George Manville Fenn

“ Bad as it was for them, however, it was worse for the man in his heavy little broadly-bowed tub; and so it happened that just as Bob began to row more slowly, and burst into a fit of howling, which made Dexter feel as if he would like to turn and hit him over the head with his oar—a contact of scull against skull—the man suddenly ceased rowing, turned in his seat, and sat shaking his fist at them, showing his teeth in his impotent rage.
“There!” cried Bob, who was transformed in an instant. “We’ve bet him. He can’t pull no further. Yah! yah!” ”

“ In his most cowardly moments Bob was obedience itself, and breaking out into a low sobbing whimper, as if it were a song to encourage him in his task, he rowed on with all his might, while only too plainly it could be seen that the man was gaining steadily upon them in spite of the clumsiness of his boat; and consequently it was only a question of time before the boys were overtaken, for the muscles of the man were certain to endure longer than those of Dexter, untrained as they were to such work. ”

“ But there was not a loose board big enough to hide Bob Dimsted; and after another search the doctor rubbed his head in a perplexed manner.
“Shall I come up, sir, and have a look?” said Dan’l.
“No, no. Stay where you are, and keep a sharp look-out,” cried the doctor. “Why, look here,” he continued to Helen; “the young scoundrel has been leading a nice life here, like a Robinson Crusoe in an uninhabited island. Ah! at last!” shouted the doctor, staring straight before him; “there he is. Here, Peter, hand me the gun!” ”

“ Sir James Danby had been known to say, “if the river could be deepened right through the town it would be the making of the place.”
“And the spoiling of my grounds,” said the doctor, “so I’m glad it runs over the solid rock.”
This paradise of a garden was the one into which Dexter darted, and in which Dan’l Copestake was grumbling that morning—
“Like a bear with a sore head, that’s what I say,” said Peter Cribb to the under-gardener. “Nothing never suits him.” ”

“ Dexter obeyed with alacrity, and was soon feasting away on what might very well be called “Boy’s Delight,” the honest bread and butter which has helped to build up our stalwart race.
Bob helped himself to a piece of bread, spread it thickly with butter, and, withdrawing a little way from the fire, hooked a hot cray-fish to his side, calmly picking out the largest; and as soon as he could handle it he treated it as if it were a gigantic shrimp, dividing the shell in the middle by pulling, and holding up the delicate hot tail, which drew easily from its armour-like case. ”

“ The mice, which lived in the old cigar-box—not white mice, nor those furry little sleepers given to hiding away in nooks and corners for elongated naps, but the regular grey cheese-nibblers—next, after a good deal of scratching, took Dexter’s attention. As soon as the lid was open, and the boy’s hand thrust in, they ran up his fingers, and then along his arm to his shoulder, wonderfully active and enterprising with their sharp little noses, one even venturing right up the boy’s head after a pause by one ear, as if it looked like the cavernous entrance to some extremely snug hiding-place. ”

“ Dexter ran to the water’s edge, and found the place on the bark where the chain had rubbed the trunk, but there was no sign of the boat.
“Now then,” cried Bob fiercely, “where is it?”
“I don’t know,” said Dexter dolefully. “Yes, I do,” he cried. “The chain must have come undone, and it’s floating away.”
“Oh, is it?” said Bob derisively. “Then you’d better go and find it!”
“Go and find it?”
“Yes; we can’t go to sea in our boots, can we, stoopid?”
“But which way shall I go, Bob? Sometimes the tide runs up, and sometimes it runs down.” ”

“ In mischief?” said the doctor sharply, as they entered the drawing-room.
“Mischief? No, papa: for shame!” cried Helen, with her arm resting on the boy’s shoulders. “In your study, working away at those terrible sides and angles invented by that dreadful old Greek Euclid.”
“Work, eh? Ha! that’s good!” cried the doctor jovially. “Bravo, Dexter! I am glad.”
If ever a boy felt utterly ashamed of himself, Dexter did then. He could not meet the doctor’s eye, but was on his way to get a book to turn over, so as to have something to look at, but this was not to be. ”

“ In a comparatively short time these faded, and a warm glow spread around the meadows and wild country on either side, where empurpled hills rose higher and higher, grew more and more glorious, and the river sparkled and danced and ran in smooth curves, formed eddies, and further in advance became one wonderful stretch of dancing golden ripples, so beautiful that Dexter stood on the thwart with the pole balanced in his hand wondering whether everything could be as beautiful at Coleby as he saw it now. ”

“ He is a human waif thrown up on life’s shore. No, no: and you are not to call him a human waif. I shall well educate him, and place him on the high-road toward making his way properly in life as a gentleman should, and I’ll show the whole world that I’m right.”
“You shall, papa,” said Helen merrily; “and I will help you all I can.”
“I know you will, my dear, and you are helping me,” cried the doctor warmly; “and it’s very good of you. But I do wish we could make him think before he does anything. His mischievous propensities are simply horrible. And now, my dear, about his education. ”

“ I never had no money.”
“You did, Bob, in a letter I gave you,” cried Dexter excitedly.
“Oh!” ejaculated Bob, with an astonished look. “Well, if ever!”
“This is getting interesting,” said Sir James. “Now, sir, where’s that money?”
“He never give me none, sir,” cried Bob indignantly. “I never see no letter.”
“You did. The one I threw across the river to you!” said Dexter.
“Oh, what a cracker!” cried Bob. “I never had no letter, gen’lemen, and I never see no money. Why don’t you tell the truth, and the kind gentlemen won’t be so hard on you?” ”

“ Dexter puckered up his forehead and stared.
“Where’s my hat!” cried Edgar piteously.
“Scrunched,” said Dexter shortly. “Bullocks trod on it.”
“And my silver-topped cane!”
“There it lies on the grass,” said Dexter, stooping down and picking it up.
“Oh, look at my jacket and my trousers,” cried Edgar. “What a mess I’m in!”
“Never mind, my boy; we will soon set that right,” said Sir James. “There, try and stand up. If you can walk home it will be all the better now.”
“The brutes!” cried Edgar, with a passionate burst of tears.
“Do you feel hurt anywhere?” said Helen kindly. ”

“ For a few moments Helen could not understand what was the matter, but directly after, to her horror, she saw that young Edgar Danby was on the ground, with one of the bullocks standing over him, smelling at the prostrate boy, and apparently trying to turn him over with one of its horns.
“Here! Hi!” shouted Dexter; “bring me your stick.”
But Sir James, who had been chased by the leading bullock, was breathless, exhausted, and too nervous to attempt his son’s rescue. All he seemed capable of doing was to shout hoarsely, and this he did more feebly every moment. ”

“ He gave Dexter so sharp a dig with the stick that the latter jumped up angrily, and Edgar drew back; but on seeing that the visitor only went on a few yards to where there was a garden seat, and sat down again, the young tyrant became emboldened, and went behind the seat with a malicious look of satisfaction in his eyes.
“Don’t do that,” said Dexter quietly. “Let’s have a game at something. Do you think we might go in that boat?”
“I should think not indeed,” cried Edgar, who now seemed to have found his tongue. “Boats are for young gentlemen, not for boys from the Union.” ”

“ Dexter’s eyes wandered from the doctor to a dark-looking bust upon the top of a book-shelf. From thence to a brown bust on the opposite shelf, at which he laughed, for though it was meant for Cicero, it put him greatly in mind of Mr Sibery, and he then fell a-wondering what the boys were doing at the workhouse school.
Just then the black marble timepiece on the shelf chimed four quarters, and struck eleven.
“No matter what may be the descent,” wrote the doctor, “the human frame is composed of the same element.” ”

“ How dare he place those ferocious bulls in a field through which there is a right of way? O my poor boy! my poor boy! He’s dead!—he’s dead!”
“He ain’t,” said Dexter sharply.
“Shall I carry him, sir?” said the butcher’s man, forgetful of the fact that he would come off terribly greasy on the helpless boy’s black clothes.
“No, man,” cried Sir James. “Go and watch over those ferocious beasts, and see that they do not injure any one else.” ”

“ Well, then, look here,” said the butcher, rolling his yellow handkerchief into a cannon ball and ramming it into his hat, as if it were a cannon that he now held beneath his left arm. “There’s a path certainly from stile to stile, but it only leads to my farrest medder, and though I never says nothing to nobody who thinks it’s a nice walk down there by the river to fish or pick flowers or what not, though they often tramples my medder grass in a way as is sorrowful to see, they’re my medders, and the writing’s in my strong-box, and not a shilling on ’em. ”

“ Then he began to sidle along again in and out among the trees, and on and on, never once looking at his companion till they were at the bottom of the garden. A pleasant piece of lawn, dotted with ornamental trees, sloped down to the river where, in a Gothic-looking boat-house, open at either end, a handsome-looking gig floated in the clear water.
“That your boat?” said Dexter eagerly, as his eyes ran over the cushioned seats, and the sculls of varnished wood lying all ready along the thwarts.
Edgar made no reply, only moved nearer to the water, and threw himself on a garden seat near the edge. ”

“ The pot was lifted, slate and all, turned over, and the slate lifted off, to display quite a nest of damp moss, which, as the boy watched, seemed for a few minutes uninhabited, but all at once it began to heave in one part; there was an increasing movement, as if something was gliding through it, and then from among the soft moss a smooth glistening head with two bright eyes appeared, and a curious little tongue darted out through an opening between the tightly-closed jaws. ”

“ Oh dear no!”
“Then why did she laugh, curious like?”
Helen could not answer that question.
“She looked at me,” said Dexter, “as if she didn’t like me. I’ve seen ladies look like that when they’ve come to see the schools, and us boy’s used to feel as if we’d like to throw slates at them.”
“You have no occasion to trouble yourself about other people’s opinions, Dexter,” said Helen quietly; “and of course now you couldn’t throw stones or anything else at a lady.”
“No; but I could at a boy. I could hit that chap ever so far off. Him as was with that Lady Danby.” ”

“ Then there was Helen’s conservatory, always full of sweet-scented flowers, and the vinery and pits, where the great purple and amber bunches hung and ripened, and the long green cucumber and melon came in their good time.
But Dan’l grumbled, as gardeners will.
“Blights is offle,” he said. “It’s the blightiest garden I ever see, and a man might spend all his life keeping the birds down with a gun.”
But Dan’l did not spend any part of his life, let alone all, keeping the birds down with a gun. The doctor caught him shooting one day, and nearly shot him out of the place.
“How dare you, sir?” ”

“ Does not Mr Limpney explain them to you?”
“Yes,” said Dexter dismally, “but when he has done, I don’t seem to see what he means, and it does make me so miserable.”
“Poor boy!” said Helen gently. “There, you must not make your studies a trouble. They ought to be a great pleasure.”
“They would be if you taught me,” said Dexter eagerly. “I say, do ask Dr Grayson to send Mr Limpney away, and you help me. I will try so hard.”
“A pretty tutor I should make,” cried Helen, laughing. “Why, Dexter, I am as ignorant, you see, as you!” ”

“ Bunce stood out, or rather waddled forth, a stoutly-made boy with short legs,—a boy who, if ever he had a chance, would grow fat and round, with eyes like two currants, and a face like a bun.
Bunce made a bow like a scoop upside down.
“Another excellent boy, sir,” said Mr Hippetts. “I haven’t a fault to find with him. He is now twelve years old, and he—”
“Won’t do,” said the doctor crossly.
“Go back, Bunce,” cried the master. “Pillett, stand out. Now here, sir, is a lad whom I am sure you will like. Writes a hand like copperplate. Age thirteen, and very intelligent.” ”

“ The doctor gave his daughter another droll look, but she preserved her calm.
“To continue,” said the doctor: “I say a boy’s a boy, and I don’t care whose he is, or where he came from; he is so much plastic clay, and you can make of him what you please.”
“You can’t make him a gentleman,” said Sir James.
“I beg your pardon.”
“And I beg yours. If the boy has not got breed in him—gentle blood—you can never make him a gentleman.” ”

“ The colour came into Dexter’s cheeks as he wondered whether Dan’l would know where that stick came from.
The colour would have been deeper still had he known that Dan’l had a splendid memory, and knew exactly where every stick or plant should be. In fact, Dan’l recognised that stick as having been taken from the end of the scarlet-runner row.
“A young sperrit o’ mischief! that’s what he is,” muttered the old man, giving a writhe as he felt the stinging of the bees. “Now what’s he been up to with that there stick? making a fishing-rod of it, I s’pose, and tearing my rows o’ beans to pieces. ”

“ He went into the drawing-room, but Helen was not there, so he ran upstairs, and was in the act of tapping at her bedroom door, when Maria came out of another room.
It was a curious fact, but there it was: Dexter always had the effect upon Maria that a dog has upon a cat. The dog may be of the most amiable disposition, and without the slightest desire to fight or worry, but as soon as he is seen, up goes the cat’s back in an arch, the tail becomes plumose and the fur horrent, while, with dilated eyes and displayed teeth glistening, puss indulges in the bad language peculiar to cats. ”

“ Helen sat over her work a little longer, feeling happier than she had felt since Dexter left the house; and then the lights were extinguished, and father and daughter went up to bed.
The doctor was very quiet and thoughtful, and he stopped on the stairs.
“Helen, my dear,” he whispered, “see the women-servants first thing in the morning, and tell them I strictly forbid any allusion whatever to be made to Dexter’s foolish prank.”
Helen nodded.
“I’ll talk to the men myself,” he said. “And whatever you do, make Mrs Millett hold her tongue. Tut—tut—tut! Now, look at that!” ”

“ Who cares for you!” cried Bob. “Yah! look at him! Who stole the boat, and cried to go home again? Who stole the boat?”
“Oh, if I could only get across!” said Dexter, in a hoarse low voice.
“Would you give it him if you could!” said old Dan’l, with a grim laugh.
“Yes,” said Dexter, between his teeth.
“Ay, he would, Dan’l,” said Peter excitedly. “I wish he was over yonder.”
“Yah! yah! look at the old caterpillar-killers,” cried Bob. “Who stole the boat? Yah!”
These last were farewell shots.
“They won’t bite here,” cried Bob, moving off, “but don’t you think you frightened me away. ”

“ One minute Helen Grayson was delighted at the freshness of nature, and the genuine delight and enthusiasm displayed by her companion, the next there came quite a cloud over everything, for it seemed to her that here was a bright young spirit corroded and spoiled by the surroundings to which it had been accustomed. ”

“ The doctor frowned a little, and then helped the boy pretty liberally.
“Oh, I say! Just look at the gravy,” he cried. “Have you got plenty, Miss!”
“Oh yes, Dexter,” said Helen. “May I—”
“Don’t give it all to me, Mister,” cried the boy. “Keep some for yourself. I hate a pig.”
“Errum!” coughed the doctor, frowning. “Miss Grayson was going to ask if you would take some vegetables!”
“What? taters? No thankye, we got plenty o’ them at the House,” cried the boy; and he began cutting and devouring the lamb at a furious rate.
“Gently, gently!” cried the doctor. “You have neither bread nor salt.” ”