Mrs. Lester went back two or three days before we actually did "pay
off", and then came the morning when we all said goodbye. The marines
marched away, and the bluejackets streamed ashore with their bags on
their shoulders to go on leave, and cabs came rattling up to take us to
the station.
I did intend to walk, because all my heavy gear had gone to the
"outfitters", and I only had two small bags and some paper parcels with
that boat’s ensign and the presents for Nan and my father and mother;
but the Captain called out, "Comin’ with me, Dick?" and I actually went
with him and "Blucher" in his cab, with "Willum" sitting up on the box,
and right the way to Upton Overy with him in a first-class carriage. He
paid for it, too, and gave me some grub at Salisbury, and a ripping tea
at Exeter.
We didn’t get to Upton Overy till ten o’clock at night, and I was so
jolly excited, and so fearfully proud of being with the Captain, that I
couldn’t feel tired; and when we ran into the station they fired off fog
signals, and there were flags all over the place. Old Puddock, the
station master, opened the door, and Mrs. Puddock "bobbed" behind him,
and I caught sight of my mother under a lamp, and forgot all about my
bags and parcels, and rushed across to her.
"Blucher" nearly went off his head with joy, and chased Mr. Puddock’s
cat till it turned round and faced him, and then he forgot about it. I
do believe that everyone in Upton Overy was waiting outside, and there
were more flags in the streets, and a triumphal arch, and Mrs. Lester
was waiting in one of the carriages. Everyone was cheering like mad,
and the fishermen had taken the horses out of the carriage and were
going to pull the Captain up to The House.
My mother and I slipped away—I’d asked Puddock to send up my things—and
got home, and it was grand being back again, though my father was very
worried, and hardly cheered up when he saw me. My mother had told me
how miserable he was, and that I must be very quiet and not talk too
much or too loudly, so that rather took the gilt off the gingerbread.
Even when I showed them the white ensign with the bullet holes in it,
and told them all about it, he only said that it was a shame to send a
child like me away on such a job, and said it was time to be going to
bed, and he was thankful that I wasn’t a cripple for life after having
my arm smashed.
"He’ll be all right to-morrow," my mother told me, and I showed her my
arm, and the places where the bullet had gone through it, and moved my
fingers, and picked up heavy things to show her that it really was quite
strong, and that I should not have to leave the Service and simply stay
at home and be an expense to them, and we just hugged each other, and I
went to bed presently.
I was up again very early in the morning, and ran down to the beach to
see all my chums in the fishing boats, and they "bucked me up"
splendidly. They all crowded round, and had heard about
everything—everything—and they told me all the news, and that Ned the
Poacher was in prison, and his wife and children had gone to the
workhouse, and that old Gurridge was coming back at the end of the week
and wanted to see me, and I slipped back in time to prevent my mother
worrying about where I’d gone, and after breakfast I rushed up to The
House.
The Captain was there in his old shooting suit, with a gun over his
shoulder, and "Blucher" was careering all over the flower beds, and not
stopping when he was told to. "Umph! I’ll shoot that dog if he don’t
come to heel when I tell him," the Captain grunted, and I ran off and
managed to catch him. I knew jolly well that old "Blucher" might have
destroyed every flower in the place if he wanted to, for anything the
Captain would have done to him.
"What became of you, Dick, last night? The missus waited for you and
your mother till we couldn’t wait any longer. Umph! Must go down and
see her and the Parson after lunch."
I very much hoped that he wouldn’t, because I was afraid my father would
say something to him about sending me away in charge of that junk. I
told him about Ned the Poacher and his wife.
"Umph! Serve the beggar right; we’ll see what we can do about his
missus and the kids. Umph! Go in and see the girls, and then come
along with ’Blucher’. I’m going after rabbits."
I’d brought a Chinese embroidered skirt for Nan, and she simply loved
it, and I couldn’t get away, and didn’t want to, and presently the
Captain began bellowing "that he couldn’t wait till Domesday", and Nan
said, "I’ll come too", and we raced each other round to the stables to
get "Blucher’s" chain, and off we went.
It was awfully ripping, and "Blucher" gave us no end of a time, pulling
us about whenever the Captain fired his gun.
* * * * * * * *
[Transcriber’s note: the source book had running headings on its
odd-numbered pages. In this etext, those headings have been
combined into an introductory paragraph at the start of each
chapter.]