And now one morning, as soon as it was daylight, Harry jumped out of bed
and ran to his brother's, and with one whisk dragged everything off--
sheet, blankets, counterpane, and almost Philip, and then the young
ruffian rushed into Fred's room, served him in the same way, and
narrowly escaped a crack on the head from his cousin's boot, which was
sent flying after him as he ran, but hit the wall instead, and then fell
toe foremost into the big wash hand jug, that seemed as if it stood
there on purpose to catch it.
"Jump up, boys; why it's ever so late, I believe," said Harry. "I'll go
and see what time it is. Shrimping day!"
Directly after Harry reappeared in Fred's room, and found Philip there.
"I say, the clock's stopped in the night; it wants a quarter to four by
that old stupid thing on the staircase. I'll go down to the dining-room
and see there; I know it's half-past seven, and everybody is lying in
bed because Papa said we should all start in good time for the sands.
Don't I wish I was behind old Sam! Shouldn't I like to put a wasp in
his bed!"
He then slipped quietly down to the dining-room. All was still; the
blinds drawn down, but the room was light enough for him to see the
hands upon the face of the little timepiece over the fireplace.
"Ten minutes to four," said the clock.
"All the clocks are wrong," said Harry, pettishly. "It must be late. I
know it is. I'll go in the kitchen."
So off he went, pat, pat, with his bare feet over the oilcloth, and then
upon the sandy stones in the kitchen. Plenty of light there, and the
old Dutch clock plainly to be seen, only the pendulum stood still, and
the weights had run down; for cook had forgotten to draw them up on the
previous night. "Quarter to twelve," said the clock.
"Oh! come, that won't do," said Harry. "I know it's late. Don't I wish
I had a watch of my own; I should know what the real time was then."
Up he went to Fred's room with the same tale upon his lips respecting
the time, but as unbelieving as ever.
"Why, it is only four o'clock," said Philip, looking out of the window;
"and there's the sun just rising. Well, you are a chap, Hal, to wake
one up at this time of the morning and say it's late. I shall go to bed
again."
"So shall I," said Fred.
"No, you won't," said Harry; dragging the clothes together and making a
bundle, with which he ran off into his own room with both the others in
full chase. And then began a regular scrimmage, French and English
fashion, and Harry, having two enemies, was pulled down sprawling over a
rushbottom chair, and then nearly kicked over the washstand, making such
a clatter that the Squire knocked angrily at the wall; when off the
noisy ones ran back into Fred's room, Harry this time being the pursuer,
armed with his bolster, "Bang, crash--crash, bang--whiz--wuz--rush."
Fred went backwards upon his bed, _hors de combat_, from a well-directed
blow from Harry's bolster; and then at it went Harry and Phil--the
latter being armed with a pillow, down whose front a ghastly slit soon
showed itself; but Philip fought well, and Harry was getting worsted and
driven into the corner amongst the boots, where the footing was rather
bad for bare feet "Flop!" Harry caught it then and staggered back.
"Flop" again, for Philip was surpassing himself, and Harry having
received the last blow full upon the top of his head went down upon one
knee; but he rallied again, ducked to avoid the next blow, and diving
under Philip's arm came up behind, and "Whooz!" went the bolster bang
upon Phil's back, and "Crash!" went Philip forward, ram fashion, with
his head into the wardrobe door.
At it again: "whop--whop--flip--flop--bang," went pillow and bolster,
while Fred, sitting tailor fashion upon his bed, was rolling with
laughter. At last Philip began to shew signs of being beaten, and Harry
whirled his bolster round his head in order to administer the _coup de
grace_, when "crash!"--the water-bottle and tumbler were swept off the
dressing-table, splintering to pieces on the floor, and covering the
carpet with feet-piercing fragments and puddles of cold water.
"Oh! shan't we catch it!" said both combatants, ceasing the war, like
two enemies who had just awakened to the fact that they had been doing a
vast amount of mischief to somebody else's property.
"Oh! I say, whatever shall we do?" said Philip in dismay.
"Pick up the pieces," said Harry, laconically.
The three boys set to work, picked up the pieces, and sponged up the
water; but there was a great, rugged, black-looking patch, like a North
American continent, with plenty of islands all round it, in the midst of
the carpet; but then, too, there were the fragments of broken bottle and
glass.
"Oh! I say, what shall we do?" exclaimed Philip again, when all was
made as decent as circumstances would permit.
There was a minute's silence which no one seemed inclined to break; but
at last Harry said, moodily, "Why, we must go and tell Mamma; she won't
be so very, very cross."
"She will, though; for she said we were not to bolster, because it
spoiled the pillow-cases so, and--"
Here Philip caught sight of the pillow lying upon Fred's bed, the cover
being nearly torn off. Upon seeing this ghastly object Philip looked
more grim than ever, and he left his sentence unfinished.
"Let's buy another bottle," said Fred; "I'll pay."
This was a new idea.
"Capital," said Harry. "I've got a shilling Papa gave me yesterday, and
I'll pay half."
"So will I," said Philip, brightening up.
But, as the bottle could not be bought by the lads all paying half, it
was decided that they should all bear a share in the proposed expense,
and go and buy the new water-holder before breakfast.
"Hooray!" said Harry, "jump into your clothes, boys, and we'll run down
to the village and be back before breakfast's ready."
In another quarter of an hour, the lads passed through the gate, and
stood in the lane leading to the village. Such a bright fine morning,
the sun gilding all the trees, and the birds singing away more merrily
than ever. The boys had looked at the clock as they descended the
staircase, and it was only five; so, as they had plenty of time upon
their hands to reach the village, they sauntered slowly along, having
only two miles to go.
"I say," said Harry, "let's cross the fields and go round by the back
lane; we shall then go over the shallows, and Fred has never seen the
stepping-stones."
"How much farther is it?" said Fred.
"Only about a mile," was the reply.
Off they went, over the stile, and then across the dewy grass, over more
fields, glittering in the morning sunlight, and then down into the back
lane.
"Tuck up your trousers, boys," said Harry, setting the example; and then
when that preliminary was arranged, splish, splash, they went along the
wet path.
A splendid lane that was for a walk, always under water, with quite a
stream flowing in parts, and shaded on either side by high hedges and
banks. It was always considered impassable, except in very dry weather
and in carts. But mischievous boys rather liked the back lane; there
was some fun in going along it, for it was nearly always half-way up the
boots, and then the water splashed so capitally when you ran down it.
Besides which, there were rats there, and stray sticklebacks: and the
nicest, smoothest, and roundest pebbles for throwing to be got anywhere;
besides, boots and feet soon get dry again in the summer-time; and,
after all, a good bit of fun is worth all the wet boots in the world--at
least, boys of twelve and thirteen think so.
"Is it all wet, like this?" said Fred, rather taken aback at the
appearance of the place.
"Rat! rat! rat!" roared Harry, a cry taken up by Philip; and away they
splashed, running upon their toes in chase of the long-tailed burrower.
But Rat never went very far from his residence in the day-time; and,
consequently, he showed the hunters only just the tip of his tail for a
moment, as he dived into his hole, and was gone. A little further on
the lane became dry again, and continued so, with the exception of a
little rivulet at the side, where the water was dimpling and glittering
over the stones, washed clean and smooth, and amongst which the boys
soon found plenty of those curious little fish, the stone loaches, for
the most part lying snugly beneath some great pebble, which had to be
turned over to effect their capture.
At last they reached the river and the stepping-stones. Here the stream
had widened out and was very shallow, great rough masses of pudding
stone being laid on the bed to let wayfarers pass over dry-shod. This
was, however, a luxury looked upon with great contempt by Harry, who
merely drew his trousers into a roll above his knees, and walked
straight in all amongst the water-cresses and forget-me-nots which
peeped up here and there. Of course, such an example must needs be
followed upon the instant, and soon there were three young storks wading
about in the shallows.
"Look! look!" said Fred, all at once; "what's, that?"
They might well look, for with his scales glittering in the morning sun,
and making the water surge as he endeavoured to reach a portion of the
river more suitable for his bulk, a large pike came down the stream on
his side. He was a monster, and seemed nearly a yard long, and so big
that the boys could do nothing but stare at him at first; but Harry was
not to be put out of countenance by the biggest pike in England, so at
him he rushed.
"Come on," he shouted, "turn him back. If he gets past the stones, the
water is deeper, and we shall lose him."
Philip and Fred closed in, but never put forth a hand to touch the pike.
Not so Harry, for he boldly made a dash at it, and caught hold of the
slippery monster, who gave a flash with his tail, and was off yards
away, with Harry in full pursuit; and this time, the water being
shallower, he managed to give a good kick at the fresh-water shark, but
only one, for the fish gave another shoot, and was gone.
"There's a brute!" said Harry. "He might just as well have been caught.
Wasn't he a thumper?"
"Let's get some water-cresses and take home," said Phil.
"Where are there any?" said Fred, who had never seen them growing
before.
"Why, here, all about; here's lots and lots."
So the lads set to, and picked a goodly bunch a piece, Philip
remembering, too, a little bouquet of forget-me-nots for his mother; and
then, landing on the opposite side, they strolled up the river to see if
they could see Harry's friend, the pike, but, no! he was invisible; and
not to be wondered at, after the manner in which he had been treated.
Still, though there was no pike, there was plenty else to be seen, for
the fish were rising all over the river; and out in the bright calm
places great chub were lazily basking in the warm sun. On every
shallow, shoals of roach and dace appeared, and rushed out in silvery
squadrons over the pebbly bottom; while the minnows and gudgeon seemed
as though they had been drilled, so regularly and closely they kept
together as they darted out into the middle of the river.
Plenty to be seen? Ay, plenty; pretty little reed-warblers twittering
and chattering in amongst the strands which formed their waving home;
and every now and then the little bearded tits made their appearance,
but only to dart out of sight again in a moment. High over head sang
the lark, "trill--trill--trill;" and the soft sweetness of the morning
seemed to pervade everything. Now and then red and orange billed
moor-hens would lead their dusky little broods from amongst the reeds,
and after a short swim, lead them in again when they saw that they were
watched. Plenty to see? Ay! so much, that the water, the sky, and the
green banks took away every thought of the water-bottle and the village,
and even of breakfast, till all of a sudden Harry burst out--
"Oh, I'm so jolly hungry! let's turn back."
"I wonder what time it is?" said Philip.
"Seven," said Harry, "I know. Let's get down to the village and get the
bottle at old Perkins's, and then it will be time to go home to
breakfast. Oh! what a jolly morning!"
They were soon abreast of the stones again where the path led down to
the village, and just then the distant church clock struck.
"Told you so," said Harry, counting. "One--two--three--four--five--
six--seven--_eight_!"
The boys stared at one another quite aghast, and then, taking their cue
from Harry, started off full speed towards home, forgetting everything
but the idea of getting back in time for breakfast.
When they entered the breakfast-room, nearly breathless, but with
sparkling eyes and glowing cheeks, both Mr and Mrs Inglis looked
rather serious; but the boys seemed so bright and happy that they had
not the heart to be cross with them, though the second cup of coffee was
being poured out, and the Squire loved punctuality; and though Mrs
Inglis had been into the boys' bedrooms and seen the mischief they had
done.
"Come, boys; come, boys," said Mr Inglis, cheerily; "this won't do; you
won't last till night. Why, we're going down to get enough specimens to
start the salt-water aquarium; and Jem Baines, from the station, brought
the glass last night. It came down from London by the goods train.
There it is," he continued, pointing to an enormous inverted bell-glass
standing upon a block of ebony fitted for its reception.
But the boys were too hungry to do more than glance at the crystal bell,
though Harry, with his mouth full, did say something that sounded very
much like "booty," though he evidently meant it for beauty. However, it
was excusable, as any of my young readers will say if they consider that
Harry had been up four hours, and out in the fresh air of the bright
summer morning.