Brother Solomon loitered about the garden with Old Brownsmith, and it
was not until we had had an early tea that I had to fetch down my little
box to put in the cart, which was standing in the yard with Shock
holding the horse, and teasing it by thrusting a barley straw in its
nostrils and ears.
As I came down with the box, Mrs Dodley said "Good-bye" very warmly and
wetly on my face, giving as she said:
"Mind you send me all your stockings and shirts and I'll always put them
right for you, my dear, and Goodbye."
She hurried away, and as soon as my box was in the cart I ran down the
garden to say "Good-bye" to Ike; but he had gone home, so I was told,
and I came back disappointed.
"Good-bye, Shock!" I said, holding out my hand; but he did not take it,
only stared at me stolidly, just as if he hated me and was glad I was
going; and this nettled me so that I did not mind his sulkiness, and
drawing myself up, I tried hard to smile and look as if I didn't care a
bit.
Brother Solomon came slowly towards the cart, rolling the stalk of a
rosebud in his mouth, and as he took the reins he said to one of the
chimneys at the top of the house:
"If I was you, Ez, I'd plant a good big bit with that winter lettuce.
You'll find 'em go off well."
I knew now that he was talking to his brother, but he certainly seemed
to be addressing himself to the chimney-pot.
"I will, Sol, a whole rood of 'em," said Old Brownsmith, "and thank ye
for the advice."
"Quite welkim," said Brother Solomon to the horse's ears. "Jump up."
He seemed to say this to Shock, who stared at him, wrinkled up his face,
and shook his head.
"Yes, jump up, Grant, my lad," said Old Brownsmith. "Fine evening for
your drive."
"Yes, sir," I said, "good-bye; and say good-bye to Ike for me, will you,
please?"
"Yes, to be sure, good-bye; God bless you, lad; and do your best."
And I was so firm and hard just before, thinking no one cared for me,
that I was ready to smile as I went away.
That "God bless you!" did it, and that firm pressure of the hand. He
did like me, then, and was sorry I was going; and though I tried to
speak, not a word would come. I could only pinch my lips together and
give him an agonised look--the look of an orphan boy going off into what
was to him an unknown world.
I was so blinded by a kind of mist in my eyes that I could not
distinctly see that all the men and women were gathered together close
to the cart, it being near leaving time; but I did see that Brother
Solomon nodded at one of the gate-posts, as he said:
"Tlck! go on."
And then, as the wheels turned and we were going out of the gate, there
was a hoarse "_Hooroar_!" from the men, and a shrill "_Hurray_!" from
the women; and then--_whack_!
A great stone had hit the panel at the back of the cart, and I knew
without telling that it was Shock who had thrown that stone.
Then we were fairly off, with Brother Solomon sitting straight up in the
cart beside me, and the horse throwing out his legs in a great swinging
trot that soon carried us past the walls of Old Brownsmith's garden, and
past the hedges into the main road, on a glorious evening that had
succeeded the storm of the previous night; but, fast as the horse went,
Brother Solomon did not seem satisfied, for he kept on screwing up his
lips and making a noise, like a young thrush just out of the nest, to
hurry the horse on, but it had not the slightest effect, for the animal
had its own pace--a very quick one, and kept to it.
I never remember the lane to have looked so beautiful before. The great
elm-trees in the hedgerow seemed gilded by the sinking sun, and the
fields were of a glorious green, while a flock of rooks, startled by the
horse's hoofs, flew off with a loud cawing noise, and I could see the
purply black feathers on their backs glisten as they caught the light.
The wheels spun round and seemed to form a kind of tune that had
something to do with my going away, while as the horse trotted on and
on, uttering a snort at times as if glad to be homeward bound, my heart
seemed to sink lower and lower, and I looked in vain for a sympathetic
glance or a word of encouragement and comfort from the silent stolid man
at my side.
"But some of them were sorry I was going!" I thought with a flash of
joy, which went away at once as I recalled the behaviour of Ike and
Shock, towards whom I felt something like resentment, till I thought
again that I was for the second time going away from home, and this time
among people who were all as strange as strange could be.
At any other time it would have been a pleasant evening drive, but
certainly one wanted a different driver, for whether it was our crops at
Old Brownsmith's, or the idea that he had undertaken a great
responsibility in taking charge of me, or whether at any moment he
anticipated meeting with an accident, I don't know. All I do know is
that Mr Solomon did not speak to me once, but sat rolling the
flower-stalk in his mouth, and staring right before him, aiming straight
at some place or another that was going to be my prison, and all the
while the sturdy horse trotted fast, the wheels spun round, and there
was a disposition on the part of my box to hop and slide about on the
great knot in the centre made by the cord.
Fields and hedgerows, and gentlemen's residences with lawns and gardens,
first on one side and then on another, but they only suggested
hiding-places to me as I sat there wondering what would be the
consequences if I were to slip over the back of the seat on to my box
when Mr Solomon was not looking, and then over the back of the cart and
escape.
The idea was too childish, but it kept coming again and again all
through that dismal journey.
All at once, after an hour's drive, I caught sight of a great white
house among some trees, and as we passed it Mr Solomon slowly turned
round to me and gave his head a jerk, which nearly shook off his hat.
Then he poked it back straight with the handle of his whip, and I
wondered what he meant; but realised directly after that he wished to
draw my attention to that house as being probably the one to which we
were bound, for a few minutes later, after driving for some distance by
a high blank wall, he stuck the whip behind him, and the horse stopped
of its own accord with its nose close to some great closed gates.
On either side of these was a brick pillar, with what looked like an
enormous stone egg in an egg-cup on the top, while on the right-hand
pillar there was painted a square white patch, in the centre of which
was a black knob looking out of it like an eye.
I quite started, so wrapped was I in thought, when Mr Solomon spoke for
the first time in a sharp decided way.
"Pop out and pull that bell," he said, looking at it as if he wondered
whether it would ring without being touched.
I hurriedly got down and pulled the knob, feeling ashamed the next
moment for my act seemed to have awakened the sleepy place. There was a
tremendous jangling of a great angry-voiced bell which sounded hollow
and echoing all over the place; there was the rattling of chains, as
half a dozen dogs seemed to have rushed out of their kennels, and they
began baying furiously, with the result that the horse threw up his head
and uttered a loud neigh. Then there was a trampling, as of some one in
very heavy nailed boots over a paved yard, and after the rattling of
bolts, the clang of a great iron bar, and the sharp click of a big lock,
a sour-looking man drew back first one gate and then the other, each
fold uttering a dissatisfied creak as if disliking to be disturbed.
The horse wanted no driving, but walked right into the yard and across
to a large open shed, while five dogs--there were not six--barked and
bayed at me, tugging at their chains. There was a large Newfoundland--
this was before the days of Saint Bernards--a couple of spotted
coach-dogs, a great hound of some kind with shortly cropped ears, and
looking like a terrier grown out of knowledge, and a curly black
retriever, each of which had a great green kennel, and they tugged so
furiously at their chains that it seemed as if they would drag their
houses across the yard in an attack upon the stranger.
"Get out!" shouted Mr Solomon as the sour-looking man closed and
fastened the doors; but the dogs barked the more furiously. "Here, come
along," said Mr Solomon to me, and he took me up to the great
furious-looking hound on whose neck, as I approached, I could see a
brass collar studded with spikes, while as we closed up, his white teeth
glistened, and I could see right into his great red mouth with its black
gums.
"Hi, Nero!" cried Mr Solomon, as I began to feel extremely nervous.
"Steady, boy. This is Grant. Now, Grant, make friends."
There was a tremendous chorus of barks here, just as if Nero was out of
patience, and the other four dogs were savage because he was going to be
fed with the new boy before them; but as Mr Solomon laid his hand on
the great fierce-looking beast's head it ceased barking, and the others
stopped as well.
"He won't hurt you now," said Mr Solomon. "Come close."
I did not like the task, for I was doubtful of the gardener's knowledge,
but I did go close up, and the great dog began to smell me from my toes
upwards, and subsided into a low growl that sounded like disappointment
that he was not to eat me.
"Pat him now," said Mr Solomon.
I obeyed rather nervously, and the great dog threw up his head and began
striking at me with one great paw, which I found meant that it was to be
taken, and I gave it a friendly shake.
Hereupon there was a chorus of short sharp whining barks and snaps from
the other dogs, all of which began to strain at their chains with
renewed vigour.
"Go and pat 'em all," said Mr Solomon; "they'll make friends now."
I went to the great shaggy Newfoundland, who smelt me, and then threw
himself up on his hind legs, and hanging against his chain put out his
tongue in the most rollicking fashion, and offered me both his hands--I
mean paws--in token of friendship. Then the retriever literally danced,
and yelped, and jumped over his chain, favouring me with a lick or two
on the hand, while the two spotted coach-dogs cowered down, licked my
boots, and yelped as I patted them in turn.
Only so many dogs, who barked again as I left them, but it seemed to do
me good, and I felt better and readier to help Mr Solomon when he
called me to aid in unharnessing the horse, which trotted of its own
free-will into its stable, while we ran the cart back into the shed, and
lifted my box out on to the stones.
"That'll be all right till we fetch it," said Mr Solomon in his quiet
dry way, and he led the way into the stable, where, as I was thinking
how hard and unfriendly he seemed, he went up to the horse, patted it
kindly, and ended by going to a bin, filling a large measure with oats;
and taking them to the horse, which gave a snort of satisfaction as they
were turned into its manger.
"Shall I get a pail of water for him, sir?" I said.
He looked at me and nodded, and I went out to a great pump in the middle
of the yard with a hook on its spout, upon which I was able to hang the
stable pail as I worked hard to throw the long handle up and down.
"Wages!" said Mr Solomon, taking the pail from me and holding it for
the horse to drink.
For the moment I felt confused, not knowing whether he meant that as a
question about what wages I required, but he turned his back, and by
degrees I found that he meant that the corn and water were the horse's
wages.
He busied himself about the horse for some minutes in a quiet
punctilious way, for the sour-looking man had gone, and as I waited
about, the great yard seemed with its big wall and gates, and
dog-kennels, such a cold cheerless place that the trees had all turned
the shabby parts of their backs to it and were looking the other way.
Everything was very prim and clean and freshly painted, and only in one
place could I see some short grass peeping between the stones. There
was a patch of moss, too, like a dark green velvet pin-cushion on the
top of the little penthouse where the big bell lived on the end of a
great curly spring, otherwise everything was carefully painted, and the
row of stabling buildings with rooms over looked like prisons for horses
and their warders, who must, I felt, live very unhappy lives.
There was one door up in a corner of the great yard, right in the wall,
and down towards this, from where it had grown on the other side, there
hung a few strands of ivy in a very untidy fashion, and it struck me
that this ivy did not belong to the yard, or else it would have been
clipped or cut away.
In summer, with the warm glow of the setting sun in the sky, the place
looked shivery and depressing, and as I waited for Mr Solomon I found
myself thinking what a place it must be in the winter when the snow had
fallen and drifted into the corners, and how miserable the poor dogs
must be.
Then as I stood looking at my box and wondering what Shock was doing,
and whether he had gone to his home or was sleeping in the loft, and why
Ike was so surly to me, and what a miserable piece of business it was
that I should have to leave that pleasant old garden and Old Brownsmith,
I suddenly felt a hand laid upon my shoulder.