George Manville Fenn

“ And then—but not in obedience to Fred’s request—Harry became motionless; for just beneath his feet he saw, rising from the depth of the pond, the white top of his float. Fred gave a half shriek at what he saw, for to him it seemed a feat of unsurpassed daring, as Harry clasped the bough with his legs, and swinging himself head downwards, he plunged his hands into the water and grasped his truant line. ”

“ Then there was down off a butterfly’s wing; the wings of flies; the wing-cases of beetles, displaying colours of the most 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’s gaze. Most of these had been seen by Harry and Philip many times before, so that Fred had a very long inspection of the microscopical wonders, and was greatly puzzled to understand how many hundreds of times any little object could be magnified ”

“ For Squire Inglis would not have the ivy cut anywhere excepting in the front, where he used to superintend while Sam cleared it away now and then, so as to give the roses and creeping plants a chance to show their beauties in the bright summer-time. And there the Grange stood, with flowers blooming around it in every direction, as sweet and pretty a place as could welcome any one just come from the great desert of bricks and mortar called London, in which people who are not compelled are so foolish as to go and spend their time in the sunniest and brightest days of the year. ”

“ Fred did as his uncle told him, and pulled away, so that he soon had twisting upon the grass a very tolerably sized eel, writhing and twining and running in beneath the strands; slipping through the hands that tried to grasp it; and seeming quite as much at home on land as in the muddy water at the bottom of the pond. As for Fred, he stood aloof holding his rod, and leaving all the catching to his cousins; the snaky eel presenting no temptation to him—in fact, he felt rather afraid of the slimy wide-mouthed monster. ”

“ Old Tom had no heavy drag over the sands, for the boys were down in an instant, racing over the flat surface, while Mr Inglis drove gently on towards the rocks, where he drew up the car, took out Tom, secured him to the wheel, and left him at last with his nose-bag on, under the shadow of the rocks, nibbling his corn, and whisking the flies away with his long tail. ”

“ Fred could not eat; Philip could not eat; Harry could; but he ate viciously, and in a tigerish manner, and smashed in the top of his egg as though it had been the head of the engine-driver who was to take Fred up to London; while as for coffee, he kept 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. ”

“ Then there was the banging of a door; the ringing of a bell; a shrill chirruping whistle; and then “puff-puff,” “pant-pant,” the train glided slowly past the faces of Mr Inglis, Harry, and Philip; then faster and faster past the various objects familiar to the young traveller; and then again faster and faster still, till at last all grew stranger and stranger, and Fred Morris sank back in his seat, thought over the events of the past month, and began to thoroughly realise the truth that he had finished his visit to Hollowdell Grange. ”

“ Mr Inglis had been highly amused with Harry’s humorous description of how they had attacked the citadel of the wasps. And how ignominiously they 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 would be out, seeking for food; and, as they would be constantly returning, they would be certain to attack those whom they found interfering with their castle; for soldiers as they were among insects, and armed too with such a powerful weapon, the attack was nothing more than the boys might have expected. ”

“ The first sensation felt was fear; but, upon finding that there was no further mischief to apprehend, Harry burst out laughing; Fred extricated himself, for he was in the loosest part of the heap of débris; while Philip, who was to have been the victim, seeing that his brother was stuck fast, indulged in a kind of triumphant dance round him, softly punching his head, and, of course, making the soil tighter at every jump.
“Oh! don’t, Phil,” said Harry; “pull a fellow out—there’s a good chap.” ”

“ Old Sam’s eyes twinkled with triumph as he got slowly up and led the way to 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, which Harry fetched in a shovel from the kitchen, and then on them a lump of brimstone, and closed the nozzle over all; but not so quickly but that a puff or two of the penetrating fumes escaped, and made the boys’ eyes water, and old Sam cough and choke most terribly for a minute or two. ”

“ I shall never never 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 in the country, and would not believe that we could find plenty of fun down here,” said Harry.
Fred would not hear this last remark, but sat moodily upon his box till breakfast time; and his cousins stayed with him—Harry all the time cutting viciously at a bit of stick with his keen-edged knife, and strewing the bedroom carpet with chips. ”

“ The sport of the day formed a never-tiring theme for conversation during the ride home; every finny captive being exalted into almost the importance of a whale. The only person at all dissatisfied with the day’s proceedings was Harry, who rather felt that his want of success was owing to the lack of perseverance. However, he made vows of future attention to everything he attempted, and was drawing a very brightly-coloured plan for the future, when home was reached, and Mrs Inglis seen waiting in the porch to view the fruits of their day’s angling. ”

“ It’s worse than an eel ever so much.”
“Hark at Mrs Phil,” said Harry, grinning. “I say, Fred, he is such a coward; 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 boys are cowards. I wouldn’t be a Londoner for ever so much.” ”

“ Now it was after butterflies; now the discordant cry of the jay told of its nest being, at hand; while every now and then the scampering rustle of a rabbit amidst the underwood would start the boys off in full chase, and in almost every instance the fruit of their hunt was, seeing the little white tail of the rabbit as its owner scuffled down its hole under some hazel stub. ”

“ Now bright sparkling water is delightful and cool in the summer-time, but, as the pleasure is lost when the feet are bathed with boots and trousers on, Mr Inglis gave up all idea of walking through the water, so he gathered up the reins, and taking the whip, which had stuck unused by his side, gave Mr Obstinate a sharp cut, when away he darted to one side of the road, and expressed himself by his actions as ready to leap over the hedge. ”

“ This remark set six eyes searching about to discover the place of the little tom-tit’s home. Fred began looking up in the tree and amidst the laurel bushes—parting the boughs, and peering amidst the great green leaves.
“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 trees or wall. Last year there was one in that tall vase at the corner of the low wall; and we used to see the bird go down the neck ever so many times a day. It was such a snug place, nobody could touch it. ”

“ It was of no use to say, “Do, Sam,” or “Do, please, Sam,” or “That’s a good old chap, now,” or anything of that kind; for Sam weeded away viciously amongst the onions, and turned a deaf ear to everything; so Harry, the impetuous, was beginning to grow cross 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 was a conquered man.
“Ugh!” said Sam, straightening himself with a groan, and rubbing his back where it ached, “Ugh! how blazing hot the sun is—always does shine like that when I be weeding. ”

“ He saw at a glance what had been done, and nodded his satisfaction, then examined the pupil of poor Fred’s eye, felt his pulse, and listened at his chest; and afterwards, drawing off his coat and kneeling by the bedside, continued the efforts that Mr Inglis had so well commenced.
An hour—a long, long hour—one with leaden seconds—slipped by during which time not an effort was relaxed; though the faces of Mr and Mrs Inglis betrayed the despair that had crept over them, while Harry and Philip sobbed so that they had to be sent out of the room ”

“ Off and away—Harry in front with Dick, Philip next, and Fred panting in the rear, hot and out of breath with his run, and asking his companions to stop.
“Whup! whup! whup! yaff! yaff!” said Dick, as they came up to a field containing a flock of sheep, heavy with their long wool; and over the hedge he went headlong amongst them, making the poor timid, stupid creatures run as fast as their legs would carry them, with their heavy fleeces touzling and shaking about till each sheep looked like a magnified thrum mop being shaken to get rid of the water. ”

“ And still the rain kept pelting down, although the lightning ceased to flash, and the thunder grew more and more distant, till it could only be heard to mutter occasionally afar off. And still the rain kept pouring down, even after cook had made up a roaring fire and wiped up all the water, trundling her mop outside the scullery door till it seemed to go off like a wet firework, as she spun and twisted it upon her great red arms. ”

“ But the donkey had this time met with his match, and, in spite of his kicking and shuffling, Harry sat him like a hero. ’Tis true that he was bumped all sorts of ways—right and left—on to the donkey’s neck—on to his crupper, and was several times nearly off, but never quite; so that at last Neddy gave up in despair, submitted to his thrashing, and then cantered down the field and back, and afterwards allowed himself, with a very good grace, to be ridden about as long as his masters liked; for they had really proved themselves the masters that day in more senses than one. ”

“ And now one morning, as soon as it was daylight, Harry jumped out of bed and ran to his brother’s, and with one whisk dragged everything off—sheet, blankets, counterpane, and almost Philip, and then the young ruffian rushed into Fred’s room, served him in the same way, and narrowly escaped a crack on the head from his cousin’s boot, which was sent flying after him as he ran, but hit the wall instead, and then fell toe foremost into the big wash hand jug, that seemed as if it stood there on purpose to catch it.
“Jump up, boys; why it’s ever so late, I believe,” said Harry. ”

“ Fred was, however, rather disappointed at the Camp: he expected to have seen turrets and embrasures, and, if not cannon, at all events a few catapults and battering-rams. But no; there was nothing to be seen but a broad ditch encircling the summit of the hill, and now completely covered with trees and bushes, so that the bottom of the great trench formed a walk, where, even at mid-day, the sun’s rays were completely shut out, and where the nightingale would sing, all day as well as all night long. ”

“ Little streams were slowly running down by the sides 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 were hurrying about the grounds picking up the worms, slugs, and snails that the cooling rain had fetched out of their hiding-places, so that they were having a regular feast; while one thrush, who had evidently been an early bird, and had the first pick at the worms, was up, high up, in the cedar at the corner of the field, whistling away as though the happiest of birds. ”

“ For there, buzzing and struggling in the boy’s curls, was one of the wasps, which was killed by Fred, who squeezed it between two 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 he had 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 only wish,” he continued sulkily, “that I had let you go.” ”

“ For a minute or so the question seemed to be—“Who shall be master?” and then 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, and nearly upset the dog-cart into the bargain; and then, as though fearfully alarmed at what it had left behind, the horse tried hard to break into a gallop to get away as fast as possible; but a strong hand was at the reins, and very soon old Tom settled down again into an easy trot, although dreadfully ruffled in his nerves by the late dread adventure. ”

“ Dumpling galloped, and Neddy went off at a double trot, upon hearing the railway-whistle, spinning along at such a rate that before Fred Morris had learned which path he was to take across the fields to go the shortest way to Squire Inglis’s, of the Grange, Hollowdell—and all of which information he was getting very slowly out of Jem Barnes—Harry had jumped out of the chaise. Philip leaped off his donkey, and they were one on each side of Fred, heartily shaking hands with him. ”

“ When you go to play cricket, it must not happen that you have your mind out in Beechy Wood seeking for woodpeckers’ nests; or else it will be something the same with you as it was with our lads on that bright July day, 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 fetch back; and then, again, Philip would hit so savagely, and make Fred run so far after the rolling ball, which in its turn was obstinate, and would keep creeping amongst the long grass, and getting lost ”