The water sank slowly and steadily, leaving dry patches here and there
all over the fen; but the lake-like parts far exceeded the dry land, and
two or three fields still contained so much water that the squire set
men to work to cut a drain to carry it away.
"Kill two birds with one stone, Dick," he said. "It will be useful by
and by."
At the time Dick did not understand what his father meant; but it was
soon evident when all hands were hard at work cutting down through the
peat to make the dyke. For, instead of digging in the ordinary way, the
men carefully cut down through what was not earth, but thick
well-compressed black peat, each piece, about ten inches square and
three or four thick, to be carefully laid up like so much open brickwork
to drain and dry.
Good store for the next winter's fuel, for it was peat of fine quality
stored up by nature ages before, and not the soft brown mossy stuff
found in many places, stuff that burns rapidly away and gives out hardly
any heat. This peat about the Toft was coal's young relative, and
burned slowly into a beautiful creamy ash, giving out a glow of warmth
that was wanted there when the wind blew from the northern sea.
The two lads watched the process with interest--not that it was anything
new, for they had seen it done a hundred times; but they had nothing
else to do that morning, having tired themselves of gazing at the flocks
of birds which passed over to the feeding grounds laid bare by the
sinking water. It had been interesting to watch them, but Dave had not
kept his word about the netting; the decoy had not been worked; and
gunning was reserved for those of elder growth. So that morning, though
the great lakes and canals among the reeds were dotted with birds, the
lads were patiently watching the cutting of the little drain.
Six men were busy, and making steady progress, for the peat cut easily,
the sharp-edged tools going through it like knives, while the leader of
the gang busied himself from time to time by thrusting down a
sharp-pointed iron rod, which always came in contact with sand and
gravel a few feet down.
"No roots, my lad?" said the squire, coming up.
"No, mester," said the labourer. "I don't think--well, now, only think
of that!"
He was thrusting down the iron rod as he spoke, and the point stuck into
something that was not sand or gravel, while upon its being thrust down
again with more force it stuck fast, and required a heavy jerk to drag
it out.
"That seems to be a good one," said the squire, as the lads watched the
process with interest.
"Shall we hev it out, mester?"
"Have it out! Oh, yes!" said the squire; and a couple of hours were
spent widening the drain at that part, so as to give the men room to
work round what was the root of an old tree, just as it had been growing
in the far-distant ages, before the peat began to rise over it to nine
or ten feet in thickness.
It was a long job, and after the great stump had been laid bare, axes
had to be used to divide some of the outlying roots before it was
finally dragged out by the whole force that could be collected by the
hole, and finally lay upon the side.
"Just like the others, Dick. There must have been a tremendous fire
here at one time."
"And burned the whole forest down?"
"Burned the whole of the trees down to the stumps, my lad, and then the
peat gradually formed over the roots, and they've lain there till we
come and dig them out for firewood."
"And they haven't rotted, father, although they have been under the peat
and water all this time."
"No, my boy; the peat is a preservative. Nothing seems to decay under
the peat. Why, you ought to have known that by now."
"I suppose I ought," said Dick rather dolefully, for he was beginning to
wake up to the fact of what an enormous deal there was in the world that
he did not know.
As he spoke, he picked up some of the red chips of the pine-root which
had been sent flying by the strokes of the axe, to find that they were
full of resin, smelling strongly of turpentine.
"Yes, it's full of it," said the squire; "that's one reason why the wood
has kept without rotting. Here you two boys may as well do something
for your bread and butter."
Dick said something to himself answering to nineteenth-century Bother!
and awaited his father's orders.
"You can drag that root up to the yard. Get a rope round it and haul.
Humph, no! it will be too heavy for you alone. Leave it."
"Yes, father," said Dick with a sigh of relief, for it was more pleasant
to stand watching the men cutting the peat and the birds flying over, or
to idle about the place, than to be dragging along a great sodden mass
of pine-root.
"Stop!" cried the squire. "I don't want the men to leave their work.
Go and fetch the ass, and harness him to it. You three donkeys can drag
it up between you."
The boys laughed.
"I'm going up the river bank. Get it done before I get back."
"Yes, father," cried Dick. "Come along, Tom."
The task was now undertaken with alacrity, for there was somehow a
suggestion to both of the lads of something in the nature of fun, in
connection with getting the ass to drag that great root.
The companions ran along by the boggy field toward the farm buildings on
the Toft, to seek out the old grey donkey, who was at that moment
contemplatively munching some hay in a corner of the big yard, in whose
stone walls, were traces of carving and pillar with groin and arch.
Now some people once started the idea that a donkey is a very stupid
animal; and, like many more such theories, that one has been handed down
to posterity, and believed in as a natural history fact, while donkey or
ass has become a term of reproach for those not blessed with too much
brain.
Winthorpe's donkey was by no means a stupid beast, and being thoroughly
imbued with the idea that it was a slave's duty to do as little work as
he possibly could for those who held him in bonds, he made a point of
getting out of the way whenever he scented work upon the wind.
He was a grey old gentleman, whose years were looked upon as tremendous;
and as he stood in the corner of the yard munching hay, he now and then
scratched his head against an elaborately carved stone bracket in the
wall which took the form of a grotesque face.
Then his jaws stopped, and it was evident that he scented something, for
he raised his head slightly. Then he swung one great ear round, and
then brought up the other with a sharp swing till they were both cocked
forward and he listened attentively.
A minute before, and he was a very statue of a donkey, but after a few
moments' attentive listening he suddenly became full of action, and
setting up his tail he trotted round the yard over the rotten peat and
ling that had been cut and tossed in, to be well trampled before mixing
with straw and ploughing into the ground. He changed his pace to a
gallop, and then, still growing more excited, he made straight for the
rough gate so as to escape.
But the gate was fastened, though not so securely but that it entered
into a donkey's brain that he might undo that fastening, as he had often
undone it before, and then deliberately walked off into the fen, where
succulent thistles grew.
This time, however, in spite of the earnest way in which he applied his
teeth, he could not get that fastening undone; and, after striking at it
viciously with his unshod hoof, he reared up, as if to leap over, but
contented himself with resting his fore-legs on the rough top rail, and
looking over at the free land he could not reach; and he was in this
attitude when the two lads came up.
"Hullo, Solomon!" cried Dick. "Poor old fellow, then! Did you know
we'd come for you?"
The donkey uttered a discordant bray which sounded like the blowing
badly of a trumpet of defiance, and backing away, he trotted to the far
end of the yard, and thrust his head into a corner.
"Where's the harness?" said Tom.
"In the stone barn," was the reply; and together the lads fetched the
rough harness of old leather and rope, with an extra piece for fastening
about the root.
"I say, Dick, he won't kick that root to pieces like he did the little
tumbril," said Tom, who for convenience had placed the collar over his
own head.
"Nor yet knock one side off like he did with the sled," replied Dick
with a very vivid recollection of one of Solomon's feats. "Now, then,
open the gate and let's pop the harness on. Stop a minute till I get a
stick."
"Get a thick one," said Tom.
"Pooh! he don't mind a thick stick; he rather likes it. Hicky says it
loosens his skin and makes him feel comfortable. Here, this will do.
Must have a long one because of his heels."
"Oh, I say, Dick, look at the old rascal; he's laughing at us!"
It really seemed as if this were the case, for as the lads entered the
yard Solomon lowered his head still more in its corner, and looked at
them between his legs, baring his gums the while and showing his white
teeth.
"Ah, I'll make him laugh--_gimble_, as old Dave calls it--if he gives us
any of his nonsense! Now, you, sir, come out of that corner. Give me
the collar, Tom."
As Dick relieved his friend of the collar, and held it ready to put over
the donkey's head, though they were at least a dozen yards away, Solomon
began to kick, throwing out his heels with tremendous force and then
stamping with his fore-feet.
"Isn't he a pretty creature, Tom? He grows worse. Father won't sell
him, because, he says, he's an old friend. He has always been my
enemy."
"You always whacked him so," cried Tom.
"No, I didn't; I never touched him till he began it. Of course I wanted
to ride him and make him pull the sled, and you know how he ran after me
and bit me on the back."
"Yes, I know that somebody must have ill-used him first."
"I tell you they didn't. He's always been petted and spoiled. Why,
that day when he kicked me and sent me flying into the straw I'd gone to
give him some carrots."
"But didn't you tickle him or something?"
"No, I tell you. A nasty ungrateful brute! I've given him apples and
turnips and bread; one Christmas I gave him a lump of cake; but no
matter what you do, the worse he is. He's a natural savage, father
says; and it isn't safe to go near him without a stick."
"Well, you've told me all that a dozen times," said Tom maliciously.
"It's only an excuse for ill-using the poor thing."
"Say that again and I'll hit you," cried Dick.
"No, you won't. Here, give me the harness again and I'll put it on,
only keep back with that stick. That's what makes him vicious."
"How clever we are!" cried Dick, handing back the collar. "There: go
and try."
"Ah, I'll show you!" said Tom, taking the collar with its hames and
traces attached, and going up toward the donkey, while Dick stood back,
laughing.
"Take care, Tom; mind he don't bite!"
"He can't bite with his hind-legs, can he?" replied Tom. "I'll mind.
Now, then, old fellow, turn round; I won't hurt you."
Solomon raised his tail to a horizontal position and held it out
stiffly.
"Don't be a stupid," cried Tom; "I want your head, not your tail."
Dick burst into a roar of laughter, but Tom was not going to be beaten.
"You leave off laughing," he said, "and go farther back with that stick.
That's right. Now, then, old boy, come on; turn round then."
_Whack_!
Poor Tom went backwards and came down a couple of yards away in a
sitting position, with the collar in his lap and an astonished look in
his countenance.
"Oh, I am sorry, Tom!" cried Dick, running up. "You, Solomon, I'll half
kill you. Are you hurt, Tom?"
"I don't know yet," said the lad, struggling up.
"Where did he kick you?" cried Dick, full of sympathy now for his
friend.
"He didn't kick me at all," said Tom dolefully. "I was holding the
collar right out and he kicked that, but it hit me bang in the front and
hurt ever so."
"Let me take the harness; I'll get it on him."
"No, I won't," cried Tom viciously. "I will do it now. Here, give me
that stick."
"Why, I thought you said I ill-used him!"
"And I'll ill-use him too," said Tom savagely, "if he doesn't come and
have on his collar. Now, then, you, sir, come here," cried Tom sharply.
By this time the donkey had trotted to another corner of the yard, where
he stood with his heels presented to his pursuers, and as first one and
then the other made a dash at his head he slewed himself round and
kicked out fiercely.
"This is a nice game," cried Dick at last, when they were both getting
hot with the exercise of hunting the animal from corner to corner, and
then leaping backward or sidewise to avoid his heels, "Now, just you
tell me this, who could help walloping such a brute? Hold still will
you!"
But Solomon--a name, by the way, which was given him originally from its
resemblance to "Solemn-un," the latter having been applied to him by
Hickathrift--refused to hold still. In fact he grew more energetic and
playful every minute, cantering round the yard and dodging his pursuers
in a way which would have done credit to a well-bred pony, and the
chances of getting the collar on or bit into his mouth grew more and
more remote.
"I tell you what let's do," cried Dick at last; "I'm not going to run
myself off my legs to please him. I've got it!"
"I wish you'd got the donkey," grumbled Tom. "I don't see any fun in
hunting him and nearly getting kicked over the wall."
"Well, don't be in a hurry," said Dick; "I know how to manage him.
Here, catch hold of this harness. I know."
"You know!" grumbled Tom, whose side was sore from the donkey's kick
upon the collar. "What are you going to do?"
"You shall see," cried Dick, busying himself with the wagon rope he had
brought, and making a loop at one end, and then putting the other
through it, so as to produce an easily running noose.
"What are you going to do with that?" asked Tom.
"Hold your noise," whispered Dick; "he's such an artful old wretch I
don't know that he wouldn't understand us. I'm going to make you drive
him round by me, and then I'm going to throw this over his head and
catch him."
"I don't believe you can," cried Tom.
"Well, you'll see. There, that'll do. I'm ready; take the stick and
make a rush at him. That will drive him round near me, and then we'll
try."
Tom laid down the harness, took the stick and made the rush at Solomon.
The latter kicked out his heels and cantered round by Dick, who threw
his noose, but failed to lasso the donkey, who took refuge in another
corner.
"Never mind," cried Dick, gathering up the rope, "I shall do it next
time. Now, then--I'm ready. Drive him back again."
Tom made another rush at the obstinate animal, which cantered off again,
working considerably harder than it would if it had submitted patiently
to being bitted. This time he gave Dick a better chance, and the boy
threw the rope so well that it seemed as if it must go over the
creature's head. But Solomon was too sharp. He shied at the rope and
tossed his head aside; but though he avoided the noose and escaped it so
far, as he plunged he stepped right into it, tightened it round his
fore-legs, and the next instant fell over at one end of the rope,
kicking and plunging as he lay upon his side, while at the other end of
the rope there lay Dick upon his chest. For he had been jerked off his
feet, but held on to the rope in spite of the donkey's struggles.
"I've got him, Tom; come and lay hold," panted Dick as the donkey made a
desperate plunge, got upon his legs, and then fell down again upon the
loose ling and straw, kicking out as if galloping.
This gave Dick time to rise, and, seeing his opportunity, he ran to the
gate and passed the slack rope round, drew it tight, and shouted to Tom
to come and hold on.
Just as Tom caught hold of the rope the donkey rose again and made a
plunge or two, but only to fall once more, slacking the rope to such an
extent that the boys were able to haul in a couple of yards more and
hold on, stretching Solomon's legs out and drawing them so tightly that
he uttered a piteous cry like the beginning of a bray chopped off short.
"Do you give in, then?" cried Dick.
The donkey raised his head slightly and let it fall again, gazing wildly
at his captors, one of whom rushed round, avoided a feeble kick, and sat
down upon the helpless animal's head.
"Now," cried Dick, "we've got him, Tom; and I've a good mind to play the
drum on his old ribs till he begins to sing!"
"Don't hit him when he's down," said Tom. "It isn't English."
"I wasn't going to hit him," said Dick. "He's a prisoner and has given
in. Bring me the bit."
Solomon opened his mouth to utter a bray; but Dick put the stick between
his teeth, and he only uttered a loud sigh.
"Ah! now you're sorry for being such a brute, are you?" cried Dick.
"Come along, Tom."
"I'm coming, only the things have got all mixed," was the reply.
"Give 'em to me," cried Dick. "That's it. Now, then, you sit on his
neck, Tom, and then I'll get up. And look here, you, sir," he added to
the donkey, "you come any more of your games, and I'll knock your head
off!"
Solomon's flanks heaved, but he lay quite still, and did not resent
Tom's rather rough treatment as he bestrode his neck and sat down. On
the contrary, he half-raised his head at his master's command, suffered
the bit to be thrust between his teeth and the head-stall to be buckled
on, after which Tom leaped up.
"Take the rope from about his legs now, Tom," cried Dick.
"Suppose he kicks!"
"He won't kick now," cried Dick. "He'd better! Here, you hold the rein
and I'll take it off."
"No, I'll do it," said Tom sturdily; and going cautiously to work he
unknotted the rope and drew it away, the donkey lying quite motionless.
"Now, then, Sol, get up!" cried Tom.
The donkey drew his legs together, leaped to his feet, shook himself
till his ears seemed to rattle, and uttered a sound like a groan.
"He is beaten now," said Dick. "Come and put on the pad and well go.
That's right; buckle it on."
Tom obeyed, and the rough scrappy harness was fixed in its place, while
Solomon twitched his ears and rolled them round as if trying to pick up
news in any direction.
"He won't kick now, will he?" said Tom.
"Not unless he feels a fly on his back, and then he'll try to kick it
off."
"Why, he couldn't kick a fly off his back if he tried," said Tom.
"No, but he'd try all the same. Look out!--there he goes!"
Tom leaped aside, for the donkey kicked out fiercely for a few moments.
"Why, there are no flies now!" said Tom.
"Must be. Look out!--he's going to kick again!"
The donkey's heels flew out, and Tom made a feint of punching his
companion's head.
"How clever we are!" he cried. "Just as if I didn't see you tickling
him to make him kick!"
"Tickle him!" said Dick laughing. "Why, I wasn't tickling him when he
kicked up in the corner there. But come along or we shall never get
that log up to the yard, and father won't like it. Now, Sol! Open the
gate, Tom."
Tom opened the gate, and with Dick holding the rein the donkey walked
along by his side as meekly as if he had never kicked or shown his teeth
with the intention of biting in his life. The rope was doubled up and
thrown over his back; and when they had gone a few yards Dick, without
pausing, made a bit of a jump and struggled on to the animal's back,
getting himself right aft, as a sailor would say, so that it seemed as
if at any moment he might slip off behind.
But Solomon made no objection; he just twitched and wagged his tail for
a moment or two, and then put it away out of sight. For the donkey
chained, or rather harnessed, became an obedient slave--a very different
creature from the donkey free.
When they reached the dyke where the men were standing delving out the
peat, it was to find a group of three fresh arrivals in the persons of
Hickathrift the wheelwright, Dave, and John Warren, and all in earnest
converse upon some subject.
"Yow may say what yow like," cried Dave, "but fen-land's fen-land, and
meant for the wild birds."
"And rabbuds," put in John Warren.
"Ay, lad, and rabbuds," assented Dave; "and it weer nivver meant to grow
corn and grass. Yow can't do it, and yow'll nivver make fen-land
fields. It's agen natur."
"So it is to ride in a cart or on a sled, lad," said Hickathrift
good-humouredly; "but I make 'em, and folk rides in 'em and carries
things to market."
"Ay, but that's different," said Dave. "Fen-land's fen-land; and you
can't dree-ern that."
"You can't dree-ern that," said John Warren, nodding his head in assent.
"Well, they'll drain these fields, at all events," said Hickathrift.
"Yow can't say they weant do that."
"I say fen-land's fen-land," reiterated Dave, taking off his fox-skin
cap and rubbing his ear viciously; "and it can't be dree-ernt."
"Ah! you two are scarred about your 'coy and your rabbud-warren," cried
Hickathrift good-humouredly. "I wish they'd dree-ern the whole place
and have roads all over it, so as to want carts and wains."
"Nay, they nivver will," said Dave sourly. "Tek to makkin' boats and
punts, mun. Them's best."
"Hullo, Dave!" cried Dick; "how about the ruffs and reeves? You said
you'd take me to the netting."
"Well, haven't I come for you, lad?" said Dave quietly.
"Have you? Oh, Tom, and we've got this old stump to draw away! I can't
go now, Dave."
"There's plenty o' time, lad. I'm not going back yet Hicky's got to put
a bit o' plank in my boat 'fore I go back."
"Come on, Tom, and let's get it done," cried Dick. "Here, give us the
rope."
He took the rope, fastened it to one of the roots, and then joined the
traces together, and tied the rope about them.
After this the donkey was turned so that his head was toward the sharp
slope, leading to the Priory on the Toft, and a start was made. That is
to say, the donkey tightened the traces, stuck his hoofs into the
ground, tugged for a minute without moving the stump, and then gave up.
"Why, Mester Dick, yow'll have to get root on a sled or she weant move."
"Oh, we'll do it directly!" cried Dick. "Here, Tom, you give a good
shove behind. Now, then, pull up!"
Tom thrust with all his might, while Dick dragged at the donkey's
head-stall, and once more, after offering a few objections, Solomon
tightened the traces and rope, and tugged with all his might, but the
root did not move.
"Yow weant move her like that, I tell you, lad," said Hickathrift.
"Won't I!" cried Dick angrily; "but I just will. You Tom, you didn't
half push."
"Shall I give her a throost?" said the wheelwright, smiling.
That smile annoyed Dick, who read in it contempt, when it was only
prompted by good temper.
"We can do it, thank you," cried Dick. "Now, Tom, boy, give it a heave.
Pull up, Solomon."
Tom heaved, but Solomon refused to "pull up;" and after his late
disappointments, and his discovery that the root was heavier than he, it
took a great deal of coaxing to get him to stir. At last, though, just
as Hickathrift was coming up good-temperedly to lend his aid, it seemed
as if the donkey anticipated a tremendous blow from the long staff the
wheelwright carried, for he made a plunge, Dick took tightly hold of the
rein and gave it a drag, and Tom sat down on the great root, to follow
Hickathrift's example and roar with laughter, in which the men who were
delving peat joined, while Dave and John Warren, men who took life in a
very solemn manner, actually smiled.
For Solomon's sudden plunge, joined to Dick's drag at the head-stall,
showed that it was quite time a new fit out of harness was provided,
inasmuch as the old leather gave way in two or three places, and the
donkey, with nothing on but his collar, was off full gallop, feeling
himself a slave no longer, while Dick, after staggering backwards for a
yard or two, came down heavily in a sitting position, and in a very wet
place.
"Yes, it's all very well to laugh," said Dick, getting up and looking
ruefully at the broken bridle and bit which he held in his hand; "but
see how cross father will be."
"And look where old Solomon has gone!" cried Tom. "I say, how are we to
catch him? Ha! ha! ha! Only look!"
Everyone but Dick joined in the laugh, for Solomon was rejoicing in his
liberty, and galloping away toward the fen, shaking his head, and
kicking out his heels; while every now and then he stretched out his
neck, grinned, and bit at the wind, for there was nothing else to bite.
"Nice job we shall have!" grumbled Dick. "Oh, I say, Tom, we are in a
mess."
"Oh, there's nowt the matter, Mester Dick!" said Hickathrift
good-temperedly, as he picked up the broken harness and examined it.
"Why, I could mend all this in less than an hour with some wax-ends and
a brad-awl."
"Yes, but will you, Hicky?"
"Of course I will, my lad. Theer, don't look that how. Go and catch
the Solemn-un, and me, and Dave, and John Warren'll get the root up to
the yard for you."
"Will you, Hicky?" cried the boys joyfully. "Oh, you are a good old
fellow! Come on, Tom, and let's catch Solomon."
The harness was thrust aside by the wheelwright, ready to take home, and
then at a word the two fen-men came forward, and together they rolled
the awkwardly-shaped root over and over toward the farm; while, once
satisfied that the pine-root was on its way, Dick gave his companion a
slap on the shoulder, and moistened his hand to get a better grip of his
stick.
"Get a stick, Tom," he said. "I don't want to drum old Solomon's ribs;
but I'm just in the humour to give it him if he plays any of his
tricks."
That was just what the donkey seemed determined upon. He had been shut
up for a fortnight in the yard, and hardly knew how to contain himself,
as he bounded along in a way he never attempted when he was not free.
There were spots which he knew of where succulent thistles and water
plants grew, and after a long course of dry food he meant to enjoy a
feast.
The boys shouted as they ran, and tried to get ahead; but the more they
shouted the more Solomon kicked up his heels and ran, performing a
series of capers that suggested youth instead of extreme old age.
"We shall never get him," cried Tom as he panted along.
"We must catch him," cried Dick, making a furious rush to head off the
frolicsome animal, which seemed as if he thoroughly enjoyed teasing his
pursuers.
Dick was successful in turning the donkey, but not homeward, and he
stopped short unwillingly as he saw the course taken.
"I say, Dick, isn't it soft out there?"
"Soft! Yes. Mind how you go!"
This advice would have been thrown away upon Solomon, though, had he
comprehended it, the effect might have been beneficial. For, whatever
knowledge the donkey might have possessed about the flood, he did not
realise the fact that since he last tickled his palate with the spinous
thistle--an herb which probably assumed to his throat the flavour that
pepper does to ours--there had been a considerable depth of water over
the fen, and that it was very soft. The result was, that while the lads
stopped short, and then began to pick their way from tussock to tussock,
and heather patch to patch, Solomon blundered on, made a splash here, a
bit of a wallow there, and then a bound, which took him in half-way up
his back; and as he plunged and struck out with fore-legs and heels, he
churned up the soft bog and made it softer, so that he sank in and in,
till only his spine was visible with, at the end, his long neck and
great grey head, upon which the ears were cocked out forward, while an
expression of the most intense astonishment shone out of his eyes.
"Oh, Tom, what shall we do?"
_He-haw_--_he-yaw_--_he-yaw_!
Solomon burst out into the most dismal bray ever heard--a long-drawn
misery-haunted appeal for help, which was prolonged in the most
astounding way till it seemed to be a shrill cry.
"I don't know," responded Tom, wiping the tears out of his eyes.
"Oh, come, I say," said Dick, "it isn't anything to laugh at!"
"I know it isn't," cried Tom; "but I can't help it. I feel as if I must
laugh, and--Ha! ha! ha!"
He burst into a tremendous peal, in which his companion joined, for
anything more comic than the aspect of the "Solemn-un" up to his neck in
the bog it would be hard to conceive.
"Here, this won't do," cried Dick at last, as he too stood wiping his
eyes. "Poor old Sol, we mustn't let you drown. Come on, Tom, and let's
help him out."
How Dick expected that he was going to help the donkey out he did not
say; but he began to pick his way from tuft to tuft, avoiding the soft
places, till he was within twenty feet of the nearly submerged animal,
and then he had to stop or share his fate.
"I say, Tom, I can't get any farther," he cried. "What shall we do?"
"I don't know."
"What a fellow you are!" was the angry reply. "You never do know. Old
Sol will be drowned if we don't look sharp. The bog is twenty feet deep
here."
"Can't he swim out?"
"Can't you swim out!" cried Dick. "What's the good of talking like
that? You couldn't swim if you were up to the neck in sand."
"But he isn't up to his neck in sand."
"But he's up to his neck in bog, and it's all the same."
"Ahoy! what's matter?" came from a couple of hundred yards away; and the
lads turned, to see that it was Hickathrift shouting, he and the others
having just succeeded in taking up the root to its destination.
"Ahoy! Bring the rope," shouted Dick.
"He-haw--haw--haw--haw!" shouted the Solemn one dismally, as if to
emphasise his young master's order.
"Why, how came he in there?" cried Hickathrift, trotting up with the
rope, but picking his way carefully, for the peat shook beneath his
feet.
"He went in himself," cried Dick. "Oh, do get him out before he sinks!
Make a noose, and let's throw it over his head."
"We shall pull his head right off if we do," said Hickathrift, but
busily making the noose the while.
"Oh, no, I don't believe you would!" cried Tom. "He has got an awfully
strong neck."
"It won't hurt him," said Dave, who came up slowly with the rest.
"Well, there's no getting it under him," said the wheelwright; "he'd
kick us to pieces if we tried."
"I'll try," said Dick eagerly.
"Nay, I weant let you," said Hickathrift. "I'll go my sen."
"It weant bear thee, neighbour," said John Warren warningly.
"Eh? wean't it? Well, I can but try, mun. Let's see."
The good-natured wheelwright went cautiously towards where Dick was
standing waiting for the rope; but at the third step he was up to his
middle and had to scramble out and back as fast as he could.
"I'm too heavy," he said; "but I'll try again. All right, I'm coming
soon!" he added as the donkey uttered another dismal bray.
But his efforts were vain. Each time he tried he sank in, and at last,
giving up to what was forced upon him as an impossibility, he coiled up
the rope to throw.
"Thou mun heave it over his head, my lad. Don't go no nigher to him; it
isn't safe."
He threw the rope, and Dick caught the end and recoiled it preparatory
to making a start over the moss.
"Nay, nay, stop!" shouted Hickathrift.
"I must go and try if I can't put it round him, Hicky," cried Dick.
"Come back, thou'lt drownd thysen," shouted Dave excitedly.
"No, I won't," said Dick; and picking his steps with the greatest care,
he succeeded in stepping within ten yards of the donkey, which made a
desperate struggle now to get out and reach him, but without success;
all he did was to change his position, his hind-quarters going down
lower, while his fore-legs struck out into the daylight once or twice in
his hard fight for liberty.
"Now, my lad, heave the rope over his head, and we'll haul him out,"
cried Hickathrift.
But Dick paid no heed. He saw in imagination the poor animal strangled
by the noose; and with the idea that he could somehow get alongside, he
struck out to the left, but had to give up, for the bog was more fluid
there.
On the other side it was even worse, and Dick was about to turn and
shout to the men to try if they could not get the punt up alongside,
when a fresh struggle from Solomon plainly showed him that the animal
must be rescued at once or all would be over.
Dick made one more trial to get nearer, in spite of the cries and
adjurations of those upon the firmer ground; but it was useless, and
struggling to a tuft of dry reed, he balanced himself there and gathered
up the rope, so as to try and throw the loop over the donkey's head.
As he held it ready there was another miserable bray, and the lad
hesitated.
"It means killing him," he muttered. "Poor old Solomon! I never liked
him, but we've had so many runs together."
His hand dropped to his side with the rope, and he tottered, for the
reed tuft seemed to be sinking.
Solomon brayed again and fought desperately to free himself, but sank
lower.
"Heave, Dick, heave!" shouted Tom.
"Throw it over, my lad! throw it over, or thou'lt be too late!" cried
the wheelwright; but Dick did not move. His eyes were fixed upon the
donkey's head, but his thoughts were far back in the past, in sunny days
when he had been riding by the edge of the fen to the town, or down to
the firm sand by the sea, where Solomon always managed to throw him and
then gallop off. Then there were the wintry times, when the donkey's
hoofs used to patter so loudly over the frozen ground, while now--
Perhaps it was very childish, for Dick was a strongly built lad of
sixteen, and had his memory served him truly it would have reminded him
of that terrible kick in the leg which lamed him for a month--of the
black-and-yellow bruise upon his arm made by the vicious animal's jaws
one day when he bit fiercely--of that day when he was pitched over
Solomon's head into the black bog ditch, and had to swim out--of a dozen
mishaps and injuries received from the obstinate beast. But Dick
thought of none of these, only of the pleasant days he had had with the
animal he had known ever since he could run; and, whether it were
childish or not, the tears rose and dimmed his eyes as he stood there
gazing at what seemed to be the animal's dying struggles, and thinking
that it would be kinder to let him drown than to strangle him, as he
felt sure they would.
"Why don't you throw, Dick?" cried Tom again in an excited yell that was
half drowned by Solomon's discordant bray, though it was growing more
feeble as the struggles were certainly more weak.
All at once Dick started and his eyes grew more clear. It was not at
the warning shout of the wheelwright, nor the yell uttered by the other
men, but at the action of the sufferer in the bog. For, feeling himself
surely and certainly sinking lower, the donkey made one more tremendous
effort, extricating his fore-legs and beating the fluid peat with them
till it grew thinner, and with neck outstretched and mouth open it sank
more and more back, till head and legs only could be seen.
Dick did it unconsciously. His eyes were fixed upon the struggling
beast, but his ears were deaf to the shouts behind him. All he heard
was the dismal bray enfeebled to a groan so full of despair that the lad
threw the rope, and in throwing lost his balance, fell, and the next
moment was struggling in the mire.
He tried to rise, but it was impossible, and as he fought and struggled
for a few moments it was to find that the bog was growing thinner and
that the patches about him, which looked firm, were beginning to sink.
Was he too going to drown? he asked himself, and something of the
sensation he had felt on the night of the flood came over him.
Then he felt a snatch, and a voice like thunder brought him to himself.
"Howd tight, lad!"
The next moment Dick felt himself gliding over the soft bog, and
directly after Dave had hold of one of his hands and drew him to a place
of safety before running back to the rope.
"All together, lads! Haul!"
There was a shout and a tremendous splashing, and Dick Winthorpe
struggled to his feet, wiping the black fluid bog from his eyes, to see
Solomon hauled right out, slowly at first, then faster and faster, till
he was literally run over the slippery surface to where there was firm
ground.
"I got it over his head, then?" said Dick huskily.
"Ay, lad, and over his legs too," cried Hickathrift, as he bent down and
loosened the noose. "Eh, bud it's tight. That's it!"
He dragged the rope off, and the donkey lay perfectly motionless for a
few moments, but not with his eyes closed, for he seemed to be glowering
round.
"Is he dying, Hicky?" said Dick.
"Nay, lad; yow can't kill an ass so easy. Seems aw reight. There!"
The last word was uttered as the donkey suddenly struggled up, gave
himself a tremendous shake, till his ears rattled again as the bog water
flew; and then stretching out his neck as if he were about to bray, he
bared his teeth and made a fierce run at the wheelwright.
But Hickathrift struck at him with the rope, and to avoid that, Solomon
worked round, made a bite at Dick, which took effect on his wet coat,
tearing a piece right out. Then he swerved round like lightning and
threw out his heels at Tom, tossed up his head, and then cantered off,
braying as he went, as if nothing had been the matter, and making
straight for the yard.
"Well, of all the ungrateful brutes!" cried Tom.
"Ay, we might just as well hev let him get smothered," said the
wheelwright, joining in the laughter of the others. "Didn't hurt you,
did he, Mester Dick?"
"No, Hicky. Only tore my coat," replied Dick, turning reluctantly up to
the house, for he was wet and now felt cold.
"I say, Dick, what about the netting?" cried Tom.
The lad looked piteously at Dave and his companion of the rabbit
warren--two inseparable friends--and felt that his chance of seeing the
ruffs and reeves captured was very small.
"Are you going--to-day, Dave?" he faltered.
"Nay, lad," said Dave dryly, "yow've had enough o' the bog for one day.
Go and dry thysen. I'll coom and fetch thee to-morrow."
So the lads went up to the house, the men returned to their draining,
and the wheelwright walked slowly away with Dave and John Warren.
"Let's run, Dick," said Tom, who was carrying the rope; "then you won't
catch cold."
"Oh, I sha'n't hurt," said Dick, running all the same; and in passing
the yard they closed the gate, for Solomon was safe inside; but as they
reached the house, where Mrs Winthorpe stood staring aghast at her
son's plight, Solomon burst forth with another dismal, loud complaining:
"_He-haw_!"