Sarah did not speak, but gave a little gasping cry, and threw her apron,
which she wore indoors and out, over her head; a sure sign with her that
she was going to indulge in what she called "a good cry." John looked
at her in astonishment.
"And more than that, John," Harry went on; "they kept the child, and
brought him up as one of their own; and though afterwards they had a
large family, they never made him feel that he was a burden to them,
though he grew up a cripple, and was able to do nothing to repay them
for all their goodness. Well, at last the boy's friends were found.
They had lots of money, and the time came at last when they bought a
business for John Holl; and when he came, there the cripple boy was,
sitting at the fire, to welcome them, and say, 'Welcome, father! and
welcome, mother!'" and Harry held out his hands to them both.
Even now John Holl did not understand. He was naturally dull of
comprehension, and the loud sobbing of his wife so bewildered and
confounded him that it divided his attention with Harry's narrative.
"Yes, Harry," he said, "it's all very nice. But what's come to you,
Sarah? What are you making all this fuss about? We shall be having the
new master coming in and finding you sobbing and rocking yourself like a
mad woman. Cheer up, old woman. What is it?"
"Don't you see, John," Sarah sobbed out, "don't you see Harry has been
telling you your own story? Don't you see that it is you he has been
talking about, and that you are 'John Holl, Dust Contractor'?"
"Me?" John said, in utter bewilderment.
"Yes, father," Harry said, taking his hand, "you are the John Holl.
This house, and the business, and the carts and horses are yours;
Captain Bayley has bought them all for you. He would not come here
himself, as I wished him, but he asked me to tell you and mother how
glad he was to be able to repay, in a small way he said, your great
kindness to me; and how he hoped that you would prosper here, and be as
happy as you deserve to be.
"You will be better off than your last master, for he had to pay rent
for this house and yard, but, as grandfather has bought the freehold of
them all for you, you will have no rent to pay. Therefore I hope, even
in bad times, you will be able to get along comfortably. There, father,
there, mother, dry your eyes, and look sharp, for I can hear voices in
the garden. Evan went to your house after you had gone to bring all the
children round here in a cab.
"You will find everything in the house, mother, and you must get a grand
tea as soon as possible. I have got a servant for you--for, you know,
you must have a servant now."
The next minute the children came bounding in, wild with delight, and a
happier party never assembled than those who sat round the table of
"John Holl, Dust Contractor," on the evening of his first taking
possession of his new property.
*A BATTLE WITH WOLVES.*
*FROM "THE YOUNG CARTHAGINIAN."*
[Malchus, a young officer of the guard of the great Carthaginian general
Hannibal, goes out with two companions on a hunting expedition among the
mountains of Spain. After a long day's sport they fail to find their
camp, and decide to sleep out in the woods.]
After eating their meal and chatting for some time, Halcon and his
companion lay down to rest, Malchus volunteering to keep the first
watch. For some time he sat quietly, occasionally throwing logs on the
fire from the store which they had collected in readiness. Presently
his attitude changed, he listened intently and rose to his feet.
Several times he had heard the howls of wolves wandering in the woods,
but he now made out a long, deep, continuous howling; he listened for a
minute or two and then aroused his companions.
"There is a large pack of wolves approaching," he said, "and by the
direction of the sound I judge they are hunting on the traces of our
footsteps. That is the line by which we came down from yonder brow, and
it seems to me that they are ascending the opposite slope."
"Yes, and by the sound there must be a very large pack of them," Halcon
agreed. "Pile up the fire and set yourselves to gather more wood as
quickly as possible; these beasts in large packs are formidable foes."
The three men set to work, vigorously cutting down brushwood and lopping
off small boughs of trees with their swords.
"Divide the fire in four," Halcon said, "and pile the fuel in the
centre; they will hardly dare to pass between the fires."
The pack was now descending the slope, keeping up a chorus of howls and
short yelps which sent a shiver of uneasiness through Malchus. As the
wolves approached the spot the howling suddenly ceased.
"They see us," Halcon said; "keep a sharp look-out for them, but do not
throw away a shot; we shall need all our arrows before daylight."
Standing perfectly quiet, the friends could hear the pattering sound
made by the wolves' feet upon the fallen leaves; but the moon had sunk
now, and they were unable to make out their figures.
"It seems to me," Malchus said in a whisper, "that I can see specks of
fire gleaming on the bushes."
"It is the reflection of the fire in their eyes," Halcon replied. "See!
they are all round us! There must be scores of them."
For some time the wolves approached no closer; then, encouraged by the
silence of the little group standing in the centre of the fires, two or
three gray forms showed themselves in the circle of light. Three bows
twanged. Two of the wolves fell, and the third, with a howl of pain,
fled in the darkness. There was a sound of snarling and growling; a cry
of pain, a fierce struggle, and then a long-continued snarling.
"What are they doing?" Malchus asked with a shudder.
"I believe they are eating their wounded comrade," Halcon replied. "I
have heard such is the custom of the savage brutes. See, the carcasses
of the other two have disappeared already."