It was but a very little house in which the children found themselves;
and it took some time for them to make it out, for there was no light
but that of a feeble rushlight in a horn lantern, and the faint glow of
a peat fire. But after a while they perceived that it was built of
sods of turf and lined with heather, neatly fixed into the turf by
wooden pegs such as gardeners use; while the ceiling was also of
heather, laid crosswise against ashen poles. The fire-place seemed to
be built of round stones, evidently taken from a stream, which were
plastered together with clay; and the chimney was carried outside the
wall. Across the chimney was fixed an iron bar, from which hung a rude
chain that appeared to have been made of old horse-shoes, and at the
end of the chain was an iron pot. The only furniture was a low table
of turf, which was built in the middle of the floor, and a couple of
three-legged stools; and besides the iron pot on the fire, a
frying-pan, a jug or two, a couple of wooden bowls and as many
platters, there was hardly a vessel or a plate to be seen. The house,
though of but one room, had one portion of it shut off by a low screen
made of ash-poles and heather; and a similar screen lying against the
wall appeared to take the place of a front door, when a front door was
needed.
Little Elsie was so tired that she sank down at once on the low table
of turf, and Dick staggered in, very stiff from long riding, and sat
down by her side. But the old woman bustled into the room behind the
screen and returned with a great armful of heather which she threw on
the floor, and lifting the girl gently on to it, laid her down with her
back resting against the table, as comfortable as could be. Then she
fetched a jug full of milk, and although the milk tasted rather strong
and the children were not accustomed to drink out of a jug, they were
both too hungry to be particular. She then fetched another armful of
heather for Dick, and bade him make himself comfortable too, when,
laying her hand upon his shoulder she said, "Why, bless your life! the
boy's so wet as a fisher; and where ever be I to find 'ee dry clothes?
Dear, dear, this is a bad job." And she ran to the door where the
idiot was standing with the ponies, and said something which the
children could not understand. Dick jumped to his feet, for the
Corporal had impressed upon him that a good dragoon always looks after
his horse before he looks after himself; but the old woman stopped him
at the door.
"Don't you be put about for the ponies, my dear. My Jan will look to
mun and hobble mun, and bring in saddles and bridles, and when they've
a rolled they'll pick up a bit of mate and do well enough, I'll warrant
mun."
Then she again went behind the screen, brought out a box, and began
turning over what seemed to be clothes inside it, shaking her head and
talking to herself, until at last she said, "'Eas! this it must be."
And she brought forward a little coat such as Dick had never seen
before. It was of yellow, with a scarlet collar, facings and cuffs,
there were two little red wings at the shoulders, and two little red
tails at the back; and the buttons were of brass with a number in Roman
letters upon it. Dick was not sure of the number, for he had not yet
quite mastered Roman letters, and could never find the Psalms in church
except by remembering the day of the month. Then she bade him take off
his wet jacket, hung it near the chimney to dry, and helped him into
the little coat, which was really not much too big for him. Dick
turned himself round and strutted with delight in a way that set Elsie
laughing in spite of her weariness; but the old woman smiled rather
sadly, turned back the red cuffs, as the sleeves were rather too long
for Dick, and pinned a shawl over the coat so that it could not be
seen. She became cheerful again, however, and said: "But you'm hungry,
my little lady. Now what shall I get you to ate?"
"Please may I have some bread and butter?" asked Elsie; but the old
woman shook her head. "I have got neither bread nor butter," she said;
"but think now--a bit of porridge and a drop of milk, and a bit of
honey--how will that do? Jan!" she called out.
The idiot came in grinning at the children, but she shook her finger at
him and made a sign, at which he nodded and went out again. Then she
blew up the fire and added a few sticks to it, and taking oatmeal out
of a sack which lay in one corner, and water from a wooden pitcher,
began to make the porridge. Presently Jan came in again with half a
dozen little trout, ready for cooking, and bending down at another
corner of the fire was soon very busy over them. The porridge was
quickly ready, and though the children had never eaten it before, and
were not accustomed to pewter spoons and wooden bowls, yet the
heather-honey, which was given to them with it, was so delicious that
they found it good enough.
By the time that the porridge was all gone, the fish were cooked and
served up on the two wooden platters with some salt; but now came a
difficulty, for there were nothing but the same two spoons to eat them
with, and it is not easy to eat a trout with a spoon, especially if one
has been brought up not to use one's fingers. But the old woman soon
settled matters by splitting up the fish with a knife and taking out
the bones; after which both spoons were soon hard at work and the fish
disappeared as rapidly as the porridge; for little trout, freshly
caught from a moorland stream, are sweet enough, as all that have eaten
them are aware. Finally the old woman laid before the children a huge
pan full of stewed whorts; and as there were no plates left, nor as
much as a saucer to be produced, they just helped themselves with their
spoons out of the pan and ate as much as they wanted, which, after the
porridge and trout, was not a very great deal.
Then they looked at the idiot, who had taken the squirrel out of his
pocket and was fondling it and purring to it in his own strange way.
He gave it to them also to make friends with, and seeing that they were
fond of animals he went to the door and whistled; and presently there
came trotting up a little hind of a year old, which walked in at the
door as if she had been accustomed to live in a house all her life, and
reared up like a begging dog on her hind legs to eat a bunch of
mountain-ash berries which he held over her head. Then he gave the
berries to the children, and the hind poked her little cool nose into
their hands to get at the food, so tame was she; while the old woman
told them how the idiot had found the poor little thing as a calf,
bleating beside the dead body of her dam, and had brought her home and
reared her.
But the children's eyes soon began to blink, and before long they were
more than half asleep; so the old woman brought in more heather and
made them up two little beds, and laid them down in their clothes.
They had a faint idea, both of them, that some one took off their shoes
and loosened their clothes about their necks, but they were too
comfortable (for heather makes the best of rude beds) to think very
much about it; and when Elsie felt vaguely that something warm was
thrown over her and that a voice said "Good-night," she had only just
wakefulness enough to whisper back good-night and to put up her cheek
to be kissed. Dick also curled up as though heather was his usual bed;
and very soon both were asleep, though at first rather fitfully and
restlessly, for they were over-tired. But whenever they woke for a
moment they were lulled to sleep by the voice of the woman, who sat on
a stool watching them and crooning a song to herself. The children
were too sleepy to catch the words, but they were as follows:
"_Oh! whither away that ye fly so fast,
Ye black crows croaking loud?
And what have ye sped that ye wheel so wide
Above yon grey dust cloud?_
"_We spy two hosts of fighting men,
The blue coats and the red.
For mile on mile in rank and file
They come with even tread._
"_And brave and bright on brass and steel
The slanting sunbeams fall.
Like giant snakes, with glittering flakes,
Their columns wind and crawl._
"_The red march north and the blue march south,
And we wheel betwixt the twain;
And we hear their song, as they tramp along,
Rise joyous from the plain._
"_The red march north and the blue march south,
And the daylight wanes apace,
'Till their fires gleam bright through the falling night,
And the twain rest face to face._
"_And the morning's thunder shall be of guns,
And the morning's mist of smoke,
And higher and higher o'er din and fire,
We crows shall rise and croak._
"_While the ranks of red and the ranks of blue
In mingled swathes are shorn;
As the poppies nigh to the cornflowers lie,
At the reaping of the corn._
"_Oh! merry to stoop over chasing hounds,
As they speed through field and wood,
When their bristles rise, and with flaming eyes
They yell for blood, for blood._
"_And merry to croak at the hunted fox,
When his brush trails draggling down,
And his strength is spent, and his back is bent,
And his tongue lolls parched and brown._
"_But merriest far to wheel o'er the fight
Of the blue coats and the red,
'Till the fire has ceased, and we swoop to the feast
Which the strife of men has spread._"
Dick's last vision before he fell asleep was of her strange figure bent
forward and watching, but he was a little startled when he woke in the
morning and remembered where he was; for he was not accustomed to sleep
in his clothes, still less in such a coat as the yellow one with the
red facings, which he found upon his back. Elsie also was much
astonished; and the sight of Dick in so strange a garment half
frightened her for a moment. But the old woman was so kind and gentle
that they were reassured, particularly when she told them that in a
very few hours she hoped they would be at home. There was indeed some
difficulty about washing, for there was no such thing as jug or basin
in the house; and, as to tubs, you would not have found them in those
days in any country-house in England. The woman told Dick that all her
own washing was done in the stream, so Dick went out to wash his face
in it; but the mist still hung thick over the moor, the air was sharp
and cold and the water colder still; so that both he and Elsie were
satisfied with very little washing. When they went back, they found
that the old woman had set the two stools close to the fire for them
and was making the porridge; so they breakfasted off porridge and
trout, as they had supped on them the day before; and then the old
woman gave Dick his own jacket and asked him to take off the yellow
one. Dick was a little reluctant to part with it, and asked what it
was and where it came from; but she only answered that it was a long
story. He followed it with his eyes to see the last of it as she
folded it up and put it away, and she smiled rather sadly as she saw
him. "I can't a let you have it yet, my dear," she said, guessing his
thoughts, "and maybe when I can spare it for 'ee you won't care for to
take it. But if ever it goes from me it shall go to you, that I
promise 'ee, if so be as I can get it to 'ee."
Then they ran out to see the idiot saddle the ponies, with which he was
already as friendly as if he had known them all his life. All animals
seemed to take to him, for he had pets without end. The two
nanny-goats and the little hind followed him like dogs; the squirrel
was always in his pocket or on his shoulder; and a jackdaw and a
magpie, both of them pinioned, fluttered after him wherever he went,
chattering and scolding as though the place belonged to them. Then the
children mounted their ponies and off they started, the idiot leading
the way on his own ragged pony, which he rode barebacked and with a
halter only for bridle; Dick came next, and then Elsie with the old
woman walking by her side. The mist was as thick as ever, but this
seemed to make no difference to the idiot, as he guided them up the
stream for a little distance and on over the rough yellow grass. The
ground was very deep and much cut by tiny clefts that carried the water
away from the bog, but the idiot went on straight and unconcerned as
though he were on a high road, though often his pony floundered
hock-deep. So on they went for a full hour with the mist whirling
about them, the children being kept warm in spite of the bitter cold
air, by their excitement, and by the constant scrambling of the ponies.
At last they reached firmer soil, but after travelling over it for a
little way the idiot stopped and held up his hand; and the children
listening with all their ears thought they made out the faint sound of
a horn. At a sign from his mother the idiot turned, and presently the
children found themselves going down hill and realised that the mist
was not so thick about them. A little further on they reached the edge
of a wood, where the idiot led his pony into a hollow and hobbled it,
and guided them into the trees on foot.
It was not pleasant riding now, for the ground was very steep, and the
trees very thick and low; and when after long scrambling down they came
to a stream at the bottom of the hill, the children found no better
path than a very rough track by the water, full of great boulders, over
which the ponies stumbled continually. Presently they crossed the
water, and then for the first time the children perceived that the
woman was no longer with them, though where she had left them they
could not tell. Still the idiot guided them on through the woods,
uphill and down and across more than one stream, till at last he led
them into a grass path, where after walking for some time he suddenly
stopped and listened. Then pointing down it, he grinned and touched up
Stonecrop to make him trot, and after running for some time alongside
them, dropped behind. Dick began to think that the path was familiar
to him, and the ponies began to pull, as though they knew it also. In
another five minutes they came down into the road by which they had
driven up on the previous morning, and there stood the Corporal and
another servant, both of them mounted, not a hundred yards away.
Dick shouted joyfully, and the Corporal galloping hastily up,
dismounted and ran to them. He was white, haggard and unshorn, and for
a time only patted their ponies apparently unable to speak. Then he
looked up the valley at the hills, and seeing that they were clear of
mist told the other servant to get up to the top of the hill and make
the signal, and to look sharp about it; upon which the servant turned
his horse up the path and galloped away like one possessed. Then the
Corporal turned to the children and asked them who had brought them
back; and when they told him they noticed for the first time that the
idiot was not with them. They called and shouted for him several
times, but he never came; and then they rode back with the Corporal,
telling their adventures as they went.
But far behind them on one of the highest points of the moor stood
Colonel George and their mother. She was now deadly white, with great
black rings round her eyes, for she was worn out with watching and
anxiety; but she would not give in. She had dismounted and was sitting
on the heather, while Colonel George with his field-glass laid across
his horse's saddle conned the moor anxiously in every direction. The
mist was only just gone, and he seemed to have much to look at, for a
long line of horsemen was sweeping before him over the moor, searching
for the children. At last he set down the glass and rubbed his eyes,
for he had been in the saddle for nearly twenty-four hours, and taking
a flask from his pocket poured out a little for Lady Eleanor. She
shook her head as he brought it, but he only said "You must;" and then
she drank a mouthful or two. He was just about to drink himself when
he hastily slipped the flask into his pocket, and taking out the
field-glass looked long and earnestly through it. Then he tied a large
white handkerchief to his whip, waved it three times over his head and
looked again through the glass, after which he kept on waving for some
time. Then after a last look he put away the glass, and walked slowly,
leading both horses, to the place where he had left Lady Eleanor. She
was lying back with her face covered with her hands.
"Come," he said gently. "The Corporal has found them and they are safe
and well. I made them repeat the signal twice, so that I am quite
sure, and I have signalled to the search-parties to go home. Let me
put you on your horse."
See looked up like one dazed; but there was Colonel George holding out
his hand to her, so she took it and rose to her feet; and then she
seized the hand between both of hers and wrung it hard without a word.
He lifted her into the saddle, and no sooner was he mounted than she
started to gallop down the hill at a pace which made it hard for
Colonel George to keep up with her. Away she flew, and he felt
thankful that she was a fine horsewoman and mounted on his horse
instead of her own, which was not nearly so clever over rough ground;
though he could not help reflecting that he could never have found it
in his conscience to hustle a horse of hers as she hustled his. There
were two or three valleys to cross, which gave the animals a little
respite, but not much, for Lady Eleanor went equally fast, uphill,
downhill and on the level. So that when they arrived at the Hall
Colonel George, after seeing Lady Eleanor run in to the children, only
looked at his horse's heaving flanks, shook his head, and led him off
to the stable to look after him himself. There he heard the whole
story from the Corporal, and leaving a message for Lady Eleanor that he
would call next day, rode back very quietly to Fitzdenys Court.