"You could drop off if you liked. Are you, sorry you came?"
"No," said Kit. "I came because I wanted, and now I"m here I"ll stop."
"I really think you mean to be nice," Grace rejoined with amus.e.m.e.nt and Kit understood; she saw he did not mean to admit that she had suggested the adventure, but this was not important. It was something of an adventure for a girl like Miss...o...b..rn, although her having embarked on it gave him a delightful feeling of partnership in a harmless folly.
"I hope there"s nothing in the way," he said. "We"re going very fast and Hindbeck farm can"t be far off. I ought to have looked before we jumped."
"It is too late now," Grace answered with an excited laugh. "I imagine you"re not as cautious as you think; but we won"t talk. It"s hard to hold on and I haven"t much breath."
Kit moved nearer and, seizing the edge of the frame, put his arm round her waist. She did not seem to resent this, and for a time they sped down hill with their feet plowing through the snow. Kit did not care how long the swift rush lasted, but by and by he began to get anxious. The sledge had gone a long way since they jumped on, and the hillside was steep to the bottom, where it met the Hindbeck pastures. While he wondered whether Grace would slide far and get shaken if he made her let go, the sledge tilted up. It stopped with a violent shock, he heard stones fall, and was thrown off amidst a shower of peat. When he got up Grace was sitting in the snow some distance off and he ran towards her. She had lost her small fur cap and her hair was loose, but to his relief she laughed.
"Oh," she said, "it really was ridiculous! But the plan will work. The peat will run down!"
"That is so," Kit agreed, with a breathless chuckle. "I think it would have run into the Hindbeck kitchen but for the wall."
"Then it was a wall that stopped us. It felt like a rock."
"Come and see," said Kit, holding out his hand to help her up.
"I think," she said, "I"d rather you looked for my hat."
He went off and it was two or three minutes before he found the hat among the scattered peat. When he came back it was nearly dark, but Grace"s hair was no longer untidy, and the snow that had smeared her clothes had gone. She walked with him to where the sledge rested on a pile of stones, and looking through the gap, they saw a woman with a lantern cross a narrow pasture between them and a house.
"What"s t" matter?" the woman shouted and turned round. "Janet, gan on and see what"s brokken t" wa"."
Another figure came out of the gloom and Grace looked at Kit.
"I don"t know who Janet is, but I do know Mrs. Creighton. She talks," she said. "If you"ll stop and explain matters, I"ll go down the lonning. It was a glorious adventure! Good-night!"
She stole away round the corner of the wall and Kit, who understood that he was, so to speak, to cover her retreat, waited until the two women came up. The one who carried the lantern was fat and homely; the other was slender and looked like Janet Bell.
"It"s Kit, an" stane-boat stucken in t" wa"!" said the first as she held up the light "But where"s team? An" hoo did you get here? There"s nea road this way."
Kit laughed. "It"s lucky I left the horses at the top. This is a new plan for bringing down the peat and it certainly works, although next time we must try to stop a little sooner."
Mrs. Creighton asked him some questions before she understood what had happened. He was in the light, because she had put the lantern on the wall, and although he could not see her companion"s face, he suspected from Janet"s quietness that she was studying him.
"Then you left the others on the moor," the girl remarked.
"I did," said Kit. "We sent the stone-boat off by itself, and it was half-way down when I jumped on."
"Then none of the men came with you?"
"No," said Kit, who felt annoyed because he saw Janet suspected something. "I went down to watch the sledge and see if we had hit the best track."
"It"s strange!" said Janet. "I thought there was somebody else when I first came out. Still, of course, it was nearly dark."
Kit was puzzled because he could not tell how much Janet had really seen, and thought the situation needed careful handling. If she knew Miss...o...b..rn had been with him, it would be a mistake to make the thing look significant by pretending that she had not; but it was possible that Janet did not know. Then Grace had hinted that she did not want their adventure talked about.
"I don"t expect you could see very well if you had just come out from the light in the kitchen," he replied. "Anyhow, none of the men came with me and I must go back and tell them not to send off another lot. We"ll see about mending your wall to-morrow, Mrs. Creighton."
He went off to a gate that opened into the lonning. This was the wisest plan, because he did not want to talk to Janet. He was half afraid of her, but not because he thought she sympathized with her father"s plots; it was known that Bell and his daughter quarreled. The girl was a dangerous coquette and had tactfully hinted that she rather approved Kit.
This had alarmed Kit, who knew she was clever and resolute.
When he reached the lane he stopped abruptly as he remembered something, and took out his pipe, although he did not mean to smoke. He must be cautious, since he was not sure if Janet had gone in. Striking a match, he held it between his hands as if he were going to light his pipe and stooped in the shelter of a wall.
The light shone on the ground and he knitted his brows as he saw sharp footsteps in the snow. The farm people did not wear boots that would leave marks like these; moreover, the footsteps would lead anybody who thought it worth while to follow them to the spot where the sledge upset.
Kit threw down the match, and frowned as he went on again.
CHAPTER X
JANET MEDDLES
Bright moonlight sparkled on the snow when Kit left Ashness to post some letters he had written ordering new machines. He was young, but since he came home Peter had allowed much of the business of the farm to fall into his hands. Kit"s judgment was sound; he had studied modern methods at the agricultural college and was progressive without being rash. For the most part, his experiments had paid, and Peter sometimes thought the lad"s talents were wasted in the quiet dale. Kit had ability, particularly for management. Then, although he was rather reserved, people trusted him and often asked his advice.
Peter knew Kit was satisfied to stay at Ashness; but, for all that, if the lad felt he wanted a wider field for his energies later, he would not stand in his way. The time might come when he must let him go, for Peter had a brother who had got rich in America and was willing to give his nephew a start. Indeed, Adam had written again not long since, asking if Peter was going to send him. It was a relief when Kit laughed and declared that he did not mean to leave Ashness yet.
When he pa.s.sed Allerby mill Kit looked about. Icicles covered the idle wheel, a snow cornice hung over the flagged roof, and water splashed softly in the half-frozen race. Farther on, the snowy road was checkered by the shadows of hedges and bare trees. Low roofs, touched by h.o.a.r-frost, rose behind the trunks, and here and there a gleam of yellow light shone out. The road, however, was empty, as Kit was relieved to note.
He had once or twice recently, when he went to the post in the evening, met Janet Bell coming from the little shop in the village. In fact, the thing began to look significant. Kit was sorry for Janet, because Bell"s rule was harsh and his neighbors extended their dislike for him to his family. All the same, Kit did not trust the girl and would sooner she left him alone. He might be taking too much for granted, but romantic pity was a treacherous guide; Janet was pretty and clever, and he was human. He had thought about changing the time he went to the post, but felt it would be cowardly. Besides, he was occupied all day and letters could not be written until the outside work was done, while a postman called at Allerby early in the morning.
There was, however, n.o.body about and for a minute or two Kit went on at a quick pace. He pa.s.sed Bell"s house, and then hesitated with a frown as a figure he thought he knew came round a bend in front. Close by, the tall hedgerow was broken by a stile, from which a path led across a field and joined the road farther on. He was in the moonlight and if he vanished the thing would look too marked. Moreover, there would be something ridiculous about his running away.
Kit went forward, wondering whether Janet had noted his hesitation, and she stopped him near a big ash-tree. The shadow of the branches made a black, open pattern on the snow and a belt of gloom lay behind the wide trunk. Kit would sooner Janet had stopped in the moonlight, since the villagers often went to the shop and post in the evening, and his standing in the shadow gave a hint of secrecy to the accidental meeting.
He thought it strange that Janet did not see this.
"You were walking fast," she said. "I believe you"d have gone by if I hadn"t spoken."
"The frost is sharp enough to make one move briskly and I"ve something to do when I get back."
"Busy lad!" said Janet, in a mocking voice. "You"re always in a hurry, Kit I suppose Peter works you hard?"
"He says I work him harder than he likes," Kit replied, smiling. "Perhaps the truth is he lets me have my way."
"You"re lucky," Janet remarked with a sigh. "It"s nice to be able to do what you like. There"s only one way at the Mill house, and that"s father"s. But I suppose you agree with him that women"s ideas don"t count?"
"I daresay their ideas are as sound as ours, but I don"t know much about it. We have no women except old Bella and the dairymaid at Ashness."
"And you never miss them? In that big, lonely house!"
Kit mused for a moment. Sometimes, particularly on summer evenings when they did not light the lamps and the shadows of the fells rested on the old building, Ashness was lonely and drearily quiet. He had thought now and then the difference would be marked if a woman"s laugh rang through the dim rooms and a graceful figure sat by the hearth. Still, his imagination had not pictured Janet there.
"Oh, well," he said, "we"re out all day and when we come home there are letters to write and books to read."