A REGULAR BRICK.
"KITTY! Kitty!" called Bob. "Oh, there you are! Keep Snip here with
you, will you, till I'm gone? Don't let him get away and follow me!"
"Why not?" demanded Kitty.
It was again a Saturday afternoon, several weeks having passed since
the sister and brother had been entertained next door. The little girl,
who had been watching Fluffy eating a sprig of parsley, turned away
from the rabbit hutch as she spoke, and joined Bob, who, fishing rod in
hand, and accompanied by Snip, had addressed her from the back door.
"Because I'm going to Lang's pond, with Shuttleworth," he explained,
"and if Snip went with us he'd for certain spoil our sport by hunting
for water-rats and disturbing the fish. He seems to have an idea that I
want to get rid of him, for he's keeping as near me as he can, and—"
"Oh, do let me go with you this afternoon!" interposed Kitty, eagerly.
"Why can't I?" she asked, as her brother shook his head.
"Well," he said, "it's possible that we may meet Richards, and that he
may ask us to his house to tea—that is, if you're not there."
"Then you'd better go your own way!" snapped Kitty, adding under her
breath, "Such selfishness!"
"But will you keep Snip with you?" questioned Bob.
Kitty assented. She took Snip into the house, and shut herself into the
dining-room with him, feeling deeply aggrieved. Mr. and Mrs. Glanville
had gone away for the day, therefore it was exceedingly unkind of Bob,
she considered, to go off with Tim Shuttleworth and leave her.
"He makes a great deal too much of Tim," she reflected. "It's all
very well to let bygones be bygones, but Bob seems to have forgotten
altogether how disgusted he was with Tim at one time, and is making him
his chief friend. I haven't such a short memory as Bob."
This was true. Bob had a happy knack of putting anything he wished to
forget away from him. But Kitty, though she had agreed never again to
mention the ill-turn Tim had done her, often allowed her mind to dwell
on it, and the consequence was that she was considerably less genial to
him than was her brother.
By-and-bye, when she judged the boys must have taken their departure,
she decided to go out with Snip. It had rained earlier in the day,
but the weather had cleared about noon, and now the sun was shining
brilliantly. It was a really perfect May afternoon.
"I'll get some wild hyacinths for mother," the little girl thought,
remembering that she had heard Mrs. Glanville remark at breakfast that
they must now be in bloom and she would like some. "And on my way home,
I'll pass by Lang's pond and pay the boys a surprise visit. I'll see
Snip doesn't interfere with them."
Accordingly she sallied forth, with a basket on her arm, and
accompanied by the faithful Snip. First she went to a confectioner's,
where she purchased some chocolate creams, then left the town by a side
street, and a quarter of an hour later found her in a pretty wood,
carpeted with masses of wild blue hyacinths. She filled her basket with
the fragrant flowers, after which she sat down on the moss-covered
trunk of a fallen tree, and ate her chocolates, sharing them with Snip.
"There!" she cried, as she popped the last chocolate into her mouth,
and rose. "Now we'll go to Lang's pond—we've as much right there
as anyone, eh, Snip? Still, I think I'd better lead you. Bob can't
complain if I do that."
Nevertheless Bob was not altogether pleased when, ten minutes later,
standing by the side of Tim Shuttleworth, on the edge of Lang's pond,
his eyes fixed on the float of his fishing rod, he heard a shout and
recognised his sister's voice.
"It's Kitty," Tim informed him. "She's brought Snip with her, but she
has him on the leash."
"Well, boys, what sport?" Kitty questioned, as she joined them. "The
fish are biting well, I suppose, after the rain? Let me see what you've
caught!"
She opened a fishing-basket which lay on the ground, and gave a little
laugh as she viewed its contents.
"Three dace, two roach, and an eel!" she cried. "The dace are the
smallest I ever saw. You ought to have put them back into the water
again, they aren't worth cooking. The roach are not so bad, but—"
"I daresay you think you could catch bigger ones!" Bob broke in,
sarcastically. He was disappointed that they had not had better sport,
and his sister's candid comments had vexed him.
"Richards is not here, I see," observed Kitty, after a few minutes'
silence.
"No, he has not turned up," Tim answered. "He did not promise to
come—only said that he might. What lovely hyacinths you have there!"
"Yes, haven't I?" said Kitty.
She placed her basket on the ground, and stood watching the boys for
some while, but she soon tired of inactivity, and strolled around the
edge of the pond, still leading Snip. By-and-bye she caught sight of
some fine forget-me-nots growing close to the water, and stooped to
gather them. At that exact moment Snip spied a water-rat, and, jerking
the leash out of his mistress' hand, sprang Into the water in pursuit
of it.
"There!" cried Bob. "I knew what it would be!" He threw aside his rod
as he spoke, and glared angrily at his sister. "You must have let him
go on purpose, Kitty!" he asserted.
"I did not!" the little girl declared. "Indeed I did not! Oh, Bob, I'm
so sorry! Come here, Snip! Come here, sir!"
But Snip paid not the least attention to her. He was now swimming
around the edge of the pond, and sniffing into the rat-runs which
undermined the bank. Tim was secretly as vexed with Kitty as was
Bob, but out of pity for her he did not show his feelings, and stood
listening in silence to the hot words which were now passing between
the sister and brother.
"Well," Bob said at length, his anger beginning to cool, "of course, if
you say you didn't let him go on purpose, I believe you, and we'll drop
the subject. We'd better go home to tea now, I suppose."
"I'm sorry I came," murmured Kitty, almost tearfully. "I know you
didn't want me. Oh, oh!" she cried, her tone suddenly changing to one
of great excitement. "Look at Snip, boys! Oh! Do look! What's the
matter with him? Oh, see how he's struggling! Oh, Bob! Oh, Tim! He'll
drown—he'll drown!"
Snip had turned a rat out of its lair in the bank, and had been
swimming across the pond, which was very deep in the centre, after it,
when something had become entwined about his hind legs, and he was now
struggling in vain to get them free.
"Don't be silly, Kitty!" Bob said, speaking sharply, because he was
frightened and could not think what had happened to the dog. "How can
Snip drown when he can swim like—"
"Oh, you don't understand!" broke in Kitty, wringing her hands in her
distress. "It's the leash! It's got around his legs, and—Oh, Bob, go to
him, go to him!"
It was all very well to say "Go to him!" But Bob could not swim, and
knowing that he would be out of his depth in the water before he could
reach Snip, he naturally hesitated. At that minute, evidently realizing
the peril of his situation, the little dog uttered a piteous cry, which
nearly drove his mistress frantic; she would have dashed into the pond
herself if her brother had not prevented her.
"Oh, what can we do?" she wailed. "Oh, this is awful—awful! Oh, Bob,
can't you do anything? Oh, Tim!—where's Tim?"
"Here!" answered Tim, behind her. "It'll be all right, Kitty! Don't you
be frightened! I'll get him!"
Kitty now perceived that Tim had divested himself of his coat and
waistcoat, and was hurriedly unlacing his boots.
"I can swim—a little," he told her. "I think I shall be able to reach
him. There!"—As he pulled off his last boot. "Now I'm ready!"
He waded into the pond till the water reached his chin, Kitty and
Bob watching him with deepest anxiety, then swam a few strokes which
brought him within reach of Snip. He grasped the little dog by the back
of the neck, and, turning, essayed to swim back with him, but Snip
continued to struggle, and no progress was made.
"Can you get off the leash?" shouted Bob. "Try! Try!"
Tim did try, and, after several vain attempts, succeeded in
disentangling the leash, and setting the dog free. That done Snip swam
ashore of his own accord, and his rescuer followed him, to be greeted
with tearful thanks from Kitty as he waded out of the pond, and a warm
hand-clasp from Bob, who told him that he was "a brave chap, and no
mistake!"
"Yes, indeed," agreed Kitty. "But for you, Tim, poor Snip would
certainly have been drowned. Oh! I wonder what mother and father will
say when they hear about this? Oh, dear me, how dreadfully wet you are,
to be sure!"
"It would be a miracle if he was not!" Bob exclaimed, with a laugh,
which hid deep feeling. "What silly remarks you do make, Kitty! We must
get you home as quick as we can, Tim, or you'll catch cold!"
Tim had pulled on his boots over his wet stockings with some difficulty
by this time, and was now kneeling to lace them up.
"Oh, I shan't catch cold!" he declared cheerfully.
"I hope not," said Kitty, her voice full of concern, "because if you
did you might get pneumonia again. Oh, Tim, I haven't thanked you for
what you've done."
"Please don't!" Tim interposed, adding—"I'm so glad I could swim!"
He rose from his knees as he spoke, and, meeting Kitty's eyes, still
rather tearful, smiled at her.
"Oh," the little girl cried, "you don't know how grateful I feel to
you."
"You're a brick, Tim—yes, a regular brick!"