Sam's trouble was a trampled track across a newly-enclosed piece ofground, which Mr Inglis had lately purchased near the village, and Samhad planted with potatoes for home consumption. It certainly wasannoying, for a ditch had been cut round it, a bank made, and, on thetop, a neat little hedge of hawthorn planted; but some idle people werein the habit of jumping across the ditch, trampling down the littlehedge, and then making a track right across the corner of the field tothe other side, where, in getting out, they trampled the hedge and bankdown again, and all just to save themselves a walk of about fifty yardsround, where there was a good path. But so it was: the property hadlain in dispute for many years, during which time people had cut off thecorner, and made themselves a track; and now that it was purchased, andhad become private property, it seemed that there were some two or threeobstinate, unpleasant people, who would not alter their plans, but tookdelight in the paltry piece of mischief of destroying what had been socarefully put in order. But Sam had always one complaint string uponwhich he fiddled or harped; and so sure as anything like mischief wasdone anywhere, he always declared it was "them boys, " who were "alwaysup to suthin, drat 'em. " It was so when the walnuts were stolen, andthe tree, broken about. Sam was sure it was "them boys, " and he wentand told his master of Harry and Philip's "capers, " as he called them. But Sam was wrong then, as upon many other occasions, and also upon thisone, for a sad story hangs to that affair about the walnuts; and I donot think it will be out of place if I go back about a year and ninemonths, and leave the trampled path for the present, while I take upanother. 

Mr Inglis had standing in one of his fields, about fifty yards from thelane which led down to the mill, a very fine walnut-tree. The tree wasnot only fine in size, but noble in appearance, and the walnuts that itbore were of the largest and sweetest grown anywhere for miles round, and Mr Inglis rather prized these nuts, for they kept well, and mightbe seen upon his dessert-table long after Christmas time. 

Now, it so happened that just as the nuts were getting ripe, and thefirst ones began to fall, breaking their green husk when they touchedthe ground, and setting the clean pale-brown shell at liberty, --it wasjust at this time that Sam found out that some one had been up the treepicking the walnuts, for not only were a great number missing, but theground beneath was strewed with leaves, broken twigs, and walnut husks, with here and there a brown-shelled nut which the plunderer had lookedover in his hurry. 

No sooner did Sam see the mischief than he hurried off to the house, andbursting breathlessly into the breakfast-room, announced that MastersHarry and Philip had been taking all the walnuts. 

Mr Inglis frowned, and told Sam, rather sharply, to knock beforeentering another time, and then turned to his sons, and asked them ifwhat Sam said was true. 

"No, Papa, " they both exclaimed indignantly, "we have not touched them. "

"Only, " said Harry, recollecting himself, "I did throw a stone in thetree yesterday, as we went down the lane, but it didn't knock any down, and I should not have thrown only Phil said I couldn't throw so far. "

"Ah! but I'm sure it was them, " said Sam. 

"Hush! Sam, " said Mr Inglis; "and now leave the room. I'llinvestigate the affair after breakfast. "

Sam left the room anything but pleased, for he thought that he ought tohave been praised for his energy, and so he told Cook in the kitchenwhen he went through, and then stopped and told her all about it; whenCook declared it was a shame, and gave Sam a cup of tea to mollify him, for Cook and Mary were just having breakfast. As soon as Sam had closedthe door, Mr Inglis turned to his sons, and asked them if they knewanything about the tree, or who was likely to have taken the walnuts;for in this quiet district an act of theft was of such rare occurrence, that it caused great excitement; besides which, Mr Inglis wasdeservedly so well respected by the poor people round, that, sooner thantouch anything belonging to him, they would have formed themselves intospecial constables to protect his property. 

But neither Harry nor Philip could give the slightest information, sothe breakfast was finished, and, in the course of the day, Mr Inglishad his suspicions directed towards the scapegrace son of an old womanin the village. This young man had been employed in the neighbouringtown, but for a most flagrant act had been tried, and sentenced to fiveyears' penal servitude. He was at this time at home upon what is calleda "ticket of leave;" that is, he had a portion of his sentence remittedfor good conduct in prison, and he was now in the village. But MrInglis was averse to proceed upon suspicion; in fact, he was averse topunishing the culprit at all, even if he brought the theft home to him;and therefore he took no steps in the matter. 

Two nights after, a quantity of the walnuts were again stolen; and onMr Inglis being informed of this new attack upon his crop, he told Samthat he would have them all thrashed on the following day, and placethem under lock and key. 

"Hum!" said Sam to himself; "and then they'll have a go at the apples. I knows it's them youngsters. Now, then, " he said, for Harry and Philipjust came up in the midst of the old man's soliloquy, "now, then, where's all them nuts?"

"Get out, " said Harry, "we never touched them. But it's no use to tellsuch an old unbeliever as you are. We didn't touch them; did we, Phil?"

Phil followed his brother's example, and strenuously denied theimpeachment; but Sam would not be convinced, and went muttering andgrumbling away to his work, while Philip stood with tears in his eyes, for he could not bear the idea of his word being doubted. Harry did notmind it much; but Philip was obliged to go behind the large clump oflaurustinus and pull out his handkerchief and blow his nose a greatdeal, and wipe the eyes that would brim over. 

"What's the matter, Philip?" said his father, who had come upunobserved. 

Philip could not speak for a moment, for the tears would come faster, and a round sob seemed to stick in his throat, and would not go eitherup or down. At last, however, he told his father the cause of histears; and Mr Inglis was very angry, saying that he would not have thehonour of his boys doubted, for he had perfect reliance in their word, knowing that they had always been truthful; and therefore he would nothave another word said about the walnuts; and the consequence was, thatMr Sam came in for a very sharp reprimand that morning; but, for allthat, he looked at the boys the next half-hour, when he met them, asmuch as to say, "I know you got the walnuts, " though he did not say so. 

But old Sam was wrong, as was, sad to state, _very_ soon proved; for thenext day being very wet, the walnuts were not thrashed, the weathernecessitating the nut harvest being deferred for another day. 

Upon the following morning, while Mr and Mrs Inglis and their sonswere sitting at breakfast, Mr Inglis knit his brows, for old Sam, without studying the lesson upon decorum that his master had given himbut a few days before, burst into the breakfast-room again, but thistime through the French window opening on the lawn. 

"Sam, " said Mr Inglis, sternly, "what can--" but he interrupted himselfupon seeing that the old man was all in a tremble, and that theperspiration stood in great drops upon his forehead. "Why, what is it, man, speak out!"

But Sam could not speak out, for he was too excited, and though his lipsmoved no sound came from them. However, he caught his master by thesleeve, drawing him towards the window, and Mr Inglis followed him. Harry and Philip rose from their seats, but Mr Inglis motioned MrsInglis and them to keep their places, and closed the window as he wentout. Sam led the way down the garden towards the fields, and saidsomething to his master which made him quicken his steps until theyreached the great walnut-tree, where, beneath one of the largest boughs, lay the body of a man, with his head turned in a very unnaturalposition, and one of his arms bent under him. 

Upon first looking at the figure, Mr Inglis thought the man was dead;but on touching him he gave a slight groan upon which Sam was despatchedfor assistance, while his master placed the sufferer in an easierposition, during which he moved slightly and groaned again, but remainedperfectly insensible. While waiting for the return of Sam, Mr Inglissaw but too plainly the cause of the accident: scattered about upon thegrass were walnuts, twigs, and leaves; while tightly clutched in theman's hand was a red cotton handkerchief nearly full of the fruit; andhis trousers and jacket pockets were filled as full as they could hold. There was no doubt _now_ as to who was the culprit, but Mr Inglis felta sinking at the heart as he thought of the severe punishment that hadfallen upon the offender, who proved to be none other than the man homewith a ticket of leave, but who had not been cured of his dishonestpropensity. 

Sam soon returned with two or three farming men, who, under thedirection of Mr Inglis, lifted a gate off its hinges, and laid the manas gently as they could upon it, and then, one at each corner, bore himout through the open gateway into the lane, and so to the village inn, aboy in the meantime being despatched for the doctor. Mr Inglis wouldhave taken the poor fellow to the Grange, but for the reflection that itwould only be a great shock to Mrs Inglis, and the ends of humanitywould not in any way be served, for assistance could not be obtained abit sooner, but rather the reverse. 

With some difficulty the man was carried into a room at the inn, and itbeing found impossible to carry him upstairs, a mattress was broughtdown, and he was laid upon it. He groaned slightly upon being moved, tenderly as the men handled him, but remained quite still upon themattress upon being laid there. 

He was a fine-looking, sun-browned young fellow, but his face was nowdisfigured by the fall and contracted with pain; and Mr Inglis couldnot but feel sad to look upon so pitiable a sight--a fine, hearty youngman stricken with death through the act of petty theft of which he hadbeen guilty. 

At length the doctor arrived--the same gentleman who had attended poorFred in his narrow escape from drowning. He made his examination, andfound that one arm was broken, and the neck so injured that he shook hishead, and whispered to Mr Inglis that the bones were dislocated; and inreply to the inquiry whether there was any hope, he shook his headagain. He then did all that was possible in such an extreme case, andsat down in company with Mr Inglis to see if the poor fellow wouldrevive; but they waited in vain, for after about an hour had passed, during which the doctor had watched every change, he suddenly rose upfrom leaning over the injured man, laid his hand upon Mr Inglis'sshoulder, and walked out of the room with him, whispering some wordsthat caused Mr Inglis to sigh, and then to slip a sovereign into thehands of the poor old woman, the mother, who was sobbing upon the settlein the common room of the inn. 

The death caused a great stir in the village, and many people said thatit was a judgment upon the man for his sin; but Mr Inglis was deeplygrieved, and said that he would rather that all the fruit in the gardenhad been stolen than such an awful punishment should have befallen theman. 

And now to return to the beaten path: Sam persisted that it was ouryoung friends, so they went to look at the trampled place, and one andall declared it was a shame. 

All at once Harry made a proposition which caused old Sam's mouth toexpand into a grin, after which he gave a series of hearty chuckles, andslapping the boy on the shoulder, exclaimed, "Well, it couldn't a beenyou arter all, Master Harry--(chuckle, chuckle, chuckle)--we'll do itthis very night, we will. "

What they did that very night will come out in due course. 

CHAPTER TWENTY. 

MR JONES'S MISHAP. 

About eleven o'clock the next morning, Mr Inglis was sitting in hisstudy, writing; Mrs Inglis was working at the open window, andoccasionally watching the boys, who were amusing themselves upon thelawn, when all at once a knock came at the study-door. 

"Come in, " said Mr Inglis, and in came Mary, trying to look veryserious, but evidently struggling with a laugh which would keepcrinkling up the corners of her mouth, although she kept smoothing themout with her apron. 

"Well, Mary?" said her mistress. 

"If you p-p-please 'M, " said Mary, who then stopped short, for somethingseemed to have got in her throat. 

"Mary!" exclaimed Mrs Inglis, severely. 

Poor Mary looked as serious directly, as if she were going to lose hersituation, and making an effort she began again. 

"If you please, 'M, here's Mr-- Oh! dear; oh!--hoo--hoo--guggle--guggle--gug--gug--gug; choke--choke; cough--cough, " went Mary, buryingher face in her apron, and completely losing her breath, and turningalmost black in the face with, her efforts to stifle her laughter. "Oh!dear; oh! dear, " she said, trying to run out of the room, but MrsInglis stopped her, and insisted upon knowing what was the cause of hermirth. 

"Oh, 'M, please, 'M, here's Mr Jones come, and wants to see Master; andoh, 'M, please, 'M--he--he--he--he--he--he's in such a mess. Oh! dear;oh! dear; what shall I do!"

"Do, " said Mrs Inglis, at last, quite angrily. "Why, go and ask MrJones to step in here; or no, tell him to step into the drawing-room. "

"Oh, please, 'M, don't, " said Mary, serious in a moment. "Please, 'M, don't; he ain't fit, and he'll come off black over everything he comesa-nigh. "

"Well, send him here, then, " said Mrs Inglis; and away went Mary backinto the hall, and directly after she ushered in Mr Jones, whopresented such an appearance that both Mr and Mrs Inglis at onceexcused poor Mary's laughter, for they had hard work to restrain theirown mirth. 

Mr Jones was a retired exciseman, and of the description of man knownas dapper; he was a little, fat, chubby fellow, who dressed verysmartly, always wearing white trousers in the summer, and a buffwaistcoat, made so as to show as much shirt-front and as littlewaistcoat as possible. He was a man who always used to labour under, the idea that he looked very fierce, and, to make himself look fiercer, he used to brush his hair all up into a pyramid over the barren place onthe top of his head, so that the hair used to form a regular pomatumedspike. But he did not look at all fierce, for his fat round face, dulleyes, and tenchy mouth would not let him; but he used to speak veryloudly, and thump his Malacca cane down on the ground, and strut andlook as important as many more people do who have not brains enough toteach them their insignificance as parts of creation, or how very littlevalue they are in the world, which could go on just as well withoutthem. 

Now, Mr Jones did not like Mr Inglis; he used to say that Mr Ingliswas pompous, and purse-proud, and vain; and, what was more, Mr Inglishad given the little man dreadful offence in buying the two-acre fieldwhere the potato piece was that used to be so trampled down. 

But I have been keeping Mr Jones waiting, for I said, a little wayback, that Mary ushered him into the study, and Mr and Mrs Ingliscould hardly keep from laughing; for a droll appearance did Mr Jonespresent as he strutted into the room, with his hat on, but seeing MrsInglis there, he took it off, and made a most pompous bow. But he didnot look in bowing trim, his face, buff waistcoat, and shirt, presentinga currant-dumpling appearance rather ludicrous to gaze upon, for theywere specked and spotted all over; while his white duck trousers, farabove his knees, were dyed of a pitchy black hue, and covered withabominably smelling black mud. 

"Now, sir, " said Mr Jones; "pray, sir, what have you to say to this, sir?"

"Nothing at all, Mr Jones, " said Mr Inglis quietly. "But may Iinquire why I am favoured with this visit?"

"Favoured, sir? Visit, sir? What the ten thousand furies do you mean, sir? Look at my trousers, sir. Do you see them, sir?"

"Of course I see them, " said Mr Inglis, "and I am sorry to see that youhave met with so unfortunate an accident; but pray what has it to dowith me?"

"To do with you, sir?" shrieked Mr Jones; "why, you laid traps for me, sir; snares and pitfalls, sir; but I'll be recompensed, sir, if there'slaw in England, sir. I won't stand it, sir. I'll--I'll--I'll--I'll--Confound it, sir; you shall hear from my solicitor, sir. "

And then the little man bounced out of the study, banging the door afterhim; thumped his stick down on the marble floor of the hall at everystep, and strode out of the house, and along the gravel-walk, almostbeside himself with passion; for he felt convinced that Mr Inglis hadbeen the cause of his mishap. But Mr Inglis was as innocent as hiscompanion, who replied to his interrogative gaze with a look ofastonishment so ludicrous that they both laughed long and heartily. 

At last Mr Inglis said--"It must be some trick those boys have played. I must find it out, or we shall be having no end of unpleasantness aboutit. " And the Squire leaned back in his chair, and laughed till thetears stood in his eyes. 

But all this while Mr Jones was fuming worse than ever, for he hadpassed old Sam, Philip, Harry and Fred, standing at the gate of thestable-yard, and no sooner did they catch sight of the strange figureadvancing towards them, than they rushed off laughing at such aboisterous rate that Mr Jones felt as though he could have strangledthem all. 

And now it is only fair that the reader should know how it was that MrJones had got into such a pickle, for he certainly was in a very nastymess indeed. Mr Jones, as I said before, had been very much annoyedbecause Squire Inglis purchased the little corner field; so, from apetty feeling of spite, he always made a point of walking across thecorner, kicking down the bank, and treading heavily upon the youngquickset plants. Now, of course the example set by such a big littleman as Mr Jones, would be sure to find followers; and this was the casehere, for many of the boys of the village used to slip across as well. But on the evening previous to what has been above related, old Sam tookhis tools down with him, and had soon dug out a hole about three feetdeep just in the centre of the field, and right in the middle of thetrack; he then borrowed an old tin pail from a cottage near, and filledthe hole full of black mud from a filthy drain ditch, which ran alongthe backs of some of the cottages in the village street, the smell fromwhich was so bad that Fred and his cousins kept their distance while thehole was being filled. 

When the pit was about full, Sam carefully sprinkled it over with theearth he had dug out, till it looked like the surrounding surface, whenhe levelled the place all round, and made it all so much alike that, tothe ineffable delight of the boys, he could hardly tell where thepitfall was exactly, and put one of his own feet in above the ankle. Harry fairly danced with delight, but, seeing that the old man wasturning cross, he helped to cover the place again, and then they leftthe pail at the cottage, and walked back to the Grange. As for thepeople living close at hand, they were so much accustomed to seeing oldSam working in the field that they took no notice of what he was doing;so there the trap lay, all ready baited for the first man. 

Now, it so happened that no one crossed the corner that night, as Samcould readily see when he went down directly after breakfast nextmorning, for all was just as he left it the night before; but Sam hadnot gone many yards on his way back, when whom should he meet but MrJones, looking very clean and dapper, and most terribly important. Hescorned to take any notice of old Sam, but strode on his way till hecame to the potato piece, when he deliberately crossed the little dryditch, trod down the tiny hedge, and then sticking his nose up in theair, as much as to say, "I'll teach old Inglis to stop up old tracks, "he stamped along more pompously than ever, while Sam stopped by a turnin the road and watched him with eyes that seemed fascinated, so eagerlydid they follow the old excise officer. 

"Stamp--stamp, " went the pompous little man; and "brog--brog, " went hisstick in the soft earth. "He'll miss it, " said Sam to himself, for MrJones had apparently reached the centre of the field, and turned roundto look about him, walking backwards. "Dear, dear, " said Sam, "if heonly would--"

"Plosh!" went Mr Jones right in backwards; and "spatter" went the foulmud all over his face and shirt-front, and then the poor little mantried to scramble out, but slipped in again, making himself worse thanever; but his next effort was more successful; and when Sam saw himstanding amongst the potatoes looking all piebald, his heart was joyfulwithin him, as he hurried home to tell the boys the success of theirplot. 

Mr Inglis very soon learned from the boys what was the cause of MrJones's visit, and for the moment he felt rather disposed to be cross;but on looking at the laughing eyes before him, and the mirthfulcountenance of Mrs Inglis, he was obliged to join in the merrimenthimself; for as Philip very sagely remarked, --"You know, papa, he had nobusiness there. " As for Mr Jones, he was nearly red-hot with fury whenhe reached home, for he had been laughed at by more than one person onhis way; so when the door was opened, and his pet dog--a disagreeableterrier--came smelling about his legs, his master kicked him savagely, upon which the dog retorted by sticking his teeth into his assailant'sleg, and then running off howling as loudly as he could. 

Mr Jones then set to work and washed himself, a process of which hestood greatly in need; and by the time he had made himself dapper again, he felt cooler and more comfortable; and he also began to wish he hadnot told Mr Inglis that he should hear from his solicitor. But he_had_ told him to, and therefore he felt that he must go to hissolicitor at once, or he would very soon have made up his mind to say nomore about it. So off Mr Jones trotted to his lawyer; that is to say, his pony trotted, carrying Mr Jones in the little chaise, in which wasa carefully tied-up bundle containing the blackened and damaged suit ofclothes, which looked worse than ever by the time he reached the town, for the trousers had communicated a vast amount of their filth to thewaistcoat and shirt-front, not forgetting to administer their odour atthe same time. When Mr Jones arrived at the lawyer's he found him athome, and was soon closeted with him in his mouldy room, all amongst thedust, papers, parchments, and tin boxes; and then and there Mr Jonestold his tale, and finished by drawing out the black garments, for therewas very little white to be seen on the trousers. 

"But you did not tell me where the pitfall was made, " said Mr DeVellum, the solicitor. 

"Made, sir?" said Mr Jones excitedly; "why, in that corner piece ofland, where the road makes the sharp turn, on the other side of thevillage. "

"What, where the finger-post stands at the corner?"

"To be sure, " said Mr Jones; "the very place. "

"Well, but, " said Mr De Vellum, "that's the piece Mr Inglis bought atthe sale last year, when I bid for you. "

"Just so, " said Mr Jones; "I was walking across it, as I have donehundreds of times before. "

"Ah!" said Mr De Vellum, "but it has been enclosed, and you know, mydear sir, you were trespassing. Let me order in a glass of wine, " hecontinued, for Mr Jones had luckily come for advice to a sensible man;"let me order in a glass of wine, and then I'll give you my advice. "

The wine was brought in, and then Mr Jones received his advice, whichcost him six shillings and eightpence, but would have been cheap at aguinea, for the advice was to go home and take no more notice of thematter. 

Mr Jones was quite cool when he heard the solicitor's opinion; and itwas so much in agreement with his own, that he immediately shook hands, said "good-day, " and made the best of his way home. 

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. 

CATCHING TARTARS. 

Mr Jones used to have a man, who was a jobbing gardener, come once aweek "to put him a bit straight, " as the man called it; and thisgardener used sometimes to meet old Sam at the Red Lion, when they wouldhave a pint of beer together, and compare cabbages and gooseberries;talk about peas and plums; and relate how many snails they had eachkilled, by putting salt on their tails, during the past week. Now, itso happened that Sam went to the Red Lion on the very night that closedin upon the day when Mr Jones muddied his white trousers; and it alsoso happened that Ikey Fogger, the jobbing gardener, thought that he tooshould like a half-pint at the Red Lion. The consequence was, that thetwo tillers of the soil began to compare notes, and very soon thehistory of Mr Jones's misfortune was talked over, and so heartilylaughed at by every one present, that old Sam grew quite proud of thefeat; and at last let out that Master Harry and he had done it, and it"sarved old Jones right. "

Next morning, Ikey Fogger was putting Mr Jones's garden "a bitstraight, " which was done by means of the rake, scythe, hoe, spade, andbroom, when Mr Jones came out to superintend as usual, for he had hisown particular way of having things done; and in the course of theconversation that followed, Ikey Fogger told him what had been said atthe Red Lion by old Sam; the fruit of which was that Ikey had an extrasixpence to "drink master's health, " and Mr Jones sat down in his bestparlour to see whether he could not devise some plan of attack uponHarry and the other boys, --for he considered all bad alike, --so as toenjoy what he called the "sweets of vengeance. "

Just then he happened to look up and see the three boys, accompanied bytheir dog, go strolling past on the other side of the road, when athought struck him which he hastened to put into execution. 

The boys were going out for a stroll till tea-time, for they scarcelyknew what to do with themselves, having no particular object in view, one and all having declared it too hot for cricket. They thereforeloosened the dog, and went off to see what would turn up in the way ofamusement. They strolled past the end of the village, and down a lanethat led to a bend of the river, and at last sat down upon the bank, andamused themselves by throwing sticks and stones in the water for the dogto fetch out, --a feat, by the way, that he never accomplished, for hewas not well broken in to the task. He would run in fast enough, andpretend to make a dash at the stick or stone, but that was all he did, save bark and yelp as he stood up to his middle in the water. At lastthey grew tired of even this effort, for the heat made them languid andidle; so they sprawled about on the grass, lazily watching the fliesthat skimmed about and flitted over the surface of the water in suchrapid motion that they looked like strings of flies. 

All at once there was a splash in the river close to their feet. 

"There's a great fish, " said Fred. 

"It was a stone, I think, " said Philip. 

"But who was to have thrown it?" said Harry; "there's no one about. "

Just then a great stone splashed up the water, and another struck thepoor dog such a blow upon the head that it gave a sharp howl, and rolledright down the bank into the river, from whence it crawled with its eyeswelling up fast, and a cut in the skin bleeding profusely. 

The boys now saw that the stones were thrown from behind a hedge on theright, and three more came directly, one of which hit Philip a smartblow in the back and made him wince again. Just then three big ladsmade their appearance, and began to pick up more stones. 

"Let's run, " said Fred, "or we shall be hurt. "

"Yes, come along, " said Philip, rubbing his back and twisting with pain. 

"No, I shan't run, " said Harry; "the cowards have half killed poor Dick, or I'd set him at them. I know who they are, --there's Bill Jenkins, andthe two Stapleses. Don't I wish I was bigger, I'd give it them;" andHarry ground his teeth together, and clenched his fists tightly. 

"Yah; yah-ha; go home!" shouted the assailants. But Harry wouldn'tbudge an inch, but stooped down and began to tie his pocket handkerchiefround the dog's bleeding head. 

"Yah-ah! yah-ah-ah-ah; go home wi' yer!" shouted the lads again, runningup, evidently meaning to chevy the Grange boys away; and this seemed aneasy task, for the new-comers were all bigger and stronger. "Yah-ah-ah-ah; go home!" they shouted again; and then one, who seemed tobe the leader, said to his comrades, --"Let's pitch the dog in, come on. "

"You'd better not touch him, Bill Jenkins, " said Harry, turning verywhite, either with fear or rage. "We did not interfere with you, soleave us alone. "

"Yah-ah-ah-ah; go home with yer!" shouted the boys again, for thisseemed to be a kind of battle-cry with which they warmed themselves toattack the inoffensive party. Philip half-screwed himself behind Harry, while Fred, who felt dreadfully alarmed, stood behind Philip. 

"Let us go home quietly, please, " said Fred, "and I'll give you ashilling. "

"Give us the shilling, then, " said the boy called Jenkins, who, upon itsbeing produced, snatched it away from Fred, put it in his pocket, andthen laid hold of the dog's hind leg and dragged it towards the river. 

"You let him go now, come, " whimpered Harry. 

"Wow--wow--wow--wow--wow--wow, " said the boys, mocking Harry's whimper, and in another moment poor Dick would have been plunged in, when Harry, pushing back one of the Stapleses, who tried to stop him, planted such awell-directed blow in Bill Jenkins's ear that he dropped the dog in amoment, and shook his head as though something was buzzing inside it, asno doubt there was, for the blow was a smart one, Master Harry havinghad boxing gloves on more than once at school. 

But this was the signal for a combined attack from the enemy upon Harry, who struck out manfully, but was getting terribly knocked about, whenPhilip dashed into the fray, and relieved his brother of one assailant. But two were too many for Harry, and seeing Fred doing nothing, heshouted to him for help. 

Poor Fred! He felt terribly alarmed, and would gladly have run away;but he saw Philip punching away at his adversary like a Trojan, whileHarry, with the blood streaming down his face, was being beaten backstep by step towards the river by his two formidable opponents. Thiswas too much for Fred, who threw off his cap and jacket and then creptcautiously up to try and aid his cousin, who was getting rapidlyworsted. Now Fred afterwards confessed that he felt dreadfully alarmed, and Bill Jenkins evidently saw this, and tried to frighten him away; buthe went the wrong way to work, for as Fred came timidly up, Bill swunground one of his long arms, and gave the new-comer a back-handed smackin his mouth that made the blood spurt out in a moment, and then, by aclever thrust of his leg, tripped him up so that he lay sprawling on thegrass. But this blow, instead of frightening the town-bred lad, knockedall the fear out of him; for, to Bill Jenkins's great astonishment, heleapt up as though made of springs, and dashed at him like a fury. 

From that moment, Harry had only one enemy to deal with, for BillJenkins began to find that he was getting such a thrashing as he neverbefore had in his life. Fred's fists battered him about the face like ashower of blows, and in the scuffles that ensued the big lad was morethan once completely knocked off his feet. He had very soon had enoughof it, and began to show it; but Fred had not, for he warmed with thefray, and, in spite of the other's cries for quarter, hammered andbattered away at him with greater fury than ever, till at last theyclosed together, wrestled backwards, forwards, this way, that way, andat last, seizing his opportunity, Fred gave a regular spring off theground, and drove his enemy backwards, but, as it happened, not on tothe ground, but dash, splash into the river, where they both sank, butcame up again directly, Bill Jenkins roaring for help, and Fred holdingon to him like a tiger. 

This put an end to the fight, for the fall into the river and conquestof their leader made the two Stapleses take to their heels, so thatHarry and Philip were at liberty to help Fred, which they did, bydragging Bill Jenkins half-drowned from the river, for Fred, in hisanger, had kept him under water more than once; and then all threekicked him rather unmercifully to bring him well to again; and it mustbe said, in mitigation of this rather barbarous proceeding, that theblood of the conquerors was a little up, and they were in that state inwhich we hear of soldiers being when they sack and burn towns. 

But Bill Jenkins was thoroughly thrashed--thoroughly--for he lay on thegrass and blubbered like a great cowardly calf as he was. He did notsay, "Yah-ah-ah-ha, " now, but "boo-hoo-hoo-hooed" dreadfully; and atlast came out--

"We shouldn't ha' touched you if that genelman hadn't given us ashilling each to pay you at out. "

"What gentleman?" said Harry. 

"Why, him as lives at the little house yonder, the little fat man, Muster Jones, hoo--hoo--ooh--ooh, " said Bill, who with his swelled eyesand wet hair now looked a beauty, not that the conquerors had anythingto boast of in that respect. "Now, then, " said Fred, viciously; "yougive me my shilling back, or I'll give you another ducking. "

"Boo--hoo, " said Bill, refunding the cash very reluctantly, and duckinghis head as though to avoid a blow. 

"Ah! you deserve it, you great coward, " said Harry. "Now get up, and beoff home; and don't you meddle with us again. "

And so these young cocks crowed, for the day was regularly their own;while Bill Jenkins sneaked off, with his feathers draggling down abouthis sides, and with bitterness in his heart, for he knew that anotherthrashing was in waiting for him at home, for getting his clothes wet, and his face bruised. 

And now that the victors had the field entirely to themselves, and theexcitement was over, they began to find that they were all very stiffand sore; and upon looking at one another, they found that the victoryhad been dearly bought Fred had, after all, been the greatest hero, and, as a matter of course, he had come in for the greatest amount of damage:his clothes were soaked with water; his shirt stained with blood; hiscollar torn off; but; as to personal damage, he had escaped with a cutmouth and bleeding knuckles, for he had found that Bill Jenkinspossessed a terribly thick head. Harry's clothes were terribly draggedabout, and his knuckles were in nearly as bad a state as Fred's, whilehis face was in such a condition that Philip said he might pass forsomebody else. Poor boy, he was sadly "punished, " as sporting peoplecall it, while more matter-of-fact folks would say, "knocked about:" thegeneral appearance of his face was such that it might have been supposedthat he had been the combatant who was immersed in the water, and that, having stayed in too long, his face had swelled and grown puffy. Philiphad a nasty cut on the ear, and had had his nose flattened, but it hadregained its proper position, though not without deluging him withblood. Altogether, the boys unmistakeably bore the appearances ofhaving been in a sharp engagement; and, as the sailors say, they "hoveto" for the purpose of repairing damages. 

The first proceeding was to wring all the water out of Fred's clothes, and then, when he had put on his dry jacket and cap, --which he had flungoff on commencing the conflict, --he did not look so very, very bad. Philip, too, was made pretty decent, when he had taken his stainedcollar off, and buttoned his waistcoat up with the collar reversed, sothat it covered his shirt. But Harry was the worst, for he lookeddreadful; and no amount of bathing would make him decent. To beginwith, his cap would not go on so as to cover his bruised forehead; hiseyes were reduced to narrow slits, so that he could scarcely see; whilehis mouth was drawn down all on one side. 

"Only look what an old gutta-percha head, " said Philip; "don't he seemas if some one had been squeezing him out of shape?" And then all threeburst out laughing, till Harry begged of them not to make him laugh. 

"Oh, don't, Phil; it does hurt so. "

"I say, " said Fred, "however are we to go in to tea?"

"I don't know, " said Philip; "I don't know what they will say to us!But we had better go home at once. What a set of guys we look! Let'sgo along by the river side, and get over the palings into the fields, and then, perhaps, we can slip in without being seen. "

"Come along then, " said Harry, "for I do feel so stupid, and I can't seea bit. "

"Oh! let's make haste, " said Fred, "for wet clothes are not at allcomfortable. "

It was getting on fast for tea-time, so they hurried along, and having, by means of jumping a couple of ditches, reached the palings whichskirted Mr Inglis's property, they helped Harry over, and crept alongclose to the trees. It had been no joke for Harry to leap the ditches, for he had to do it standing, but he managed to get pretty well over, and then blundered along behind his brother and cousin. 

"Now, then, keep close, Harry, " whispered Philip, when they were in thegarden; "keep close, and we'll soon slip in. "

Harry did keep close, and Philip dodged behind all the evergreens andclumps that he could till they had only one great Portugal laurel topass round, and then they could reach the side-door. Half a minute morewould have settled it, when one of the French windows opened, and outstepped Mr and Mrs Inglis just in front of the trio. 

Mrs Inglis's face expressed the horror and compassion that she felt tosee the boys in such a state, and, without stopping to ask questions, they were hurried in, and nursed and doctored into a state that madethem a little more presentable at the tea-table, round which, when theywere assembled, Mr Inglis listened to the recital of the conflict; and, much as he was annoyed at the not very creditable affair, still he couldnot see how the lads could have acted differently. It was a thing thathe could not praise them for, and he did not wish to blame; so hecontented himself that night with pointing out the folly of playing suchpractical jokes as had been schemed by Harry, saying that, however wrongothers might behave, retaliation in any shape ought not to be thoughtof. 

"But I say, Pa, " said Harry, "you would not have had us stand still andlet those fellows knock poor Dick about, would you?"

"Come, boys, " said Mr Inglis, "it's quite time you went off to bed, particularly after such a day as you have had. "

The boys said "good night, " and went off to their bedrooms, and as soonas they were out of hearing, Mr Inglis turned to his wife, and said--

"That last question was unanswerable, my dear, for duty said `Yes, 'while my heart said `No. ' The young dogs! What a knocking aboutthey've got; but I expect that their opponents are in a worse positionstill. I've been thinking of taking proceedings against this Jones, forreally this is such a flagrant affair; but, after all, perhaps we hadbetter treat the matter with the contempt it deserves. "

What more Mr Inglis would have said I cannot tell, for he wasinterrupted by the stuffy-looking head of Harry being thrust into theroom, and a voice that must have been his, though the lips wereimmovable, saying--

"I say, Pa, you ain't very cross, are you?"

Harry was started off to bed again, and Mr Inglis turned to his books, so that the question was not discussed any more. 

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. 

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

The days slipped pleasantly by, and the boys had nearly lost all tracesof their unpleasant encounter. They had been fishing again at the mill, and had a long talk with Dusty Bob, who had promised to make them somenamesakes, namely "bobs" for eel-catching in the dam, and they were tobe ready on the Wednesday evening following. This was Tuesday, andafter a hot day, during which they had been having fine sport in thefield--where the men were getting in a lateish crop of hay-making hayhuts, and then when the abode was tenanted, knocking it down upon theunfortunate inhabitant, who by this means was half smothered, whichHarry said constituted the best part of the fun--a kind of fun that Fredcould not see, for the view he took of the matter was like that of thepelted frogs in the fable, and after being covered up with a mass ofhay, and having had Harry and Philip sitting on the top of that, he hadcrawled out at last very hot, stuffy, bitty, and uncomfortable, andcould not be persuaded to enter the hay hut again. 

The boys had worked hard in the field; turning the hay, making it intococks, tossing them out, and then helping to load the waggon, and takingthe high-piled load to the stack-yard--the part the boys managed intaking the load being that of riding on the top amidst the sweet-scentednew hay, and having to lie flat down as the mass passed beneath the tallgateway and under the granary into the yard. On the way back, Harryrode the leading horse, making stirrups of the traces, while his legsstuck out at a very obtuse angle one from the other, in consequence ofthe round back of the fat cart-horse. 

Harry was the most venturesome of the three boys in all things, and yet, in spite of his daring, he met with fewer mishaps than the others;however, on this particular day, he did have the pleasure of being runaway with, for, after taking a load to the stack, the front horse wasalways unhooked from the traces, and allowed to follow the waggonbehind. Now upon this occasion, after re-entering the field, Ball, thebig horse, must have been tickled by a fly, or else have had the ideathat, now a gentleman was on his back, instead of being a cart-horse hewas a hunter. However, let the horse's idea have been what it might, hewhisked his tail, kicked up his heels, tossed his head, and snorted; andthen went off in a regular elephant gallop down the field, with all themen shouting "Stop him--stop him, " but nobody trying to do so in theleast. As for Harry, he stuck his knees into the horse as well as hecould, and dragged at the rein, but he might just as well have pulled ata post for all the impression he made. He felt rather frightened, buthe stuck tightly to his great steed, steadying himself by taking fasthold of the horse's great collar with one hand, all the while draggingwith the other at the rein. 

Away went the great brute full gallop, scattering the hay in alldirections, and charging right down at the hedge at the bottom of thefield. 

"He'll stop there, " shouted the men in pursuit, to one another. 

But not a bit of it, for the horse took the hedge in a flying leap, andthen went galloping on through the corn-field on the other side, andthen he came to a stand-still right in the middle of the waving grain, and began to nibble off the green sweet ears. 

But where was Harry? Why, sitting on the bank, with his legs swingingin the ditch by the side of the hedge over which the horse made such asplendid leap. But though the horse could make splendid leaps, Harrycould not, for he was not used to hunting, and the first sensation hefelt after flying through the air over the hedge, was that of a rudebump upon the earth, in the midst of a bed of stinging-nettles. He gotup, shook himself, and felt his legs and arms to see if anything wasbroken, and then, finding that such was not the case, he began rubbinghis back and then applying dock leaves to his stung hands. 

There must have been a good deal of elasticity in Harry's bones, for, somehow or other, in cases where other persons would have had theirsbroken, Harry's seemed only to have bent and returned to their normalposition. So by the time the men came up to the hedge, Harry wassitting very unconcernedly with his legs swinging in the ditch, rubbingin the dock juice upon the stung places with all his might. 

"Here he bes, " said a voice, and the great brown face of one of thecarters peered over the hedge. "Art t'e hurt, Maester Harry?"

"No: not I, " said Harry, getting up, "Jump over and catch that oldwretch. What made him run away with me?"

But the carter could not answer that question, so he tried to catch thehorse; but the first step was to get over the hedge, which he could notmanage so easily as the horse. He tried in two or three places, but itwas of no use, for the live fence was of the thorniest and thickest, sohe had to go round about a quarter of a mile to the gate, and then setto to catch the truant. But this too was easier said than done, for thehorse found himself in very pleasant quarters, and refused to leavethem; there was the sweetest of pasture all round him in the shape ofjuicy, milky, corn-ears; the long green stems would have made a pleasantresting-place, and then there were the larks carolling above him, andthe white-throats and yellow-hammers twittering on all sides; while thesun shone warmly enough to make work tedious and repose delightful; sothat altogether the horse did not feel disposed to return to his hardbondage of drawing the hay waggon, so heavily laden that he had to putout all his strength to draw it over the soil yielding surface of thefield; and he showed this as plainly as he could by refusing to "comethen. " He wouldn't "come then" a bit, but turned his tail to all theblandishments offered to his notice. It was of no use to pretend thatthere was corn in your hand, for he would not believe it, and would noteven smell to see. The carter might run as fast as he liked, but thisdid not answer, for it trampled the corn down, and besides, the horsehad four legs to the carter's two, and easily beat him at running, evenwhen he was dodged up into a corner of the field, for he dashed along inthe ditch and so escaped again into the centre. 

"Whoa, then, whoa-oa-oa, " said the carter, quite out of breath with hisefforts. But the horse wouldn't "whoa" any more than he would "comethen, " but trotted off for a short distance, and then very coollycommenced grazing upon the green corn-ears. At last the carter thoughtof what he should have thought of at first, namely, leaving the gateopen, and trying to drive the horse through. This he accomplished bymeans of a little manoeuvring, and the truant returned to the farm-yard, where he was easily captured, and where he obtained a severe floggingfor his vagaries. 

That same night the boys lay in bed talking through the open doorwayabout what they would do in the morning, when a light flashed upon thewindow-blind. 

"How it lightens!" said Fred. "There, again, did you see that?"

His cousins had seen what he alluded to, and said so; but the lightappeared upon their blind again, and this time lasted so long, that theygot out of bed to look, when, to their horror, they could see flamesrunning up the side of a great wheat-stack in the farm-yard, and theblaze every moment growing larger. They ran to the stairs and shoutedthe alarm to Mr Inglis, who saw by the glare that shone through thehall window what was the matter, and hurried out. 

The boys scrambled on their clothes as quickly as possible, and upongoing out, found Mrs Inglis and all the maids upon the lawn, watchingthe progress of the flames, which spread with alarming rapidity. 

Mr Inglis's farm-yard was situated fully a hundred yards from thehouse, so that there was no danger upon that side, and, besides, thewind was very still, which prevented the flames spreading so fast asthey would have done. But, unfortunately, the stacks and farm-buildingswere very close together, so that it seemed very probable that the wholeof the contents of the yard would fall a prey to the flames. 

When the boys reached the yard, they found everything in confusion--people running up from the villages; then shouting, and ordering, andcontradicting, all in a breath, and everybody in a state of the greatestexcitement. The only cool person about the place seemed to be MrInglis, who had already despatched a mounted messenger to the town forthe engine, and was now forming a line of men from the pond to the stacknearest the fire, over which, by means of ladders, a great corn sheetwas laid, and this they tried to keep wet. The pails were passedquickly along, and returned empty by another row of men; but the burningstack roared and crackled, and the sparks flew up in myriads, while inthe glare of light the martins and swallows could be seen flittingbackwards and forwards over the flames, till one by one the poor thingswere suffocated, and dropped into the burning mass. An old white owl, too, showed itself, flapping its wings round the burning stack andhooting dismally, but it soon after flew off and was lost in the darknight. 

The men worked hard at keeping the sheet wet, but it was of no avail, for all at once a great portion of the burning stack tell down againstthe one they were trying to save, and in a few minutes the great sheetand the whole of the side of the stack beneath it were in a blaze. 

Mr Inglis now directed his attention to the stables at the rear, towards which the flames were travelling with inconceivable velocity, the ground being nearly covered with loose straw, across which theflames ran like wildfire. Upon running to the stable-door he found itlocked, and in the crowd and confusion the horse-keeper could not befound. There was not a moment to lose, for the roof was already onfire, so a fir pole was fetched, and used battering-ram fashion, so thatthe big door by a few strokes was sent off its hinges. Mr Inglis thenrushed in and found the place full of smoke, and the poor horsestrembling with fear. There were eight in the stable, and to cut theirhalters was but the work of a minute. Some of them dashed out of theplace as soon as released, as though mad with fear; while others stoodwith dripping sides, snorting and shuddering, and had literally to bedragged out. 

All this while the roof was blazing away rapidly, and the hay in theloft served to make it burn more fiercely. Seven horses had been saved, but the eighth stubbornly refused to move, in spite of every effort; andat last Mr Inglis and the men with him were compelled to retreat toavoid suffocation. 

Upon being a little restored, one of the men would have made anotherattempt, but he was stopped by Mr Inglis, who said that it would be arisk of human life that he would not allow. Just then the roof fell inwith a crash, and a fearful shriek burst from the poor animal that metwith so horrible a death, while the men shuddered as they looked at oneanother, and thought of their narrow escape. 

The farm-yard now presented a dreadful scene of confusion, for poultry, pigs, and calves were running about in all directions, adding theircries to the general clamour; the pigeons flew round the place and frombuilding to building; and everything seemed disposed to fly or run inany but the direction required of it; the men, too, appeared nearly asbad, running hither and thither without aim or purpose, and getting intodanger when there was not the slightest necessity. 

And now the flames roared and crackled terribly, and seemed to havegained the entire mastery. The moon had not risen, so that the darknight was lit up by the red glare, and the tall elm and beech-treesturned of a golden green as they reflected the bright light. The flamesleaped from stack to stack, and from shed to shed, licking everythingup, and seeming to laugh at the efforts which were made to stay theirprogress. The great barn full of corn was in a blaze, and the fearseemed to be that the farm-house where Mr Inglis's bailiff lived wouldbe the next prey of the flames. The pig-sties were all burnt down, andtwo unfortunate fat pigs had perished, squealing dismally; but the restof the live stock had been saved, as also most of the farmingimplements: drills, ploughs, harrows, harness, carts, waggons, etc, etc, had been all dragged out of the way; but, for all that, the loss ofvaluable stock was terrible--unthreshed ricks of barley, oats, andwheat; hay and straw, a barn filled with sacks of grain newly threshed, and all being devoured by the flames in one short hour and a half. 

The great barn was blazing furiously, and the tired men busily engagedwetting the thatch upon the gable end of the farm-house, upon whichgreat flakes of fire kept falling; while others were hard at workdragging the furniture out of the doors and windows, and bearing it to aplace of safety, when there was heard a distant "hurray, " and then camethe pattering sound of galloping horses, and the rattle of wheels. Thecheering was taken up by those near at hand, and in the midst of theshouting, the dark red body of the engine from Marshford dashed up tothe yard. In a twinkling, the horses were detached by the men in darkuniform who had leaped off the engine, the glare all the while reflectedfrom their brass-bound helmets--for Marshford boasted a volunteer firebrigade--and then the wheels spun round again as the engine was run downto the pond, the suction pipe screwed on, and like magic, so quickly wasit done, length after length of hose joined together, till a sufficiencywas obtained to reach easily the burning barn; and then the captain withthe burnished copper branch screwed it to the hose, men seized thehandles on each side of the engine, and at the given word--"Thud--thud;thud--thud; thud--thud, " went the powerful pumps. "Squish--squitter--squish--squish--ciss--ciss--hiss-s-s-s-s-s, " went a stream of waterswift as an arrow from a bow right on to the gable of the farm-house, and deluging the thatch in a moment, from the broad red chimney-stackdown to the eaves, and extinguishing every spark and flake that hung toit. How necessary this had become could be seen from the steam whicharose from the thatch, which must have been in flames in a few minutes, while the brickwork actually hissed, it had grown so heated. 

An occasional dash from the branch soon stayed all alarm as to thefarm-house being in danger, and the captain, directing his stream ofwater against the burning barn, ordered his men to attach anotherhose-pipe and branch to the engine, so as to double the stream of waterthrown upon the flames; this was soon done, and it being evident thatnothing would avail to stay the progress of the fire in the ricks andsheds, which were one mass of red glow, both branches were devoted tothe attack upon the big barn. 

How the men cheered and pumped; and how the sweat streamed down theirfaces as they sent the handles down on each side, "thud--thud; thud--thud;" and how the streams of water dashed into the burning building, battling with the forked tongues of the fire, inch by inch, and turningthe glowing timbers into black, smoking, charred masses; while volumesof steam and smoke now ascended where all before was flame. "Hiss--hiss--hiss, " went the raging flames as the cold streams interposedbetween these fiery dragons and their prey; and "ciss--ciss--ciss, "rushed the water sputtering from the copper tubes the captain of thebrigade and his lieutenant held in their hands. Famously was the enginekept going, for a barrel of beer was brought down, and the men relievedeach other, and partook of the refreshing draughts handed to them fromthe cask. 

All at once there was a warning cry, and a hurried rush of many feet, for ore of the great corn-ricks, which had burned to the very core, hadtoppled over, spreading its glowing ashes right across the yard, and ashower of sparks high up in the air, like a golden whirlwind, settingfire to the loose straw that lay about in all directions. But for thepresence of the engine, the fire would now have spread in anotherdirection; but the powerful streams of water that were dashed all overthe place soon extinguished the many little fires that had sprung up, and Mr Inglis leading on a body of men with buckets to throw waterwhere it would have good effect, the engine branches were directed againat the large barn, which was greatly in need of attention, for duringthe brief pause the flames had leaped up with renewed violence; but thesteady streams of water soon began to tell upon them, and that too sowell, that in the course of an hour, one branch was considered enough tofinish the task of extinguishing the fire in that building, and theother poured an unintermitting stream upon each and every part of theyard where the flames were. 

The danger of the ruin spreading was now entirely at an end; and everyminute the glare became duller and fainter. The "clank-clank:thud-thud" of the engine still kept on hour after hour, for thesmouldering heaps of ashes every now and then burst out into flame; buta shower from the branches soon reduced its brightness to a cloud ofsteam and smoke. The day had long dawned, and at last up rose the sunupon the scene of devastation, and a sad sight it was, and the more sofrom the whispers abroad that it was the work of some evil-mindedperson, who, for reasons of his own, had set fire to the stacks; buthappily this afterwards proved not to have been the case, for the firewas the result of an accident: a tramp, who had lain down in the strawto sleep, having dropped the match with which he lit his pipe, when thedry straw caught fire, and the flames ran up the side of the stack byhis side in a few seconds. 

It was indeed a sad sight, for all around lay sodden and blackenedstraw, charred beams, and smoking rafters, half-burnt boards, scorchedsacks; in short, it was a scene of ruin, and the smoke and steamascended in clouds towards the bright morning sky. An occasional dashfrom the branch was now sufficient to keep the fire under, and thegreater part of the worn and jaded working people, after partaking ofrefreshments at the Grange kitchen, went home to snatch a few hours'rest, and among those who went to seek rest were Mr Inglis and theboys. But on entering the house they found the blinds open, and thebreakfast cloth spread, so that they all sat down to a refreshing meal;after which everybody declared that it would be a pity to go to bed onso bright a morning. 

Fred seemed, however, to have something on his mind; and at laststammeringly asked his uncle if this disaster would not prove a seriousloss. His fears, however, were set at rest by Mr Inglis, who smiled, and told him that it would have been, but for the exercise of prudenceand forethought, for, said he--

"If I had not been insured, it would have been a much more terribleaffair; but now the insurance company will either pay me the full valueof everything that has been destroyed by way of compensation, or buildup the whole of my barns and fill them again, so that you see I shallhave new ones instead of old. "

"But they can't build a new horse and pigs again, " said Harry. 

"No, poor creatures, " said Mr Inglis; "that was a sad death for them. However, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we did our best tosave them. "

"But what is insurance?" inquired Fred. 

"Why, to explain it simply, " said Mr Inglis, "a body of men jointogether, and pay each of them a small sum of money yearly into a placeof business, which they have in London; and then, when anybody whobelongs to them has a misfortune, and his place is burnt, he has, fromthis money that has been paid up in littles, enough sent to him to payfor all the damage that has been done. Some people keep on paying inall their lifetime, and never have a misfortune, and so that money goesto help those who have. Thus in my time I have never had a mishap ofthis kind before, but have been paying year after year, for a very longtime, and what I have paid has gone to help those who have been introuble; now my turn has come, and I shall write to London to the peoplewho manage, when they will send down a gentleman to see what is theamount of damage done, and then they will pay me the money at once, or, perhaps, repair the damages. So you see, my boy, there is nothing likeprudence and foresight, not only in guarding against fire, but in allthings. "

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. 

A BROKEN DAY. 

In spite of the resolution to sit up as it had grown so late, the boysdid not seem at all the thing: there was a great disposition to yawn, and a general feeling of being uncomfortable. Things appeared strangeand irregular, and the events of the past night to have taken place along time back; and at last, by the advice of Mrs Inglis, they allthree went off to bed--the dinner being put off till a later hour. 

As for Mr Inglis, he was busy enough in the farm-yard till dinner-time, for, in the present state of confusion, it was impossible to tell whatamount of damage was done, and what had been saved from the flames. Implements and tools were spread about in all directions, and the extentof the ruin almost put him in a state of despair; but he reflected thatthe misfortune might have been of a far more serious nature, and thenset to work busier than ever. 

By twelve o'clock the engine had gone back to the town, the fire beingcompletely extinct; and then there were arrangements to make for thehorses, pigs, cows, and poultry, all of which required immediateattention; for, although Mr Inglis kept a manager or bailiff to attendto his farm, yet, in such a case of emergency as the present, he foundplenty to call for his own aid. 

About three o'clock the boys made their appearance again, well refreshedwith the five or six hours' sleep they had taken; but the whole placelooked so desolate and miserable, that they very soon scampered off intothe garden, to amuse themselves with a few strawberries andgooseberries. When they had had enough fruit, they took some into thegreen-house for the parrot, who made a noise like the smacking of lipsupon being shown the strawberries, which she seemed to enjoywonderfully; while as for the gooseberries, they were capital amusement, for she picked the seeds out of the pulp one at a time, and then dancedup and down as though in ecstasy. 

But they were soon tired of playing with Poll, and betook themselves tothe yard to tease the old raven; but he was not in a mood to be teased, so showed fight, and pecked viciously at every one who came near him, till at last, feeling that might would eventually overcome right, andthe boys prove too much for him, he took to his old place of refuge, thehorse-chestnut tree, where he sat and barked and laughed at his lateaggressors. 

They next turned their attention to Dick, who had not had a run sincethe day when he had his eye cut by the stone thrown by Bill Jenkins'sparty. The cut was healed up; and very soon Dick was capering round theyard in fine style, but somehow or other his capers did not givesatisfaction to his masters; they wanted something new, and they couldfind nothing fresh to amuse them, till all at once the yard gate opened, and a lad appeared with a letter in his hand. 

"Wow--wow--wuff, " said Dick, making at the intruder open-mouthed, butthe new-comer was too quick for the dog, for he darted back, and shutthe gate in his face. 

Back darted Dick, and out at the door at the other end, and then roundby the shrubbery. 

Harry and Philip both tried to open the gate, but the new-comer--whomthey had recognised as Fred's late adversary, Bill Jenkins, was holdingon tightly, so that they could not move it in the least. But in thecourse of a few seconds there was the sound of rushing feet through theshrubbery; a loud yell; and then the gate was released, and upon beingopened there stood, or rather reeled about, Bill Jenkins, and Dick, whoowed him a grudge for the stone-throwing, tight hold of him by thetrousers and shaking away at them as hard as he possibly could; and allthe while snarling and growling as viciously as a dog could snarl andgrowl. 

"Help! help!" roared Bill Jenkins. 

"Worry--worry--worry, " went Dick. 

"Help! help! murder!" roared Bill Jenkins again; and then, tripping overa stone, he fell sprawling on the gravel-walk, when Dick, with all theimportance of a conqueror, left his hold of the trousers and leaped uponthe fallen enemy's breast, where he stood with his red tongue lollingout, and wagging his tail. 

"Oh, please call him off; oh, do please, " said Bill Jenkins; "I'll ne'erthrow stones at him again. Oh, please call him off. "

Harry laid hold of Dick's tail, and Philip took him by the ears, andthey carried him off to the yard and chained him up again, when he setto barking as loudly as he could, until his enemy had left the premises, which he did directly, leaving the letter, which he had brought for MrInglis, in the charge of Fred, and then slipping off, after faring noworse than being in a most horrible fright, for Dick's teeth went nofarther than through his trousers. As to Harry and Philip, they enjoyedthe fun, as they called it, immensely, which can hardly be wondered atwhen the provocation they had received is taken into consideration; butI must do them the credit of saying that they would not have set the dogat poor Bill, and that they could not have stopped him if they had triedever so hard, which, in the hurry-skurry of the affair, they had nochance of attempting. Dick had a good memory for those who were kind, and those who behaved ill to him, as Bill Jenkins found to his cost; andnever afterwards could he be persuaded to take a message to Mr Inglis'shouse, so wholesome was the dread with which the dog had inspired him. 

This episode supplied the boys with what they had wanted--something totake up their attention till dinner-time, which Harry, by making acharge into the kitchen, found to be in the process of what Mrs Cooktermed "dishing up;" so they entered the house, where they found Papajust going to relieve himself of a little of the black which clung tohim; and soon afterwards, at dinner, they heard all that had been doneto make the best of the existing state of affairs. 

During tea the family party were again alarmed by the cry of "Fire!" ofwhich they could see the glare through the window; but, on hastening tothe farm-yard, it proved to be only one of the smouldering heaps whichhad burst out again, and a few pails of water soon extinguished theflames. 

Watchmen were left in charge of the place, and soon after returning tothe house, the whole of the inmates, thoroughly tired out with theexcitement of the past twenty-four hours, retired to rest. 

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. 

BEWARE OF THE SNAKE. 

"Now, boys, " said Philip, "tumble up--tumble up--tumble up, it's such abeautiful morning. Come, get up, Harry, " he continued, giving hisbrother a rough shake. 

"Aw--yaw--aw--aw--aw--aw, " said Harry, gaping fearfully. 

"Get up-p-p-p-p-p, " shouted Philip again, giving him another shake. 

"Oh, don't, Philip, " said Harry, "I'm so slee-aw-aw-aw-ah-aw-aw-py. "

"What an old stupid!" said Philip again. "If you don't get up, I'llcold sponge you. "

Harry did not wait for the cold sponge, but got up at once, and then theyoung dogs seemed to enter into a compact to disturb the rest of poorFred, which they did by torturing him most ingeniously. 

Fred was lying fast asleep, and, the night having been warm, he hadkicked all the clothes off, so Harry and Philip collected thehair-brushes in the two bedrooms, which, old and new, amounted to five;after which, Harry slipped down into the hall, and brought up the twoclothes-brushes, and these they carefully arranged upon the bed, all onone side of the sleeper. They next screwed up the corner of ahandkerchief, and began to tickle him on the side farthest from thebrushes. The first application of the tickler produced an impatientrub; the second, an irritable scratch; but the third made the sleeperturn right over on to the sharp brushes, and begin to curl and twistabout with pain. 

"Oh, dear! what's--ah--ah--er--oh, dear--don't. What's in the bed?"said Fred, muttering and groaning and twisting amongst the brushes, butstill keeping his eyes obstinately closed. 

His tormentors roared with laughter; and it was this mirth whichthoroughly aroused Fred to the comprehension of his position, which heno sooner realised than he sat up in bed, but in so doing only increasedhis pain--penetrating hair-brushes, although meant expressly for goingthrough the hair, having, for all that, the power to pierce the skin, asFred found, and he soon made a sort of rabbit leap off the bed on to thefloor, and confronted his tormentors, who directly took to ignobleflight; but they did not get off scot-free, for Fred managed to send amissile in the shape of one of the brushes flying after them, and itcaught Harry a pretty good thump in the back with the hardest part. 

"I say, " said Philip, when they were nearly dressed, "we were to havegone to the mill last night to bob for eels; let's go to-night, or DustyBob will think we are not coming. "

"Oh, he wouldn't expect us when he saw what a fire there was. He wouldknow that we should not go directly afterwards. But we might goto-night, though. Let's ask Mamma to have tea early, so that we canstart directly after. "

"Well, but we have not had breakfast yet, " said Fred. 

"Well, I know that, " said Harry; "but it's always best to be in goodtime about everything, and then you don't get all behind. I say, whatshall we do this morning? I should like to go down to the seashore. Let's ask Papa to take us. "

"Why, what's the use, " said Philip, "when you know how busy he is aboutthe fire? I shouldn't like to ask him. But he said he would take usagain before Fred goes back, so let's wait and see. "

Breakfast finished, the boys went out in the garden to amuse themselves, and plenty there always seemed to be in that garden to amuse any one ofreasonable desires. There was fruit in abundance to begin with--no badthing for a commencement either, as Harry appeared to think, for hebegan feasting first upon the gooseberries, and then turned hisattention to the cherries on the big tree in the corner by theshrubbery--the tree which bore the great white Bigareau cherries; and itwas quite time they were picked, for some were split right down the sidefrom over-ripeness, while the sparrows had been attacking others, andhad committed sad havoc amongst them--the little pert rascals havingpicked out all the finest and ripest for their operations, and then, after taking a few bites out of the richest and sweetest part, theycommenced upon another. As for Harry, who was not at all a particularyouth, he used to make a point of choosing the sparrow-picked cherries--saying that they were the ripest and sweetest. 

Harry was up in the fork of the tree, reaching the fruit and throwing itdown to his companions, when the attention of all three boys was takenup by the movements of a little bird in a tree close by; it was one ofthe little titmice, and the tiny fellow seemed to be in a wonderfulstate of excitement, darting from branch to branch, and emitting hissharp cry in a most querulous manner. 

"I say, " said Philip, "look at that tom-tit; it has a nest somewhereclose by, I know. "

This remark set six eyes searching about to discover the place of thelittle tom-tit's home. Fred began looking up in the tree and amidst thelaurel bushes--parting the boughs, and peering amidst the great greenleaves. 

"What are you looking for?" said Harry at last. 

"The tom-tit's nest, " said Fred. 

"Why, it's no use to look there; they always build in holes in the treesor wall. Last year there was one in that tall vase at the corner of thelow wall; and we used to see the bird go down the neck ever so manytimes a day. It was such a snug place, nobody could touch it. I wonderwhere that little chap has been building. It must be close by, or hewould not be so fidgety about our being here. "

They all hunted about well, but no nest was to be found; so Harry camedown from his elevated position, and proceeded to share the capful ofcherries that he had picked in addition to those he had thrown down. 

"Well, now, if that isn't droll, " said Philip, laughing; "no wonder wecould not find the nest: why, Harry was standing up with his foot overit. Why, there it is, in the trunk of the cherry-tree. I just saw thetom-tit fly in. "

And there, sure enough, was the nest right at the bottom of a deep holein the tree trunk, the entrance to which was by a hole so small that itseemed impossible for any bird to pass through it; for to look at thesize of the tom-tit, his bulk appeared to be double the circumference ofthe hole; but his downy yielding little feathers gave him an easypassage through; and, as the boys went up to the tree, out he dartedwith a sharp cry, and flew away. 

"There's a hen-bird in the hole, sitting, " said Harry, "and he has beento feed her, I know. Let's try. " Saying which, he took a piece ofstick, and began to insert it gently into the hole. 

"Don't hurt it, " said Philip. "Don't poke the stick in. "

"Oh! I shan't hurt anything, " said Harry brusquely. "Do you think Idon't know what I'm about? I'm only going to push it in a little way tosee if there is a nest, and then I shall--"

"Ciss-s-s-s-s-s-s-s, " said something very sharply from the bottom of thehole, and back darted Harry, stick and all, as though he had been shot. 

"Why, it's a snake, " said Philip. 

"How could a snake get there?" said Harry, looking rather discomposed. 

"There must have been an egg laid in the hole, " said Fred; offering, ashe thought, a very clever solution of the difficulty. 

"Well, but how did the egg get there?" said Harry. 

"Why, it was laid there, of course, " said Fred. 

"Well, but, " said Philip, "if an egg could be laid there, a snake couldhave got there; and I don't believe the English snakes could climb upthe bark of a tree; and, besides, if there was one egg there would bemore, for snakes' eggs are all joined together like French rolls at thebaker's shop; and then there would have been a whole lot of snakes inthe hole. "

"Perhaps there is a whole party of them there now, " said Fred. "I wishwe could split the tree open. I shan't eat any more cherries; theysmell snaky. "

"Get out!" said Harry; "I don't believe it was a snake at all. I wishthe hole was big enough to get my hand in; I'd soon see what it was. "

"But if it was a snake, it would bite, " said Fred, "and poison you. "

"No, it wouldn't, " said Harry; "it's only adders that bite and poison;snakes are quite harmless; Papa says so, and he knows everything. "

"Does he?" said a voice behind the laurels, and Mr Inglis came up tothem, smiling. "And so, Master Hal, you consider that Papa knowseverything, do you? Ah, my boy, when you grow older, I trust that youwill prove studious enough to find out how very ignorant your father is, and to look upon all he knows in the same way that he does himself, andthat is, as a mere nothing in comparison with what there is to learnaround us. But, " he continued, cheerfully, "what is it I am said toknow so much about?"

"Why, about snakes, Papa. They won't bite, will they?"

"Oh, yes, " said Mr Inglis, "and pretty sharply, too, after theirfashion. I do not suppose that it would pierce your skin; but if youcould occupy the position of poor froggy some day, when a snake has gothold of him by the hind legs, I think you would find that he could bite. But what made you talk about snakes?"

"Why, there's one in this tree, Papa, " said Philip; "we put a stick intothe hole, and it did hiss so. Now, you listen. "

Philip placed a piece of wood in the hole again, and in a moment therecame forth the same sharp hiss, and directly Philip darted back in thesame way as his brother had a short time before. 

"There, did you hear that?" said the boys. 

"Oh, yes; I heard the hiss, but it was not a snake; only the noise madeby the female titmouse when sitting upon her nest. It is to scareintruders away, and you see how effectually it answers the purpose, foryou boys were completely startled, and thought that it was a snake. Andthis is very often the case in nature, that helpless birds, animals, andinsects are provided with means of offence or concealment, that in agreat measure balance the helplessness of their nature. But I shouldlike you lads to read these natural history facts for yourselves, andthen search, during your walks and excursions, for the objects you haveread of in your studies. "

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. 

A STUPID ASS. 

Mr Inglis then walked away, and the boys strolled about the garden insearch of something to amuse them until dinner-time. 

Now most people would have been content with taking a chair, andsitting, book in hand, beneath the shade of one of the trees upon thelawn. Fred might have done this had he been alone, or Philip wouldprobably have been likely so to do; but when Harry was in company withthem such a proceeding seemed to be quite out of the question, and sothey wandered about in search of something to take their attention. 

But there was some one watching them all this time, and mentallygrowling and worrying himself about the boys being at home. Now thissomebody was none other than old Sam, who was up on a ladder against thehouse, nailing in some of the long pendant branches of the roses whichhad here and there broken loose, and were trailing down low enough tocatch the dresses of those who passed by. Sam had been grunting andhammering, and hammering and grunting, and he was not in a very goodtemper; for, in looking round and watching the boys, he had missed thehead of the nail he was aiming at, and had given a sufficiently hard rapto his finger to draw blood; and this was of course put down to thecredit of "them boys;" in fact, they could not have met with more blameif one of them had taken up the hammer and struck the blow, while theothers had aided and abetted. 

At last Sam saw them all turn down into the flower-garden, and then, forfear that something or another by which he set store should be handled, he got off the ladder and began very cautiously to follow them, goingslowly from tree to tree, and trying to steal quietly up; but all Sam'scaution was unnecessary, as the boys were not in mischief, for they wereonly going to the field to try and catch Neddy, the donkey, who had beenon the sick list nearly all the time of Fred's visit, and had beenturned out in a field some distance from the house. But now Neddy hadbeen reported quite well for some days past, so the boys were determinedupon having a ride, so as to do something towards filling up the timeuntil after tea, when they were to go to the mill-dam bobbing for eels. 

They soon reached the cedar-field, where the cob pony was grazing aswell as the donkey; and as soon as the visitors entered, down went thepony's head, and up went his heels and tail, and away he galloped asfast as he could lay his hoofs to the ground, and after him went thedonkey, but only at the rate of about one hundred yards to the pony'stwo. 

Now the pony was not wanted, but he must needs begin setting a badexample to the donkey, telling him as plainly as one animal could tellanother that he did not mean to be caught, and, as "evil communicationscorrupt good manners, " the donkey took the same whim into his greatrough ash-grey head, and galloped after the pony as hard as he could. It was of no use to say, "come then, " or "coop--coop--coop, " for both ofthe four-footed beasts seemed to have an idea that they were to race andtear round the field just as long as they liked, and that they could gofar better without saddle, bridle, or rider than they could with. 

Seeing how much slower Neddy the donkey was than the pony, it was notvery long before he was cut off from following his companion's capers;but even then he was as far off from being caught as ever, for he dodgedabout and spun round, and, at last, when driven into close quarters, hetucked his tail in between his legs and kept his heels to the partyattacking him, which was his very Irish fashion of facing the enemy. 

"Now, Fred, " said Harry at last, "you stand quite still there; Philip, come in a little closer; and then when I give the word all walk forwardtogether, and then we must have him. Phew! how hot it is!"

Harry, having posted his forces in the most suitable manner, then stoodready with a halter in his hand, knowing from fatigue-bought experiencewhich way Master Neddy would rush, and meaning this time to try andlasso the rascal. 

"Now, then, " said Harry, "close in. "

The three boys then slowly and cautiously walked towards the donkey, whowas now hemmed up in a corner of the field; and, judging fromappearances, he evidently meant to surrender at discretion. Harry heldthe halter all ready to slip over Neddy's head, and in another moment hewould have been captured but for the pony, who, seeing the danger of hiscompanion, gave a loud neigh and started off full gallop across thefield. 

"Pitty-pat; pitty-pat; pitty-pat, " went the pony; and, as soon as Neddyheard it, down went his head, up went his heels, and away he rushed, andpassed Harry like a shot. But Harry was ready for him, and cleverlythrew his halter over the tiresome brute's head. In a moment it wasdrawn tight, and as Harry held on to the other end he was dragged alongby the donkey, until his foot tripping in the long grass, he left go ofthe halter, and down he went on all-fours, and then rolled over and overupon the ground; while away went Neddy full gallop to where the ponystood, and then the two provoking beasts walked right into the middle ofthe little corner pond, and stood in the mud and water, whisking theirtails about, and seeming to enjoy finely the mischief of which they hadbeen guilty. 

"There's a beast, " said Harry, sitting up in the grass, and chewing bitsof strand. "Won't he catch it next time I get on his back. He shallpay me for tiring me out in this way. I'll give it him. "

"Well, what shall we do?" said Philip; "we can't get at them in thepond. "

"Can't you drive them out with a long whip?" said Fred. 

This last idea seemed to strike Harry as being feasible, and anotherplan popped into his head at the same moment; so, jumping up with a"won't-be-beaten" sort of an air about him, he appealed to Philip. 

"I say, Phil, old chap, I'm so tired; do go and fetch the whip. "

"What's the good?" said Philip; "that won't catch them. "

"No, but we'll leave the gate open, " said his brother, "and drive themup the field into the stable, and then we can catch them easily enough. "

"Bravo!" said Fred, clapping his hands, but not making any noise fromthe fact of having his handkerchief in one, having been wiping his face. 

Away trotted Philip, and soon returned with a long cart-whip; and thenonce more the boys went to the bottom of the field, and Harry advancedwith the whip in his hand towards the pond. 

As for Neddy, Harry might have stood at the edge of the water andcracked the whip until his donkeyship felt disposed to come out, for nota bit did he care, knowing full well that he was out of reach, and thateven if the thong could have touched him he would not have felt itthrough his thick grey coat; and so stock-still he stood, flapping hisgreat ears, whisking his tail, and lazily winking his eyes. But it wasdifferent with the pony: he was a thin-skinned gentleman, and not somuch of a philosopher as the ass. He, too, had often felt the whip uponhis flanks, and knew the flavour, and, not being so good a judge ofdistance as his companion, as soon as the whip gave the first crack hemade a start, and spattered out of the pond, and away up the fieldtowards the open gate. 

Stock-still stood Neddy. 

"Crack!" went the whip again. 

"Come out, " shouted Harry. 

"Poor old fellow, then, " said Philip, soothingly. 

"No, don't coax him, Phil, " said his brother; "he don't deserve it. Only let me get at him; that's all. "

For a few moments, however, there did not seem to be a chance of getting"at him, that's all;" for the donkey stood as stolidly as ever, till thepony, as he scampered up the field, gave a triumphant neigh, whichroused Neddy, for he gave a frisk and a splash in the water, and thenrushed out; but he did not escape quite scot-free, for Harry managed toget one crack at him with the thick end of the whip just as he gallopedup the field. 

Harry's manoeuvre proved successful, for they had now only to follow thedonkey up as he went straight into the stable, from whence he was soondragged out in triumph, saddled and bridled, and with Philip mounted. 

"Now, then, " shouted Harry to his brother, as soon as they returned tothe field, "down to the bottom and back, and then it's Fred's turn. "

But Neddy would not trot; it was of no use to kick him with your heels, he would only walk, so Philip called out for a stick, and then whenNeddy saw the stick coming he would not walk but would trot, so thatHarry could hardly catch up to him; but when he did, and handed theweapon to his brother, the donkey no sooner felt the first touch thandown went his head and up went his heels, and off went Philip on to hisback in the grass. 

Neddy would then have started off again, but Harry was too quick forhim, and soon held the rein for his brother to remount. 

"He's too fresh, " said Harry. "Never mind; jump up, Phil, and we'llsoon take a little of his nonsense out of him. "

So away Philip trotted down to the bottom and back again, and then Fredhad a turn and stuck on capitally, only when he wanted to turn to theleft and come up the field again, Neddy would turn to the right and gothe other way--an arrangement Fred was obliged to submit to from thefact of his whole attention being required to sit on tight, withoutguiding his steed. 

At last Harry's turn came, and it was some time before he could manageto mount, for Neddy was very shy of the rough hawthorn stick the ladheld; and so he kept backing and pirouetting until Philip went on theopposite side with his stick, when the fidgety little scamp sufferedhimself to be mounted. 

"Crack, " went the stick, and up went Neddy's heels. "Crack--crack--crack, " went the stick again, and up went Neddy's heels four, five, sixtimes over. But the donkey had this time met with his match, and, inspite of his kicking and shuffling, Harry sat him like a hero. 'Tistrue that he was bumped all sorts of ways--right and left--on to thedonkey's neck--on to his crupper, and was several times nearly off, butnever quite; so that at last Neddy gave up in despair, submitted to histhrashing, and then cantered down the field and back, and afterwardsallowed himself, with a very good grace, to be ridden about as long ashis masters liked; for they had really proved themselves the mastersthat day in more senses than one. 

At last Neddy was declared to have done his duty, and was set at libertyby the stable-door--a good feed of oats being awarded to him as arecompense for all he had gone through, and then the donkestrians wentin to their mid-day meal, Fred feeling wonderfully improved in hisability as to riding. 

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. 

BOBBING AROUND. 

In the afternoon, as they were sitting under a shady tree, eating adessert of strawberries, Harry began to wish that it was tea-time, so asto get started for the mill-dam, about which place his wholeconversation had been since Neddy had been returned to the stable. 

"Oh! I do wish it was time to start, " said Harry. "I wonder how manywe shall catch. "

"Oh! not many, " said Philip. "We only caught twelve last time. "

"Ah! but then see how it came on to rain, else we could have caughtdozens more. "

"Suppose Dusty Bob does not get the what-d'ye-call-'ems ready!" saidFred. 

"What! the bobs? Oh! he's sure to have them ready, " said Philip. "Heknows that he will get a shilling for making them, so he is sure to bethere, with them all in a flower pot. Isn't he, Harry?"

"Oh, yes!" said Harry; "he'll have the bobs ready; he dare not dootherwise, or we should duck him in the mill-pond; shouldn't we, Phil!"

"What a brag you are, Harry!" said Fred. "What's the good of tellingsuch fibs as that! Why, you wouldn't touch him at all!"

"Well, you'll see, " said Harry, "if the bobs are not ready. "

They soon had an opportunity of testing whether the bobs were ready ornot, for an early tea was hastily partaken of, and then they set off, --Mr and Mrs Inglis having promised to come and meet them, and to helpthem carry home the spoils. 

The boys were in too great a hurry to get down to the mill, to take anynotice of the attraction they met upon the road. Harry was compelled tohave one shy at the squirrel that scampered up into the chestnut tree;but with that exception not a stoppage was made, and in a very shorttime they came to the plank over the great ditch--the plank whichreplaced the one that broke when it was danced on the day that thebasket of fish was lost after the visit to the fish-traps. This time, however, it was quietly crossed, and in a few minutes the figure ofDusty Bob became visible as he leaned against a post outside the mill, and smoked his pipe. 

"Sarvant, young gentlemen, " said Bob, as the boys came up. "'Spected toha' seen yow yesterday. "

"Oh, but we have been so busy since the fire, Bob, " said Harry, and hespoke as though he really believed that they had been busy; but, ifasked what they had been busy about, I think it very doubtful whetherMaster Harry could have given a satisfactory answer. "Never mind aboutthat though, now, " said Harry; "where are the bobs?"

"Oh! I've got 'em all right, " said Bob; "but I don't see why I couldn'thave a drop o' beer up at t' fire, as well as other folks. "

"Well, why didn't you?" said Harry; "Papa had a whole barrel broughtout. "

"Oh! I dunno, " said Bob; "I knows I never got none, and other folks gotlots; and I says to my mate as it warn't fair. "

"Well, but why didn't you have some, Bob?" said Philip; "Papa meant itfor everybody that had been helping. "

"I knows that, " said Bob; "but nobody asked me to have none. " And thenBob filled his pipe again, and looked very sulky as he went on smoking, for it was very evident that his dignity had been much touched over thebeer business. However, he soon seemed to come to the conclusion thatthe lads before him were not to blame for his coming short of theneedful refreshment; and, turning the lighted tobacco out of his pipeinto the mill-dam, where it fell with a "ciss, " he led the way into themill, from whence he produced three light poles and some string, andfrom out of a cool damp flower pot three hideous-looking looped upbunches of worms, each with a leaden weight in the centre. 

"There, " said Harry, "I knew he would have them. Hooray, boys! comeon. "

Bob soon tied the bunches, or bobs, of worms strung upon worsted to astring, fastened to the poles, and then posted each boy in what heconsidered an eligible spot on the banks of the deep mill-dam. He tookFred, as being the novice, under his own especial charge, and began toinstruct him how to proceed. 

"There, yow see, " said Bob, "yow lets the bob sink gently down to thebottom, and, when yow feel it touches, just draw it up a little waystill the eels sticks their teeth into it, and then pull it gently upa-top, and then out wi' 'em in a minute. "

All this time Dusty Bob was suiting the action to the word, and showingFred how it should be done, waiting all the while till one of the eelsdid stick his teeth in, which was in the course of a very few minutes, when Bob softly raised his bob to the surface, lifted it out quickly, and a fine eel dropped off into the water again. 

"Never mind, " said Bob, "try again; that's the way. "

So this time Fred tried, and let his great bait sink to the bottom, when, directly after, he felt something go "tug, tug" at it, and thenagain, quite sharply. At first he hardly knew what to do, but anothertug made him draw the bait up to the surface, when he distinctly saw aneel leave it, giving a vicious snatch at the bait as it did so. 

Just then Harry landed a fine fellow, which gave a serpentine sort of awriggle, and regained the water in a moment. 

"There, that's the way to do it, " said Philip, who at that momentsecured one. "Try again, Harry. "

But Harry was already trying again; and, profiting by past experience, had succeeded in landing two or three decent-sized eels, one afteranother, and secured them all. There was no stopping to bait the hook, and no disengaging the fish from the bait, for they let go of theworstedy worm as soon as they were lifted out of the water, or as soonas they could drag their teeth out of the woolly delicacy; and as tobiting, they seized the bob with the greatest eagerness, for it wasevident that the mill-dam swarmed with the eel tribe, now seeking theirprey upon the warm summer evening--evidently a time when they loved toleave their muddy abodes. 

"How many have you caught, Fred?" said Philip. 

"Six, " said Fred, in a half whisper; for he had one just then at hisbob. 

"Why, where are they then?" said Harry. 

"Oh! I caught them all, " said Fred; "but they tumbled in again. "

"There's a goose, " said Harry; "why, you did not catch them then. Here's another, such a big one, " he continued, as he landed one nearlyas thick as his wrist. "How many have you got, Phil?"

"Only four, " said Philip, "and such little ones, I shall change placeswith somebody. No, I shan't, " he continued; "there's a beauty. Why, that's bigger than yours, Hal. "

"No, it isn't, " said Harry, "I'm sure; but look, Fred's got one. "

But Fred had not, for, in spite of the many bites he obtained, not afish could he draw out of the water; for without exception they all fellin again, he not having yet hit upon the knack of landing them, whichshould be done with a quick but gentle motion; for the slightest jerkmakes the eel loose its hold. 

"I say, how do you do it?" said Fred, at last, after missing eight ornine. 

"Do what?" said Dusty Bob, coming out of the mill. 

"Why, catch these nasty slippery things, " said Fred. "Every time I tryto get one on the bank, he always drops off too soon, and I lose him. "

"Why, it's easy enew, " said Bob, going up to him and taking hold of thepole. "Just drop the bait in quietly, so, and wait till yow feels 'emat it, when--there--he's tugging away a good un at it--now look; I jistdraws him up a-top, and then out he comes. There yow see, I can do itstraight. "

And sure enough, Dusty Bob drew a fine silvery-looking eel to the top, and, with a turn of his wrist, landed it upon the bank. 

Wriggle and twist went the eel--trying to get back into the water, andto all appearances he would soon have been there; and Dusty Bob, evidently thinking such would be the case, made an awkward jump at thewriggling fish, and jumped just upon the wet part of the bank whereFred's bob had been out before some twenty or thirty times. Up wentBob's heels, and the boys stared, quite aghast; for with a tremendoussplash, in he went right into the deepest part of the mill-pond; when, after a few seconds, up he rose, and began to strike out for the shallowpart where he could land; for the bank where he fell off was very steep, and, for about three feet, staved up with boards. 

As soon as Harry saw that there was no danger, he burst out laughing, and shouted, "Now, boys, bob away, here's such a whopper, " and began todrop his great bunch of worms just in front of Bob's head, to theintense disgust of that worthy, and the delight of Philip and Fred; who, of course, must follow suit, and begin to tease the unfortunate millerin the same way. But Bob soon scrambled out of the water, looking verypasty, and dripping all over the bank. He did not stop to speak, buthurried into his cottage to change his things, while the boys, laughingover his mishap, returned to their bobbing. 

But the eels did not seem to have approved of the visitor who had beenupon their domains, and, judging from appearances, they had all badegood-bye to the place, for not another bite could either of the boys getin the mill-pool; so they had to try in the deep part of the back-water, where they met with a little better success, and between them succeededin capturing about two dozen more; when they found that the mist wasrising heavily from off the water, and various other indications pointedout that it was time to think of returning homeward. 

The poles were soon placed in a corner of the mill-yard, and the basketcontaining the eels being carefully tied down, they next went in searchof Bob; but he was not visible, and his wife came to the door to saythat the young gentlemen might say anything they liked to her. 

The boys placed the right interpretation upon this message, and left ashilling for Bob, which was received with a curtsey, and then thefishermen started off with a heavy basket and light hearts; but had notgone far before they met Mr and Mrs Inglis, who had come in accordancewith their promise. 

The moon was just rising over the trees as they came within sight of theGrange; while in the north-west, Mr Inglis pointed out a heavy bank ofclouds which every now and then seemed to quiver with the flashes ofsheet lightning that played about it, the evident precursors of a heavystorm. The night was sultry in the extreme, and almost oppressive inits stillness; but the boys could pay but little heed to the appearancesof the weather, every thought being taken up with the eels they hadcaptured, and the splash which Bob made when he went into the mill-dam. 

The appearances of the coming weather that Mr Inglis had pointed outwere, however, not deceitful; for before the boys went to bed thatnight, the flashes of lightning became more and more vivid; the thunder, from muttering at a distance, began to break, as it were, just over thehouse; and then down came the rain, almost in a sheet. 

"What a pity!" said Harry, all at once, just as they were going up tobed. 

"What is a pity?" said Mr Inglis. 

"Why, " said Harry, "what a pity all this rain did not come when the firewas burning. "

When the boys reached their bedroom, the storm raged with such violencethat sleep was out of the question; so they put the candles in one room, and all three stood at the window to watch the lightning. Every now andthen the whole heavens seemed to be lit up with one vast blaze of light, which showed the outlines of all the clouds in the most dazzling manner;then came the deafening peals of thunder, while all around looked of themost intense darkness; and the rain came splashing down, beating againstthe windows, and rushing off the eaves in streams. 

And thus it kept on for about an hour, when the storm seemed to abate, the lightning coming at longer intervals, and the thunder graduallybecoming more and more distant, till at last it subsided into a lowangry muttering; though the lightning still kept quivering andflashing--making everything in the bedroom appear with the greatestdistinctness. 

"Well, " said Harry at last, "I've had enough storm, and I'm going tobed; so out you go, Mr Fred, into your own room. "

Mr Fred was too tired and sleepy to enter into any fun that night, sohe sleepily went into his own place; and before the thunder had ceasedmuttering in the distance, the boys were all soundly asleep, breathingheavily the soft cool air--rendered so fresh and pure by the late storm, and so plainly perceptible in its difference from the heavy oppressiveatmosphere of the early evening. 

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. 

LOUD SIGHS. --MORE SORROW. 

Fred's visit was now drawing fast to a close, and the boys amongthemselves were comparing notes as to how wonderfully swift the days hadglided away. 

"Oh, dear; oh, dear, " said Harry, with a sigh; "only think, next week weshall be back at school, and learning that beastly old Latin again; anasty dirty old dead language. It isn't right: if a language is dead, it ought to be buried. They ought to make a cavibus in terribus, andbury the old blunderbuss. Shouldn't I like to have smothered oldValpy!"

"Ah, " said Philip; "Latin isn't half so bad as that old Euclid, with allits straight lines, and angles, and bother. Heigho! wouldn't it be niceto be a bird, and not have any lessons to learn! I should like to be aneagle, to circle up and up towards the sun, and--"

"Ho--ho--ho!" laughed Harry, who was not at all a poetical younggentleman; "you wouldn't do for an eagle; if you turned into a bird, like that chap in `Evenings at Home, ' you'd be only an old cocksparrow, and cry `chizzywick, chizzywick, ' all day long. "

Hereupon Philip thought it was his duty to resent this great insult, andgave chase to Harry, who dodged him about in the field where they were;and the tormentor, being the more nimble of the two, escaped hiswell-merited punishment. 

"Come, I say, " said Fred, shouting as loudly as he could, "it's time tostart. The car has gone round to the door. "

This announcement brought Fred's cousins tearing up to the spot where hestood, and then, going round to the front, they found Mr Inglis withwhat few things he required, just giving orders to Sam to go and lookfor the boys. 

"Oh! here they are, " said Mr Inglis. "Come, lads, jump up; you arejust in time. What would you have said if I had gone without you?"

"We weren't afraid of that, " said Harry; "were we, boys? I know Papawouldn't say he'd take us, and then leave us behind. "

They were off once more to the sea-side, but this time for the afternoononly. The day was a regular scorcher, and the poor horse began to showsymptoms of the heat, in spite of the careful driving of Mr Inglis; anda regular cloud of flies about his head so teased it, keeping regularlyon at the same pace as the horse, whether a walk or a trot, that MrInglis was at last compelled to stop and let Harry cut a couple oflittle elm branches, and fix them in the harness, so that, by theirconstant vibration and shaking, they might keep the tiresome insectpests at a distance. But the travellers soon began to find that theyought to have boughs secured to their own heads, for the flies, disappointed of their feast upon the horse, turned their attention tothe party in the dog-cart, and, until they were quite clear of thewooded part of the country, bothered them terribly. 

The day was so hot that the whole atmosphere seemed to tremble andquiver, while everything else was motionless. Not a breath of air wasstirring to wave the grass or to ruffle the surface of the greatland-drains, whose waters shone like molten silver; while the road waspowdered into an almost impalpable dust, which rose in clouds as thehorse's hoofs beat and the wheels spun over its arid surface. 

At last, however, as they neared the sea-bank, a soft and cooling breezebegan to fan the travellers' cheeks; the horse tossed his head andsnuffed the air, as though delighted with the grateful sensation itimparted; and at the end of another quarter of an hour the car wheelswere sinking deep in the dry sandy road which led up to the inn, wherethey were going on this occasion to leave the horse, as this afternoon'strip was only for a quiet ramble by the sea to collect a few strandedsea-weeds and shells. 

When they reached the shore, they found the tide coming in, while thesands were as level and smooth on the elevated parts as a table, though, in the lower, beautifully and regularly traced all over with the littleripple-marks left by the sea when the tide is going out upon a calm day. There was no difficulty about gathering specimens, for the gentle waveslanded plenty of beautiful weeds at their feet, while many shells andprettily-marked pebbles lay about the sands. 

"Oh! how hot, " said Harry; "shouldn't I like a dip! I say, Papa, mayn'twe have a bathe?"

"Oh! yes, Papa, do let us, " said Philip; "it would be beautiful. Ishould like to go in so much. "

Fred was as anxious to have a dip as his cousins; and as the tide wascoming in, and the water as smooth as possible, Mr Inglis gave hisconsent, and stopped upon the sands while the boys all jumped into thebathing-machine; and the old horse being fastened to it, they weredragged a short distance into the water, and there left. They soon hadthe door opened, and then one at a time made their appearance in thesea, where they swam about to their hearts' content; of course, Harryand Philip performing all the swimming, and Fred the splashing. Anddelightful was that bathe, for the sun shone so warmly that the waterfelt quite tepid, and there was no disposition to shiver or feel cold, but every little wave that rolled in seemed to be laden with freshnessand vigour. The boys enjoyed their dip so much that Mr Inglis had tocall them out, or they would have stopped in for an hour. But he hadthem out when they had been in about twenty minutes; and as soon as theywere dressed, the collecting of specimens went on. At the mouth of onelittle inlet they found a dead puffin--a singular little bird that makesits home on the rocky shores further north, and remarkable for itscurious wedge-shaped bill, looking like the point of an old Roman sword, and to all appearance a rather formidable weapon. There were plenty ofgulls and kittywakes running about at the edge of the waves, picking upthe little insects and small crustaceans that abounded upon the sands. Fred here made further acquaintance with the little hermit crab, and sawhow it protected itself, and chose its habitation from amongst the emptyshells upon the beach; and when it had found one that it considered agood fit, thrust in its little tail, and dwelt there until it grew tooconfined for it. 

Numberless were the objects of interest to be seen all along the coast, and pleasant was the ramble the party enjoyed until it grew towards thehour for returning, when they walked back to the opening in thesand-bank, so as to reach the inn and get the horse and car ready forstarting. The tide was now nearly at its height, and a brisk eveningbreeze had commenced blowing, so that, as the tide rolled in, thebreakers began to be of a tolerable size. There were several people, old and young, enjoying an evening bath; and, after ordering the car tobe got ready, Mr Inglis and the boys strolled back and watched thewaves come tumbling in upon the beach or rush up the opening that ledinto the great land-drain--an opening that was staked on each side inthe shape of a cage-work tunnel, and ran down for some distance into thesea on the one hand, and right under the great sea-bank on the other. 

Just as the party were turning to leave the shore, a piercing cry rosefrom off the water, and then another, and another, evidently proceedingfrom some one in distress. 

A moment's glance served to show Mr Inglis that the cry proceeded fromone of the bathers, and, in company with many more people, he ran downto the water's edge, when he could see that a boy was battling with thewaves, his head just above water, and crying for help in the mostheartrending tones. People were running about wringing their hands, while those who had been bathing were huddling on their clothes, andothers, again, had gone to seek for a boat; but it was very plain that, if assistance were not immediately rendered, the boy would be drowned. 

"Is there no one here that can swim?" said Mr Inglis. "A sovereign tothe man who fetches the poor fellow in. "

But only one person came forward, and that was Harry, who began to stripoff his jacket and shoes ready for the plunge. 

"Back! you foolish boy; you have not strength, " said Mr Inglis; andthen, without waiting to make a further appeal for aid, he stripped offhis coat, and dashing through the waves was soon swimming towards wherethe boy was still shrieking loudly, but in a fainter tone, for help; forevery now and then the waves washed over his head, which seemed to getlower in the water every moment. 

Mr Inglis was a powerful swimmer, and clove swiftly through the waterin spite of his clothes, which clung to him and bore him down. In avery short space he was by the side of the drowning boy, who clutched athim, and would have no doubt put him in great peril but for an effortwhich he made to get behind. He then grasped the boy by the hair, andturned to swim ashore; but to his horror he found that the poor fellowwas caught in some way in the piles of the outlet, and, in spite ofevery effort, Mr Inglis could not set him free: he essayed to dive, butthe tide ran so strongly that he was unable to effect his object; hedragged the poor fellow backwards and forwards, and tried to reachbeneath the waves at the obstruction, but without success; and, as alast resource, tried to keep the poor boy's head above water untilassistance arrived; but this even he found impossible, for the tide hadso risen that it now covered him completely with every wave that washedin. Mr Inglis made one more desperate effort to free the poor fellow, but without success; and then, feeling his power failing, he turned toreach the shore, just as Harry swam up to beg of him to come back, forhe was fearful lest his father should be too fatigued to return. And itwas time he did return, for it required all his strength to reach theshore, where he arrived just as a boat was launched, and four men putoff to try and save the poor boy. 

Mr Inglis and Harry hurried into the inn, where they borrowed dryclothes, and when dressed they heard the mournful news that the body hadnot been recovered, for the men could not even find the place from thefact of the rapid rise of the tide. But Mr Inglis felt now howhopeless was the case, even if the poor lad's remains were found; andheart-sick, he hurried down to the car, and drove rapidly off homewards, the sad incident they had witnessed having deeply impressed them all, and brought strongly to their recollection the misfortune that so nearlyfell upon their own home but a short time back. 

The journey was soon performed, and in almost perfect silence; for, inaddition to the natural fatigue felt by the party, the past adventurehung like a cloud over their spirits till they reached the rose-hungporch just in the dusk of evening. 

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. 

GOOD-BYE. 

At last the morning dawned that was to be Fred's last at HollowdellGrange, and sadly and gloomily he had proceeded overnight to pack up histhings in the box he had brought down with him, merely leaving out sucharticles as were required for immediate use. A month had slipped awayso swiftly, that it seemed almost impossible that such a space couldhave elapsed since that hot, breathless day, when, so new and strange, he had met his cousins upon the platform, after asking Jem Barnes, theporter, to direct him to his uncle's house. So strange, and so roughand countryfied everything had appeared; and so low, dejected, and tiredhad he felt when he first left the train; how he had wished himself backin town! And now, how different he felt; he was as low-spirited as whenhe first came down, but it was with the idea of going away. All thoseupon whom he had at first looked with distant eyes, now seemed so dearto him. There were his uncle and aunt; his cousins; there was Old Sam;Dusty Bob, the maids; Dick, the dog; and even the raven and parrot: hewas mournful at parting with all of them, and would have given anythingto have stayed, if only for another day. And now he stood in his littlebedroom, looking around it, almost with tears in his eyes, as he slowlydressed himself, and placed the remainder of his things in his box. 

He had just finished, and was sitting moodily upon the box-lid, whenHarry and Philip entered the room, both looking as dull and miserable ashimself. 

"Oh! dear, " said Harry, "what a thing it is that holidays will go sojolly fast, and work-days so horribly slow! It ain't fair. Don't Iwish that they were all to come over again; there's lots of things wehave not done yet, and lots of places where we ought to have gone. "

"When are you coming down again, Fred?" said Philip. 

"I don't know, " said Fred; "I don't want to go away. I should like tosee Papa and Mamma, but I'd rather they came down here. I shall nevernever like old bricks-and-mortary London again. It will be so smoky, and noisy, and nasty, and miserable. Oh! I do wish I could stop. "

"But you used to say that you could not think how people could live inthe country, and would not believe that we could find plenty of fun downhere, " said Harry. 

Fred would not hear this last remark, but sat moodily upon his box tillbreakfast time; and his cousins stayed with him--Harry all the timecutting viciously at a bit of stick with his keen-edged knife, andstrewing the bedroom carpet with chips. The sun shone brighter, the skylooked more blue, and the trees greener than ever; but the boys couldnot enjoy that glorious morning; there was no elasticity of spirit, nobounding out into the garden; no teasing of poor old Sam; no race roundthe cedar-field before breakfast, for Fred sat on his box, gloomy andout of heart, Philip sat with his legs stretched out and his hands inhis pockets, and Harry sat and carved away at his stick, until he wasobliged to get up, --which he did with a sigh, --and go down stairs to geta fresh piece of wood. 

Just then the breakfast bell rang, and Mary walked along the passagewith the hot cake and eggs; but no one ran against her, for the boystidied slowly into the room, and took their places at the table in themost dejected way imaginable. Fred could not eat; Philip could not eat;Harry could; but he ate viciously, and in a tigerish manner, and smashedin the top of his egg as though it had been the head of theengine-driver who was to take Fred up to London; while as for coffee, hekept asking for cups until Mrs Inglis refused to give him any more, when the wretched boy consoled himself with another wedge of cake. 

"Come, boys; come, boys, " said Mr Inglis at last; "this will never do;partings must follow meetings, and all holidays must have an end. I amsorry that your cousin must leave you; but I feel glad to see that heleaves us with regret, for that seems to say that he has enjoyed histrip. Is it not so, Fred? You have enjoyed your visit, I hope?"

"Oh! so much, Uncle, " said Fred; "only it has been such a short one, andit makes me so cross to think that I didn't want to come. "

Mr Inglis smiled, and said, "But you will want to come another time, Ihope?"

"Oh! may I? may I come again?" burst out Fred, with eyes sparkling, andhalf rising from his chair. 

"I shall be only too happy to see you again, my boy; but what say Harryand Philip. Have they asked you to come again?"

"We did not ask him, " said Philip; "but Fred knows we want him to comeagain. "

"I don't want him to go now, " said Harry, with his mouth full of cake. "Do, Papa, write and ask for another week's holiday for him!"

"But you go back to school yourselves the day after to-morrow, " said MrInglis; "and what would you do then? No, my boys, depend upon it thereal secret of enjoyment is to leave off when you have had enough; andnothing is more surfeiting, more cloying, than too much pleasure. Fredmust come down again; and I hope the next time he visits us we shall notnearly have him drowned. I fear that he will take a sad report of usall back with him to town. "

Fred was very anxious to go away good friends with everybody, and wouldhave liked very much to have shaken hands with Mr Jones, Bill Jenkins, and the Stapleses; but this could not very well be managed, for MrJones had left for the sea-side, and Bill Jenkins had gone to asituation. However, Fred bade farewell to everybody he could think of, and left messages for those he could not see; and at last the time ofstarting arrived, and Old Sam brought the pony and chaise round to thedoor. 

The box was lifted in; and the little hamper filled with fruit, and thelarge bandbox full of curiosities that Fred had collected, all found aplace by the departing visitor. The morning was brighter than ever, andeverything around him looked so fresh and lovely, that a great sob wouldkeep trying to get up into poor Fred's throat to make a noise, and theefforts he made to keep it down quite upset him. He gave such a longingfarewell look up at the front of the house, and round at the garden, then kissed Mrs Inglis, and shook hands with Sam, who returned thegrasp warmly, and said in a whisper about the greatest thing he couldsay, and that was that he wished he "warn't a-going. "

Harry and Philip were in the dickey of the four-wheel chaise, bothsitting in very uncomfortable positions on account of Fred's luggage;but I very much doubt whether they ever thought of their position, soengrossed were they with the _one_ sole idea--that Fred was going, andthe holidays were over. But Mr Inglis had now taken the reins fromSam, and had mounted to his seat; so that nothing remained but for Fredto follow his example, for the train would soon be due at the station--though the boys were rather in hopes that they would be too late, and sosecure another day; but Mr Inglis knew what uneasiness this would causeto friends in town, so he prepared to start at once. 

Fred put one foot on the step, and was just going to wave his adieu, when a sudden thought seemed to strike him, and leaping down, he rushedround by the shrubbery in the direction of the stable-yard and was outof sight in a moment. But before any one could surmise where he hadgone, he reappeared, and a loud rattling of chain, and the barking ofDick, told that he had been to say good-bye to the dog. Fred was in hisplace in a moment; Sam let go of the pony's head; Mrs Inglis waved herhand from the porch; and Cook and Mary shook their aprons from one ofthe upstairs windows; the pony darted forward, the wheels spun round, and Fred felt that indeed his holiday was ended. But the bright day andthe quick motion through the air served in some degree to raise thespirits of all three boys, so that, by the time they reached therailway, the excitement and bustle of hurrying Fred off gave them notime to think of sorrow; for the train came shrieking and grinding intothe station; Jem Barnes was running about shouting "'ll'dell, ""'ll'dell", "'ll'dell, " as loudly as he could, but not a passengerresponded; though a stranger would have been sadly puzzled to know whathe meant. Then there was the banging of a door; the ringing of a bell;a shrill chirruping whistle; and then "puff-puff", "pant-pant, " thetrain glided slowly past the faces of Mr Inglis, Harry, and Philip;then faster and faster past the various objects familiar to the youngtraveller; and then again faster and faster still, till at last all grewstranger and stranger, and Fred Morris sank back in his seat, thoughtover the events of the past month, and began to thoroughly realise thetruth that he had finished his visit to Hollowdell Grange.