THREATENING CLOUDS.
Little Nan would be waiting for him, as well as his supper, and Stephen
forgot his weariness as he bounded along the soft turf, to the great
discomfiture of the brown-faced sheep, quite as anxious for their supper
as he was for his.
Stephen heard far off Snip's sharp, impatient bark, and it made him
quicken his steps still more, until, coming within sight of his own
Hollow, he stopped suddenly, and his heart beat even more vehemently than
when he was running up the hillside.
There was, however, nothing very terrible in the scene. The hut was safe,
and the sun was shining brightly upon the garden, and little Nan was
standing as usual at the wicket. Only in the oat-field, with their faces
looking across the green, stood two men in close conversation. These men
were both of them old, and rather thin and shrivelled in figure; their
features bore great resemblance to each other, the eyes being small and
sunken, with many wrinkles round them, and both mouths much fallen in.
You would have said at once they were brothers; and if you drew near
enough to hear their conversation, you would have found your guess was
right.
'Brother Thomas,' said the thinnest and sharpest-looking, 'I intend to
enclose as far as we can see from this point. That southern bank will be
a first-rate place for young animals. I shall build a house, with three
rooms above and below, besides a small dairy; and I shall plant a
fir-wood behind it to keep off the east winds. The lime and bricks from
my own works will not cost me much more than the expense of bringing
them up here.'
'And a very pretty little hill-farm you'll make of it, James,' replied
Thomas Wyley admiringly. 'I should not wonder now if you got £20 a year
rent for it.'
'I shall get £25 in a few years,' said the other one: 'just think of
the run for ponies on the hill, to say nothing of sheep. A young,
hard-working man could make a very tidy living up here; and we shall
have a respectable house, instead of a pauper's family.'
'It will be a benefit to the neighbourhood,' observed Thomas Wyley.
The latter speaker, who was a degree pleasanter-looking than his brother,
was the relieving officer of the large union to which Botfield belonged;
and, in consequence, all poor persons who had grown too old, or were in
any way unable to work, were compelled to apply to him for the help which
the laws of our country provide for such cases. James Wyley, the elder
brother, was the owner of Botfield works, and the master of all the
people employed in them, besides being the agent of the lord of the
manor. So both these men possessed great authority over the poor; and
they used the power to oppress them and grind them down to the utmost.
It was therefore no wonder that Stephen stopped instantly when he saw
their well-known figures standing at the corner of his oat-field; nor
that he should come on slowly after he had recovered his courage,
pondering in his own mind what they were come up to Fern's Hollow for,
and how he should answer them if they should want him to give up the old
hut.
'Good evening, my lad,' said James Wyley, smiling a slow, reluctant
smile, as Stephen drew near to them with his cap in his hand. 'So you
buried your father yesterday, I hear. Poor fellow! there was not a better
collier at Botfield than James Fern.'
'Never troubled his parish for a sixpence,' added Thomas Wyley.
'Thank you, master,' said Stephen, the tears starting to his eyes, so
unexpected was this gentle greeting to him; 'I'll try to be like father.'
'Well, my boy,' said Thomas Wyley, 'we are come up here on purpose to
give you our advice, as you are such a mere lad. I've been thinking what
can be done for you. There's your grandfather, a poor, simple, helpless
old man, and the little girl--why, of course we shall have to receive
them into the House; and I'll see there is no difficulty made about it.
Then we intend to get your sister into some right good service.'
'I should not mind taking her into my own house,' said the master, Mr.
James Wyley; 'she would soon learn under my niece Anne. So you will be
set free to get your own living without encumbrance; you are earning your
six shillings now, and that will keep you well.'
'Please, sir,' answered Stephen, 'we mean to live all together as we've
been used; and I couldn't let grandfather and little Nan come upon the
parish. Martha must stay at home to mind them; and I'll work my fingers
to the bone for them all, sir. Many thanks all the same to you for coming
up here to see after us.'
'Very fine indeed, my little fellow,' said Thomas Wyley; 'but you don't
understand what you are talking about. It is my place to see after the
poor, and I cannot leave you in charge of such a very old man and such
a child as this, No, no; they must be taken care of; and they'll be made
right comfortable in the House.'
'Father said,' replied Stephen, 'that I was never to let grandfather
and little Nan come upon the parish. I get my wages, and we've no rent
to pay; and the potatoes and oats will help us; and Martha can pick
bilberries on the hill, and carry bundles of firing to the village; and
we'll do well enough without the parish. Many thanks all the same to you,
sir.'
'Hark ye, my lad,' said the master impatiently. 'I want to buy your old
hut and field from you. I'll give ye a ten-pound note for it; a whole ten
pounds. Why, a fortune for you!'
'Father said,' repeated Stephen, 'I was never to give up Fern's Hollow;
and I gave him a sure promise for that, and to take care of little Nan as
long as ever I lived.'
'Fern's Hollow is none of yours,' cried the master, in a rage; 'you've
just been a family of paupers and squatters, living up here by poaching
and thieving. I'll unearth you, I promise ye; you have been a disgrace to
the manor long enough. So it is ten pounds or nothing for your old hole;
and you may take your choice.'
'Please, sir,' said Stephen firmly, 'the place is ours, and I'm never to
part with it. I'll never poach, and I'll never trespass on the manor; but
I can't sell the old house, sir.'
'Now, just listen to me, young Fern,' said Thomas Wyley; 'you'll be
compelled to give up Fern's Hollow in right of the lord of the manor; and
then if you come to the House for relief, mark my words, I'll send your
grandfather off to Bristol, for that's his parish, and you'll never see
him again; and I'll give orders for you never to see little Nan; and I'll
apprentice you and your other sister in different places. So you had
better be reasonable, and take our advice while you can be made
comfortable.'
'Please, sir, I can't go against my promise,' answered Stephen, with a
sob.
'What's the use of wasting one's breath?' said the master; 'this place
I want, and this place I'll have; and we'll see if this young jail-bird
will stand in my way. Ah, my fine fellow, it's no such secret where your
grandfather spent twenty-one years of his life; and you'll have a sup of
the same broth some day. You don't keep a dog like that yelping cur for
nothing; and I'll tell the gamekeeper to have his eye upon you.'
Stephen stood motionless, watching them down the narrow path which led to
Botfield, until a rabbit started from beneath the hedge, and Snip, with a
sharp, short bark of excitement, gave it chase in the direction of the
two men. The master paused, and, looking back, shook his stick
threateningly at the motionless figure of the boy; while Thomas Wyley
threw a stone at the dog, which sent him back, yelping piteously, to his
young master's feet. Stephen clenched his hands, and bit his lips till
the blood started, but he did not move till the last glimpse of his foes
had passed away from the hillside. Martha had hidden herself in the hut
while they were present, for she had never spoken to the dreaded master;
but she could overhear their loud and angry speeches, and now she came
out and joined Stephen.
'Well, I'd have more spirit than to cry,' she said, as Stephen brushed
his eyes with his sleeve; 'I'd never have spoken so gingerly to them, the
wizen-faced old rascals. The place is ours, and they can't turn us out.
It's no use to be cowed by them, Stephen.'
'They can turn me off the works,' answered Stephen sadly.
'And whatever shall we do then?' asked Martha, in alarm. 'Still I reckon
you'll say we are to love those old wretches.'
'The Book says so,' replied Stephen.
'Well, I won't set up to try to do it for one,' continued Martha
decisively; 'it's not nature; it's being over good by half. I'm willing
to do my duty by you and grandfather and little Nan; but that goes beyond
me. If you'd just give way, Stevie, and give them a good rating, you'd
feel better after it.'
'I don't know that,' he answered, walking gloomily towards the door. He
felt so much passion and anger within him, that it did seem as if it
would be a relief to utter some of the terrible oaths which he heard
frequently in the pit, and which had been familiar enough in his own
mouth a few months ago. But now other words, familiar from daily reading,
the words that he had repeated to Tim so short a time before, were being
whispered, as it seemed, close by his ear: 'Love your enemies; bless them
that curse you; do good to them that hate you; pray for them that
despitefully use you, and persecute you.' There was a deadly conflict
going on in the boy's soul; and Martha's angry words were helping the
tempter. He sat down despondently on the door-sill, and hid his face in
his hands, while he listened to his sister's taunts against his want of
spirit, and her fears that he would give up their home for his new
notions.
He was about to answer her at last with the passion she was trying to
provoke, when a soft little cheek was pressed against his downcast head,
and little Nan lisped in her broken words, 'Me sleepy, Stevie; me say
"Our Father," and go to bed.'
The child knelt down before him, and laid her folded hands upon his knee,
as she had done every evening since his father died, while he said the
prayer, and she repeated it slowly after him. He felt as though he was
praying for himself. A feeling of deep earnestness came over him; and,
though his voice faltered as he said softly, 'Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us,' it seemed as if there was
a spirit in his heart agreeing to the words, and giving him power to say
them. He did not know then that 'the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;' but while he prayed with
little Nan, he received great comfort and strength, though he was
ignorant of the source from whence they came. When the child's prayers
were ended, he roused himself cheerfully to action; and as long as the
lingering twilight lasted, both Stephen and Martha were busily at work in
the garden.