"Jim, I say!" she repeated. "Come here directly minute."
Next moment Jim appeared. He was Jim to her because she was his wife, I suppose, but to us he was the Police, with his hair ruffled--from his hateful sofa-cushions, no doubt--and his tunic unb.u.t.toned.
"What"s up?" he said in a husky voice, as if he had been dreaming that he had a cold. "Can"t a chap have a minute to himself to read the paper in?"
"You told me to," said the woman. "You said if any folks come to the door with things I was to call you, whether or no."
Even now we were blind to the disaster that was entangling us in the meshes of its trap. Alice said--
"We"ve sold a good deal, but we"ve _some_ things left--very nice things.
These crochet needles----"
But the Police, who had b.u.t.toned up his tunic in a hurry, said quite fiercely--
"Let"s have a look at your license."
"We didn"t bring any," said Noel, "but if you will give us an order we"ll bring you some to-morrow." He thought a lisen was a thing to sell that we ought to have thought of.
"None of your lip," was the unexpected reply of the now plainly brutal constable. "Where"s your license, I say?"
"We have a license for our dog, but Father"s got it," said Oswald, always quick-witted, but not, this time, quite quick enough.
"Your "awker"s license is what I want, as well you knows, you young limb. Your pedlar"s license--your license to sell things. You ain"t half so half-witted as you want to make out."
"We haven"t got a pedlar"s license," said Oswald. If we had been in a book the Police would have been touched to tears by Oswald"s simple honesty. He would have said "n.o.ble boy!" and then gone on to say he had only asked the question to test our honour. But life is not really at all the same as books. I have noticed lots of differences. Instead of behaving like the book-Police, this thick-headed constable said--
"Blowed if I wasn"t certain of it! Well, my young blokes, you"ll just come along o" me to Sir James. I"ve got orders to bring up the next case afore him."
"_Case!_" said Dora. "_Oh, don"t!_ We didn"t know we oughtn"t to. We only wanted----"
"Ho, yes," said the constable, "you can tell all that to the magistrate; and anything you say will be used against you."
"I"m sure it will," said Oswald. "Dora, don"t lower yourself to speak to him. Come, we"ll go home."
The Police was combing its hair with a half-toothless piece of comb, and we turned to go. But it was vain.
Ere any of our young and eager legs could climb into the cart the Police had seized the donkey"s bridle. We could not desert our n.o.ble steed--and besides, it wasn"t really ours, but Bates"s, and this made any hope of flight quite a forlorn one. For better, for worse, we had to go with the donkey.
"Don"t cry, for goodness" sake!" said Oswald in stern undertones. "Bite your lips. Take long breaths. Don"t let him see we mind. This beast"s only the village police. Sir James will be a gentleman. _He"ll_ understand. Don"t disgrace the house of Bastable. Look here! Fall into line--no, Indian file will be best, there are so few of us. Alice, if you snivel I"ll never say you ought to have been a boy again. H.O., shut your mouth; no one"s going to hurt you--you"re too young."
"I _am_ trying," said Alice, gasping.
"Noel," Oswald went on--now, as so often, showing the brilliant qualities of the born leader and general--"don"t _you_ be in a funk.
Remember how Byron fought for the Greeks at Missy-what"s-its-name. _He_ didn"t grouse, and he was a poet, like you! Now look here, let"s be _game_. Dora, you"re the eldest. Strike up--any tune. We"ll _march_ up, and show this sneak we Bastables aren"t afraid, whoever else is."
You will perhaps find it difficult to believe, but we _did_ strike up.
We sang "The British Grenadiers," and when the Police told us to stow it we did not. And Noel said--
"Singing isn"t dogs or pedlaring. You don"t want a license for that."
"I"ll soon show you!" said the Police.
But he had to jolly well put up with our melodious song, because he knew that there isn"t really any law to prevent you singing if you want to.
We went on singing. It soon got easier than at first, and we followed Bates"s donkey and cart through some lodge gates and up a drive with big trees, and we came out in front of a big white house, and there was a lawn. We stopped singing when we came in sight of the house, and got ready to be polite to Sir James. There were some ladies on the lawn in pretty blue and green dresses. This cheered us. Ladies are seldom quite heartless, especially when young.
The Police drew up Bates"s donkey opposite the big front door with pillars, and rang the bell. Our hearts were beating desperately. We cast glances of despair at the ladies. Then, quite suddenly, Alice gave a yell that wild Indian war-whoops are simply nothing to, and tore across the lawn and threw her arms round the green waist of one of the ladies.
"Oh, I"m so glad!" she cried; "oh, save us! We haven"t done anything wrong, really and truly we haven"t."
And then we all saw that the lady was our own Mrs. Red House, that we liked so much. So we all rushed to her, and before that Police had got the door answered we had told her our tale. The other ladies had turned away when we approached her, and gone politely away into a shrubbery.
"There, there," she said, patting Alice and Noel and as much of the others as she could get hold of. "Don"t you worry, dears, don"t. I"ll make it all right with Sir James. Let"s all sit down in a comfy heap, and get our breaths again. I am so glad to see you all. My husband met your father at lunch the other day. I meant to come over and see you to-morrow."
You cannot imagine the feelings of joy and safeness that we felt now we had found someone who knew we were Bastables, and not vagrant outcasts like the Police thought.
The door had now been answered. We saw the base Police talking to the person who answered it. Then he came towards us, very red in the face.
"Leave off bothering the lady," he said, "and come along of me. Sir James is in his lib_ra_ry, and he"s ready to do justice on you, so he is."
Mrs. Red House jumped up, and so did we. She said with smiles, as if nothing was wrong--
"Good morning, Inspector!"
He looked pleased and surprised, as well he might, for it"ll be long enough before he"s within a mile of being _that_.
"Good morning, miss, I"m sure," he replied.
"I think there"s been a little mistake, Inspector," she said. "I expect it"s some of your men--led away by zeal for their duties. But I"m sure _you"ll_ understand. I am staying with Lady Harborough, and these children are very dear friends of mine."
The Police looked very silly, but he said something about hawking without a license.
"Oh no, not _hawking_," said Mrs. Red House, "not _hawking_, surely!
They were just _playing_ at it, you know. Your subordinates must have been quite mistaken."
Our honesty bade us say that he was his own only subordinate, and that he hadn"t been mistaken; but it is rude to interrupt, especially a lady, so we said nothing.
The Police said firmly, "You"ll excuse me, miss, but Sir James expressly told me to lay a information directly next time I caught any of "em at it without a license."
"But, you see, you didn"t catch them at it." Mrs. Red House took some money out of her purse. "You might just give this to your subordinates to console them for the mistake they"ve made. And look here, these mistakes do lead to trouble sometimes. So I"ll tell you what I"ll do.
I"ll promise not to tell Sir James a word about it. _So_ n.o.body will be blamed."
We listened breathless for his reply. He put his hands behind him--
"Well, miss," he said at last, "you"ve managed to put the Force in the wrong somehow, which isn"t often done, and I"m blest if I know how you make it out. But there"s Sir James a-waiting for me to come before him with my complaint. What am I a-goin" to say to him?"
"Oh, anything," said Mrs. Red House; "surely some one else has done something wrong that you can tell him about?"