There was some reason in Rodney Harding's words, for as he turned from
the little river he had come suddenly face to face with a thin
gaunt-looking lad of about his own age, very shabbily dressed and almost
ragged, who was gazing at him fiercely, and stood with one hand as if
about to strike. Recovering himself on the instant, Rodney, obeying his
first impulse, began to loosen the bottom joint of his rod ready to use
it as a weapon--a defence against the expected attack--but in an instant
the strange new-comer dropped his hand to his side, turned quickly away
to look outward across the moor, and then cried wildly, his voice
sounding strange of accent, and husky as if from exhaustion--
"No, no, don't hit! I am so weak and so helpless. Help me. Tell me,
which way can I go? They are close after me, and I can run no farther.
Help!"
The poor wild-looking creature ended by sinking upon his knees amongst
the heath, and raising his hands with a piteous gesture, while his
imploring looks were quite sufficient to move the young fisherman's
heart.
"Why, who are you?" he cried. "You are not a beggar."
"No, no! I confess. Oh, _mon ami_--I beg your pardon--sir! I forgot.
I confess everything. It was for liberty; we were escaping, but the
guard--the soldiers! They have been hunting us down like dogs."
"A French prisoner?" cried the boy.
"Ah, _oui_--yes, monsieur. It is my misfortune. But the soldiers. We
have been separated."
"Who's `we'?" said Rodney sharply.
"My father and I. I don't know which way he has gone. They have taken
him perhaps, and now it is no use; I may as well give up, for I can go
no farther."
He sank sideways amongst the heath and fern.
Rodd looked at him in horror, for the poor fellow seemed as if he was
about to faint with weakness and misery, while he kept giving utterance
to hysterical gasps as he was plainly enough struggling hard to avoid
bursting into a passion of weak girlish tears.
"Here, I say, don't do that!" cried Rodd, stooping and catching him by
the arm to shake him violently. "You don't know that the soldiers have
caught your father."
"No, but I feel sure that they must have done so," cried the poor
fellow, rising a little and gazing wildly in the speaker's eyes, while
Rodd's energy seemed to galvanise him into action.
"Well, suppose they have? They'd only take him back into the prison
again, would they?"
"I--I don't know," faltered the lad. "I heard firing, and they may have
shot him down and taken him."
"Yes--may, may, may!" cried Rodd angrily. "But I don't believe our
soldiers would be such brutes. It's only Frenchmen that do such things
as that."
"What!" cried the lad, struggling to his feet. "How dare you speak so
of our brave fellows! I appealed to you for help, and you insult me.
Do you think if you were in France and flying for your life with your
father--"
"Haven't got one," said Rodd shortly. "Died before I was born."
"Do you think then that if you alone had appealed to me for help I would
have treated a poor escaping prisoner like this?"
"Oh, come, I say, don't go on like that. Any one would think you were a
great girl. How can I help you? I daren't. What would my uncle say if
he knew I'd helped a French prisoner to escape from his guards? You
shouldn't, you know. It isn't right nor fair. Just because you have
got into trouble, that's no reason why you should drag another fellow
down too. Look here, what are you running away for?"
"Why?" cried the lad bitterly. "Because I am a prisoner, and I wanted
to see my poor father free."
"Well, look here," said Rodd huskily; "I am very sorry, you know, and
I'd help you if I could, but it's against the law, and--I say! Quick!
Don't speak aloud. I can hear some one coming. Yes, it's the soldiers,
I think."
"Oh!" cried the French lad wildly, and he gazed about him with every
nerve quivering, his whole aspect being that of some hunted beast with
the dogs close upon his track.
"Don't get up," cried Rodd. "I tell you, I mustn't help you; it's
against the law; but if I were in your fix I know what I should do. Not
afraid of the water, are you?"
"What, swim for my life? Nonsense! In a stream like this!"
"No, no. Wade into that hole opposite yonder, and hide there till the
soldiers are gone."
"But they'd be sure to look there."
"Not they! They'd be afraid of spoiling their breeches and gaiters and
washing out the pipe-clay."
"Ready for you to betray me to them," whispered the lad bitterly. "No;
I'll surrender like a man."
"Oh!" growled Rodd, between his teeth. "If you weren't such a poor,
weak, helpless-looking chap I'd hit you on the nose. How dare you speak
to me like that?"
He raised his hand as if to strike, but there was a ring in his words
which had thrilled the fugitive, who to Rodd's astonishment caught the
hand in his, and quick as thought pressed it to his lips, and then
dashed into the water and splashed his way to the mouth of the hole.
The next moment the disturbed stream was the only trace left, for the
fugitive had disappeared.
The young fisher stood gazing blankly at the low dark mouth of the hole,
listening with every nerve on the strain for some sound from the
hiding-place to strike his ear; but there was none. From behind,
though, there came a loud voice, shouting--
"Here, this way; up by the stream!"
In an instant Rodd was full of action. Turning his back to the hole
across the pool, he began to whip the surface with such effect that at
the third cast there was a quick rise and he was fast in by far the
biggest trout he had caught that day, though small enough all the same;
and with knit brows he was playing it carefully just as a redcoat,
followed by three or four more, came up at the double to the exit end of
the pool and halted to stare at him wonderingly.
"Hi, young fellow!" shouted the leader, whose stripes betokened the
sergeant. "What are you doing here?"
Rodd, whose heart was thumping against his ribs from excitement, did not
so much as raise his eyes from the surface of the pool, but with teeth
set, lips pursed up, and brows heavily knit, kept on playing his fish,
paying not the slightest heed to the speaker and his companions.
"Fishing, eh?" said the sergeant, who, in spite of his important errand,
could not take his eyes from the darting trout. "I say, we are after an
escaped prisoner, and he came somewhere up here. Which way has he
gone?"
Rodd did not take his eyes from the frantic darting of the fish, but
gave line in silence as it flashed through the water to the far side of
the pool, while the soldiers grounded arms and looked on with the
deepest interest.
"Prisoners escaped," said the sergeant loudly, as he, too, still gazed
at the rushings of the trout--"Frenchman--came up this way--Yes, a big
'un, youngster--Mind! You'll lose him!--One was quite a lad, and--Well
done! You have got him yet!--We saw him run up this way, and--Well
done!--You have handled a fly-rod before--Did you see anything of him?"
"Eh? What?" said another voice sharply, and a fresh comer suddenly
appeared upon the scene in the shape of Uncle Paul, who stared in
astonishment at the group as he stepped into the little amphitheatre
from behind the rocks.
His appearance acted like magic upon the soldiers, who brought their
muskets to the carry, while the sergeant sprang to attention and
saluted.
"After escaped prisoners, sir. Asking the young gentleman if he had got
one of them up here."
"Pooh! Nonsense! Absurd!" cried the gentleman addressed, just as Rodd
brought his fish to land and went down on one knee to grip it in his
left hand. "Prisoners, no!" literally barked the fresh comer, setting
down his bottle and net, and taking off his straw hat to wipe his
streaming face with a big yellow and red bandanna handkerchief. "Here,
Rodd, boy," he cried, with a chuckle, "empty your pockets and then open
your creel and show the sergeant how many prisoners you have caught.
Hot up here, my lad!" he continued, and the sergeant and men grinned.
"Thirsty?"
"Yes, sir," said the sergeant, grinning; "pretty tidy. We have had a
precious good run."
"Well, there's plenty of beautiful water. Shall I lend you my
drinking-cup?"
"Thankye, sir," said the sergeant.
"Thankye, indeed!" said the bluff speaker, with a chuckle, and he thrust
his hand into his pocket. "There you are; there's a shilling for you to
get some cider. I dare say you know where better than I can tell you.
No, we have seen no prisoners."
"Thank you, sir! You are a gentleman," said the sergeant. "Didn't want
to interfere with the young gent's sport, but we had got our duty to do.
Left face, my lads! Forward!" And the next minute the military party
were on the tramp, to pass through the entrance to the little
amphitheatre and disappear, just as Uncle Paul was lowering himself
gently down upon a huge boulder stone and dragging round the wallet
which hung from his right shoulder.
"Phew!" he gasped. "Pretty job I have had to find you, Pickle! I took
a short cut, as I thought, and it proved a long one. I have had a
round. Aren't you hungry, boy?"
"Starving, uncle," replied the lad, as he dropped the fish into the
creel, hooked his fly on to one of the rings, and tightened the line.
"But let's come out here on to the heath. It will be more soft and
comfortable to sit down."
"Bah!" barked Uncle Paul. "I am not going to stir again till I have had
something to eat and a rest. There, lay your rod down. Bother the
soldiers! There was another party of them out yonder, shouted at me to
stop, and because I didn't, made as if they were going to fire. Yes,
they had better! But I had to stop; and then they began questioning me
about their escaped French prisoners, and wanted to know who I was and
where I was going, and I thought that they were going to make me a
prisoner and march me off yonder, only I showed them my card and asked
them if I sounded like a French prisoner. They were civil then, and I
gave them a shilling. That's two shillings I have fooled away out here
on this moor, where I should have said it wasn't possible for a man to
spend a farthing. Come on; help yourself," and he held out the wallet
for his companion to take one of the big sandwiches it contained.
"I think we had better go on outside, uncle," said the boy. "There's
more breeze out there, and the rocks don't reflect the heat."
"Do you?" said Uncle Paul, with his mouth full. "There's quite wind
enough in here to keep me alive, and I am so hot I don't want to go out
to be blown on and catch cold.--My word, the old lady didn't forget the
mustard! Come, eat away, Pickle. Let's start fair, or you will soon be
a sandwich behind. My word, what an appetite this air does give one!"
"Yes, uncle," said the boy, who, in spite of an effort to control
himself, could not help darting an anxious glance from time to time at
the opening between the rocks.
"Capital sandwiches, Pickle," continued the uncle, eating away with the
most intense enjoyment. "One doesn't want any other pickle with these.
What does the old proverb say--Hunger's sweet sauce. Hullo! what are
you getting up for?"
"Oh, I am going on eating, uncle," replied the boy. "I was only going
to walk to the end and see how far the soldiers had gone."
"Hang the soldiers, sir!" cried the elder irascibly. "I wish they'd
keep in their barracks instead of coming hunting their prisoners all
over this beautiful countryside. Sit down and go on eating."
The boy resumed his place, and began making half-moons in the edge of
his sandwich and trying to munch hard; but somehow his appetite was
gone, and before he was half through the second sandwich he watched his
opportunity, slipped it into his pocket, and as his uncle turned round
to look at him he leaned forward and helped himself to a third from the
wallet.
"Ah, that's better! Eat away, boy. We have got a long walk back, and
you will have plenty of appetite for a good high tea. Hang the
prisoners as well as the soldiers. If I had known that this great cage
full of Bony's French frogs was up here I don't believe I should have
come--that is, unless I thought that Nap himself was a prisoner here
too, when I might have been tempted to come and have a grin at the wild
beast in his cage. Eh, what? What did you do that for?"
He looked curiously at his nephew, who, after a glance across the pool,
had involuntarily stretched out one hand to grip his elder's arm.
"Do you hear me, sir?" he cried sharply. "Why did you pinch my arm like
that?"
The boy, whose face had looked rather white the moment before, flushed
scarlet, and stammered out something confused and strange.
"Why, hullo, boy!" cried his uncle sharply, and he leaned forward in
turn and caught the lad by the wrist. "Why, what's the matter with you?
Haven't been overdoing it in the sun, have you? Here, take my cup and
have a glass of water."
"No, no, uncle; I am quite right. There's nothing the matter with me.
It's--it's--it's--"
"It's what?" said Uncle Paul sharply, as he gazed full in the boy's eyes
and held tightly by his wrist. "Well, it's what?"
"Perhaps I am a bit tired, uncle. I have been working very hard, and I
turned faint and hungry a little while ago."
"Humph!" grunted Uncle Paul. "Then do as I tell you. Drink a cup of
that clear cold water."
"That's better," he continued, a few minutes later. "Now eat another
sandwich. No nonsense, sir! Do as I tell you!"
The boy sighed and helped himself to another of the double slices and
their contents, and for the next few minutes no word was spoken, the
pair sitting opposite to one another and munching or ruminating steadily
away, the younger feeling as if every mouthful of which he partook would
choke him.
"Hah!" said Uncle Paul, at last; "it is a drawback to this beautiful
place. The colours of the heath are glorious, and the views from up
here are grand. I got some good specimens too, ready for our
microscopic work to-night; and that was a nice trout you caught. How
many did you get, boy?"
"Only one, uncle," said the boy vacantly.
"What!"
"I didn't see the other, uncle."
Uncle Paul drew a deep breath and fixed the boy with his eyes, as he
said quietly--
"I asked you how many trout you got, Pickle."
"Oh, about fifty, uncle. Creel's half full."
"Ah! Then we will have some for high tea to-night, and some for
breakfast in the morning, and give our landlady the rest. Nice woman
that; full of stories about the prisoners, and Bony and his wretched
scum. Ugh! The very name of the rascal raises my bile, and--There, I
think I had better take you home and give you a dose."
"Yes, let's go on back now, uncle," said the boy eagerly, "but indeed,
indeed I don't want a dose."
"Humph! Then pray why did you grip hold of my arm again like that, and
stare across yonder over my shoulder as if you could see a raven hiding
in one of the holes?"
"Oh no, uncle," cried the boy, with a forced laugh. "I couldn't see
anything."
"Ha, ha!" ejaculated Uncle Paul. "Now, look here, Pickle; you and I
have always had a sort of tacit agreement that we'd play fair together,
and that there should be a mutual confidence."
"Yes, uncle, of course," cried the boy, whose face was burning.
"Very well, then, you are breaking truce. You are not playing the game,
sir."
"Uncle!"
"Pickle! Now then, sir, out with it. You have seen those French
prisoners."
"Uncle!"
"Yes, sir. Why did you pinch my arm--twice? Now then, honour!"
"I--I--You were talking about Bonaparte."
"Well, what of that?"
"I was afraid he'd hear you, uncle."
"What!" cried the other, and his mouth opened wide. "Bony! Here?"
"No, uncle, of course not, but one of the young prisoners. He was
escaping."
"And you--you have turned traitor to your King, and been hiding a
prisoner of war from his guard! Why, you young scoundrel! You lied to
that sergeant, and said you hadn't seen them."
"I didn't, uncle!" cried the boy hotly. "It was you."
"Eh? What?" roared the elder. "You dare to! Eh?--Ah--so I did! But
then I didn't know."
"No, uncle, and if you had seen and heard the poor lad as I did, I am
sure you wouldn't have betrayed him."
"Betray! It isn't betraying, sir, to give up a prisoner of war."
"I felt as if it would be, uncle, under such circumstances," said Rodd,
who began noting that his uncle had lowered his voice, and that his
angriest words had been uttered in a whisper.
"Look here, my boy," he said now quite softly, "I knew that there was
something up, or you would have been wolfing more than your share of
those sandwiches. I saw you keep squinting at that hole over yonder.
So you have hid him away there?"
"No, uncle," said Rodd; "I did nothing, but just as the soldiers were
coming up, and he'd been begging and praying me to save him, I just said
that that would be a good place to hide."
"Humph!" grunted Uncle Paul. "It was very wrong, my boy--very wrong;
but look here, Pickle, is the poor fellow badly wounded?"
"No, uncle; only exhausted. He looked just like that hunted deer we saw
the other day."
"Hah!" said Uncle Paul, nodding his head. "Humph! Well, you know, my
boy, it isn't the thing, and we should be getting into no end of trouble
if it were known. It's against the law, you know, and if you had caught
him and held him you would have got a big reward."
Rodd got up and laid his hands upon his elder's shoulders as he looked
him fixedly in the eyes.
"I say, uncle," he said, "you have been questioning me. It's my turn
now."
"Yes, Pickle; I'll play fair. It's your turn," said Uncle Paul. "What
is it you want to say?"
"Only this, uncle. Would you have liked me to earn that reward?"
"Hah! I say, Pickle, my lad, would you like any more sandwiches?"
"No, uncle."
"Then isn't it about time we began to make for home?"
Uncle Paul rose and led the way down-stream, gazing straight before him,
and though he must have seen, he took no notice of the fact that Rodd
did not throw the strap of his creel of fish over his shoulder, but left
it by the side of the stone, along with the wallet, through whose gaping
mouth a second packet of big sandwiches could still be seen.