"I want to borry another boy!" said the gruff voice. And the "pop-eyed catamount" was duly ducked.
""Twould pleasure me some ter borry another!" the voice declared with grim humor. But Ben was the youngest and smallest, and only led into mischief by the others. They never knew that the blacksmith relented when his turn came, and that he got a mere sprinkle in comparison with their total immersion.
Then Stephen Ryder set out for home, followed by a dripping procession.
"I"ll l"arn ye ter "borry" my tools "thout leave!" he vociferated as he went along.
When they had reached the house, he faced round sternly on Ab. "Whyn"t ye kem an" tell me ez how the miller say I war a sneakin", deceivin"
critter, an"--an"--an" a thief!"
His wife dropped the dish she was washing, and it broke unheeded upon the hearth. Ab stretched his eyes and mouth in amazement.
"Old Bob Peachin never tole me no sech word sence I been born!" he declared flatly.
"Then what ailed ye ter go an" tell sech a lie ter Gryce"s boys las"
night jes" down thar outside o" the shop?" Stephen Ryder demanded.
Ab stared at him, evidently bewildered.
"Ye tole "em," continued the blacksmith, striving to refresh his memory, "ez Bob Peachin say ez how ye mought know I war deceivin" by my bein"
named Stephen--an" that I war the hongriest critter--an""--
""Twar the t-a-a-a-rrier!" shouted Ab, "the little rat tarrier ez we war a-talkin" "bout. He hev been named Steve these six year, old Bob say. He gimme the dog yestiddy, "kase I "lowed ez the rats war eatin" us out"n house an" home, an" my mother hed fed up that old cat o" our"n till he won"t look at a mice. Old Bob warned me, though, ez Steve, _the tarrier_, air a mighty thief an" deceivin" ginerally. Old Bob say he reckons my mother will spile the dog with feedin" him, an" kill out what little good he hev got lef" in him with kindness. But I tuk him, an"
brung him home ennyhow. An" las" night arter we hed got through talkin"
"bout borryin" (he looked embarra.s.sed) the leetle hammer, we tuk to talkin" "bout the tarrier. An" yander he is now, asleep on the chil"ren"s bed!"
A long pause ensued.
"M"ria," said the blacksmith meekly to his wife, "hev ye tuk notice how the gyarden truck air a-thrivin"? "Pears like ter me ez the peas air a-fullin" up consider"ble."
And so the subject changed.
He had it on his conscience, however, to explain the matter to the miller. For the second time old Bob Peachin, and the men at the mill, "laffed mightily at dad." And when Ab had recovered sufficiently from the exhaustion attendant upon borrowing a hammer, he "laffed too."
THE CONSCRIPTS" HOLLOW
CHAPTER I
"I"m a-goin" ter climb down ter that thar ledge, an" slip round ter the hollow whar them conscripts built thar fire in the old war times."
Nicholas Gregory paused on the verge of the great cliff and cast a sidelong glance at Barney Pratt, who was beating about among the red sumach bushes in the woods close at hand, and now and then stooping to search the heaps of pine needles and dead leaves where they had been blown together on the ground.
"Conscripts!" Barney e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, with a chuckle. "That"s precisely what them men war determinated _not_ ter be! They war a-hidin" in the mountings ter git shet o" the conscription."
"Waal, I don"t keer ef _ye_ names "em "conscripts" or no," Nicholas retorted loftily. "That"s what other folks calls "em. I"m goin" down ter the hollow, whar they built thar fire, ter see ef that old missin"
tur-r-key-hen o" our"n hain"t hid her nest off "mongst them dead chunks, an" sech."
"A tur-r-key ain"t sech a powerful fool ez that," said Barney, coming to the edge of the precipice and looking over at the ledge, which ran along the face of the cliff twenty feet below. "How"d she make out ter fotch the little tur-r-keys up hyar, when they war hatched? They"d fall off"n the bluff."
"A tur-r-key what hev stole her nest away from the folks air fool enough fur ennything," Nicholas declared.
Perhaps he did not really expect to find the missing fowl in such an out-of-the-way place as this, but being an adventurous fellow, the sight of the crag was a temptation. He had often before clambered down to the ledge, which led to a great niche in the solid rock, where one night during the war some men who were hiding from the conscription had kindled their fire and cooked their scanty food. The charred remnants of logs were still here, but no one ever thought about them now, except the two boys, who regarded them as a sort of curiosity.
Sometimes they came and stared at them, and speculated about them, and declared to each other that _they_ would not consider it a hardship to go a-soldiering.
Then Nick would tell Barney of a wonderful day when he had driven to the county town in his uncle"s wagon. There was a parade of militia there, and how grand the drum had sounded! And as he told it he would shoulder a smoke-blackened stick, and stride about in the Conscripts" Hollow, and feel very brave.
He had no idea in those days how close at hand was the time when his own courage should be tried.
"Kem on, Barney!" he urged. "Let"s go down an" sarch fur the tur-r-key."
But Barney had thrown himself down upon the crag with a long-drawn sigh of fatigue.
"Waal," he replied, in a drowsy tone, "I dunno "bout"n that. I"m sorter banged out, "kase I hev had a powerful hard day"s work a-bilin" sorghum at our house. I b"lieves I"ll rest my bones hyar, an" wait fur ye."
As he spoke, he rolled up one of the coats which they had both thrown off, during their search for the nest on the summit of the cliff, and slipped it under his head. He was far the brighter boy of the two, but his sharp wits seemed to thrive at the expense of his body. He was small and puny, and he was easily fatigued in comparison with big burly Nick, who rarely knew such a sensation, and prided himself upon his toughness.
"Waal, Barney, surely ye air the porest little shoat on G"liath Mounting!" he exclaimed scornfully, as he had often done before. But he made no further attempt to persuade Barney, and began the descent alone.
It was not so difficult a matter for a sure-footed mountaineer like Nick to make his way down to the ledge as one might imagine, for in a certain place the face of the cliff presented a series of jagged edges and projections which afforded him foothold. As he went along, too, he kept a strong grasp upon overhanging vines and bushes that grew out from earth-filled crevices.
He had gone down only a short distance when he paused thoughtfully.
"This hyar wind air blowin" powerful brief," he said. "I mought get chilled an" lose my footin"."
He hardly liked to give up the expedition, but he was afraid to continue on his way in the teeth of the mountain wind, cold and strong in the October afternoon. If only he had his heavy jeans coat with him!
"Barney!" he called out, intending to ask his friend to throw it over to him.
There was no answer.
"That thar Barney hev drapped off ter sleep a"ready!" he exclaimed indignantly.
He chanced to glance upward as he was about to call again. There he saw a coat lying on the edge of the cliff, the dangling sleeve fluttering just within his reach. When he dragged it down and discovered that it was Barney"s instead of his own, he was slightly vexed, but it certainly did not seem a matter of great importance.
"That boy hev got _my_ coat, an" this is his"n. But law! I"d ruther squeeze myself small enough ter git inter his"n, than ter hev ter yell like a catamount fur an hour an" better ter wake him up, an" make him gimme mine."
He seated himself on a narrow projection of the crag, and began to cautiously put on his friend"s coat. He had need to be careful, for a precarious perch like this, with an unmeasured abyss beneath, the far blue sky above, the almost inaccessible face of a cliff on one side, and on the other a distant stretch of mountains, is not exactly the kind of place in which one would prefer to make a toilet. Besides the dangers of his position, he was anxious to do no damage to the coat, which although loose and baggy on Barney, was rather a close fit for Nick.
"I ain"t used ter climbin" with a coat on, nohow, an" I mus" be mighty keerful not ter bust Barney"s, "kase it air all the one he hev got," he said to himself as he clambered nimbly down to the ledge.
Then he walked deftly along the narrow shelf, and as he turned abruptly into the immense niche in the cliff called the Conscripts" Hollow, he started back in sudden bewilderment. His heart gave a bound, and then it seemed to stand still.
He hardly recognized the familiar place. There, to be sure, were the walls and the dome-like roof, but upon the dusty sandstone floor were scattered quant.i.ties of household articles, such as pots and pails and pans and kettles. There was a great array of brogans, too, and piles of blankets, and bolts of coa.r.s.e unbleached cotton and jeans cloth.
"Waal, sir!" he exclaimed, as he gazed at them with wild, uncomprehending eyes.