"I say," said he, after his pursuers had taken breath and granted an amnesty, "it would be great fun to drive home by ourselves. Tom"s not here. I asked them. He"s gone to see his aunt, or somebody, and left word he"d be back at three o"clock. Like his cheek. I vote we don"t wait for him."
"All serene," said the others, "but we shall want the horse, shan"t we?"
"Perhaps we shall," said d.i.c.k, with a grin, "unless you"d like to pull the trap. The horse is in the stable, and we can tip the fellow to put him in for us."
The "fellow" was quite amenable to this sort of persuasion, and grinningly complied with the whim of the young gentlemen; secretly enjoying the prospect of Tom"s dismay.
""Taint no concern of mine," said he, philosophically. "If you tells me to do it, I does it."
"And if we tells you to open your mouth and shut your eyes, and you"ll find sixpence in your hand,--you"ll find it there," said d.i.c.k.
"Of course you knows how to drive," said the stableman.
"Rather! Do you think we"re babies? Here, shy us the reins. Come along, you fellows, there"s room for all three on the box. Now then, Joe, give her her head. Come up, you beast! Swish! See if we don"t make her step out. Let her go!"
With some misgivings, Joe obeyed, and next moment the waggonette swayed majestically out of the yard very much like a small steam-tug going out of harbour in half a cap of wind.
"Rum, the way she pitches," said d.i.c.k presently; "she didn"t do it when we came."
"Looks to me as if the horse wasn"t quite sober," suggested Coote.
"Perhaps, if you pulled both reins at the same time, instead of one at a time," put in Heathcote, "she wouldn"t wobble so much."
"You duffer; she"d stop dead, if I did that."
"Suppose you don"t pull either," said Heathcote.
Richardson pooh-poohed the notion, but acted on it all the same, with highly satisfactorily results. The trap glided along smoothly, and all anxiety as to the management of the mare appeared to be at an end.
"I left word for Tom," said Richardson, "if he stepped out, he"d catch us up. Ha, ha! Won"t he be wild?"
"Wonder if he"ll get us in a row with Ashford?" said Heathcote.
"Not he. What"s the harm? Just a little horse-play, that"s all."
Heathcote and Coote became grave.
"Look here," said the former, "we let you off last time, but you"ll catch it now. Collar him that side, Coote, and have him over."
"Don"t be an idiot, Heathcote," cried the Jehu, as he found himself suddenly seized on either hand. "Let go, while I"m driving. Do you hear, Coote; let go, or there"ll be a smash!"
But as "letting go" was an accomplishment not taught at Mountjoy House, Richardson had to adopt stronger measures than mere persuasion in order to clear himself of his embarra.s.sments.
Dropping the reins and flinging his arms vehemently back, he managed to dislodge his a.s.sailants, though not without dislodging himself at the same time, and a long and somewhat painful creditors" meeting down in the waggonette was the consequence.
The mare, whose patience had been gradually evaporating during this strange journey, conscious of the riot behind her, and feeling the reins dropping loosely over her tail, took the whole matter very much to heart, and showed her disapproval of the whole proceedings by taking to her heels and bolting straight away.
The business meeting inside stood forthwith adjourned. With scared faces, the boys struggled to their feet, and, holding on to the rail of the box-seat, peered over to ascertain the cause of this alarming diversion.
"It"s a bolt!" said Richardson, the only one of the three who retained wits enough to think or speak. "Hang on, you fellows; I"ll try and get the reins. Help me up!"
As well as the swaying of the vehicle would allow it, they helped him hoist himself up on to the box. But for a long time all his efforts to catch the reins were in vain, and once or twice it seemed as if nothing could save him from being pitched off his perch on to the road. Luckily the mare kept a straight course, and at length, by a tremendous stretch, well supported from the rear by his faithful comrades, the boy succeeded in reaching the reins and pulling them up over the mare"s tail.
"Hang on now!" said he; "we"re all right if I can only guide her."
CHAPTER TWO.
HOW OUR HEROES FALL OUT AND YET REMAIN FRIENDS.
Mountjoy House had a narrow escape that afternoon of losing three of its most promising pupils.
The boys themselves by no means realised the peril of their situation.
Indeed, after the first alarm, and finding that, by clinging tightly to the rail of the box-seat, they could support themselves on their feet on the floor of the swinging vehicle, Heathcote and Coote began almost to enjoy it, and were rather sorry one or two of the Templeton boys were not at hand to see how Mountjoy did things.
Richardson, however, with the reins in his hands, but utterly powerless to check the headlong career of the mare, or to do anything but guide her, took a more serious view of the situation, and heartily wished the drive was at an end.
It was a flat road all the way to Mountjoy--no steep hill to breathe the runaway, and no ploughed field to curb her ardour. It was a narrow road, too, so narrow that, for two vehicles to pa.s.s one another, it was necessary for one of the two to draw up carefully at the very verge.
And as the verge in the present case meant the edge of rather a steep embankment, the prospect was not altogether a cheering one for an inexperienced boy, who, if he knew very little about driving, knew quite well that everything depended on his own nerve and coolness.
And Richardson not only had a head, but knew how to keep it. With a rein tightly clutched in each hand, with his feet firmly pressed against the footboard, with a sharp eye out over the mare"s ears, and a grim twitch on his determined mouth, he went over the chances in his own mind.
"If she goes on like this, we shall get to Mountjoy in half an hour.
What a pace! We"re bound to smash up before we get there! Perhaps these fellows had better try and jump for it. Hallo! lucky we didn"t go over that stone! Wonder if I could pull her up if I got on her back?
She might kick up and smash the trap! Wonder if she will pull up, or go over the bank, or what? Tom--Tom will have to run hard to catch us.
Whew! what a swing! I could have sworn we were over!"
This last peril, and the involuntary cry of the two boys clinging on behind him, silenced even this mental soliloquy for a bit. But the waggonette, after two or three desperate plunges, righted itself and continued its mad career at the heels of the mare.
"What would happen if we went over? Jolly awkward to get pitched over on to my head or down among the mare"s feet! She"d kick, I guess!
Those fellows inside could jump and-- By Jove! there comes something on the road! We"re in for it now! Either a smash, or over the bank, or-- Hallo! there"s a gate open!"
This last inward exclamation was caused by the sight of an open gate some distance ahead, through which a rough cart-track branched off from the road towards the sand-hills on the left. Richardson, with the instinct of desperation, seized upon this as the only way of escape from the peril which threatened them.
"Look out, you fellows!" cried he; "hang on tight on the right side while we turn, and jump well out if we go over."
They watched him breathlessly as they came towards the gate. The vehicle which was meeting them and their own were about equal distance from the place, and it was clear their fate must be settled in less than a minute.
Richardson waved to the driver of the approaching cart to pull up, and at the same time edged the mare as far as he could on to the off-side of the road, so as to give her a wide turn in.
"Now for it!" said he to himself, pulling the left rein; "if this don"t do, I"ll give up driving."
The mare, perhaps weary, perhaps perplexed at the sight of the cart in front, perhaps ready for a new diversion, obeyed the lead and swerved off at the gate. For a moment the waggonette tottered on its left wheel, and, but for the weight of the two pa.s.sengers on the other side, would have caught the gate post and shattered itself to atoms in the narrow pa.s.sage.
As it was, it cleared the peril by an inch, and then, plunging on to the soft, rough track, capsized gently, mare and all, landing its three occupants a yard or two off with their noses in the mud.
It was an undignified end to an heroic drive, and Richardson, as he picked himself up and cleared the mud from his eyes, felt half disappointed that no bones were broken or joints dislocated after all.
Coote did certainly contribute a grain of consolation by announcing that he _believed_ one of his legs was broken. But even this hope of glory was short-lived, for that young hero finding no one at leisure to a.s.sist him to his feet rose by himself, and walked some distance to a gra.s.s bank where he could sit down and examine for himself the extent of his injuries.