Chapter VI
AFTERWARDS
But Wheeler's first observation brought them back to _terra firma_with a plunge.
"It's my belief that fellow's a howling madman."
They cast a look over their shoulder to see if the fellow thusreferred to was within hearing of this courteous speech, and then,with one accord, they made for the entrance to Washington Villa, notpausing till they stood clear of its precincts on the road outside.
Then Wheeler made another observation.
"This is a jolly lark!"
Ellis and Griffin laughed, but Bailey held his peace. A thought struckGriffin.
"I say, I wonder what old Mother Fletcher'll say? She'll send herselfinto fits! Fancy its being eleven o'clock! Did you ever hear of such aset-out in all your lives? And I've no more idea of where we are thanthe man in the moon."
"I know," said Bailey. He began to trudge on a few feet in front ofthem.
It still rained--a steady, soaking drizzle--and a haze which hungabout the air made the night darker than it need have done. Griffinand Wheeler, minus caps, were wholly at the mercy of the weather.
"I shouldn't be surprised," muttered Griffin, "if I didn't catch adeath of cold after this."
And, indeed, such was a quite possible consummation of the evening'spleasure. The boys trudged on, following Bailey's lead. But Wheeler'sfeelings could only find relief by venting themselves in speech.
"Did you ever hear anything like that chap? I never did, never! Fancyhis going on with all that stuff about running away. I should like tocatch myself at it,--running away! He's about the biggest liar ever Iheard!"
"And didn't he snap me up!" said Griffin. "Did you ever see anythinglike it? How was I to know where the beastly place was? I don'tbelieve there is such a place."
"He's cracked!" decided Ellis. Then, despite the rain, the younggentleman began snapping his fingers and cutting capers in the middleof the muddy road. "He's cracked! cracked! Oh lor', I never had such aspree in all my life!"
Then the three young gentlemen put their hands to their sides androared with laughter, stamping about the road to save themselves fromchoking. But Bailey trudged steadily on in front.
"And didn't he give us a blow-out!"
A shout of laughter. "Ho, ho, ho! ha, ha, ha!"
"And didn't he tell some busters!"
Another chorus, as before.
"I wonder if he ever did run away himself, as he said he did?" Thisremark came from Ellis, and his friends checked their laughter toconsider it. They then for the first time discovered that Bailey wasleaving them in the rear.
"You're a nice sort of fellow," shouted Ellis after him. "Let's catchhim up! What's his little game, I wonder? Let's catch him up!"
They scampered after him along the road, soon catching him, forBertie, who was not hurrying himself, was only a few yards in advance.Ellis slipped his arm through his.
"I say, Bailey, do you think he ever ran away from school himself?"
"What's it got to do with me?" was Bertie's reply.
"Whatever made him go on at you like that? He must have taken you fora ninny to think you were going to swallow all he said! Fancy yourunning away! I think I see you at it! Running away to Huffham's andback is about your style. Why didn't you ask him for a tip? He seemedto be so uncommon fond of you that if I'd been you I'd have asked forone. You might have said if he made it large enough you'd run away;and so you might have done--to old Mother Huffham's and back." AndEllis nudged him in the side and laughed. But Bailey held his peace.
Wheeler gave the conversation a different turn.
"How are you fellows going to get in?" He referred to their effectingan entrance into Mecklemburg House.
"Knock at the door, of course, and pull the bell, and dance abreak-down on the steps, and make a shindy generally, so as to let'em know we've come." These suggestions came from Griffin. Wheelertook up the parable.
"And tell old Mother Fletcher to let us have something hot for supper,and to look alive and get it, and make it tripe and onions, with aglass of stout to follow. I just fancy what she'd say."
"And tell her," continued Griffin, "that we've been paying a visit toa nice, kind gentleman, who happens to be raving mad."
"And she'd be pleased to hear that he advised us all to run away, andwaste no time about it. Where did he advise us to go to? The land ofgolden dreams? Oh, my crikey, don't I see her face!"
Bailey made a remark of a practical kind.
"We can get in fast enough, there are always plenty of windows open."It is not impossible that the young gentleman had made an entranceinto Mecklemburg House by some such way before.
"It's easy enough to get in," said Ellis, "but what are we to say inthe morning? It'll take about a week to dry my things, and about amonth to get the mud off."
"I shouldn't be surprised if old Shane got sacked," chuckled Wheeler.
"It will be jolly hard lines if he does," said Ellis.
"Oh, what's the odds? he shouldn't have let us go!" Which remark ofWheeler's was pretty good, considering the circumstances under whichMr. Shane's permission had been obtained.
Just then Bailey stopped, and began to peer about him in the night.
"Have you lost your way?" asked Ellis. "That'll be the best joke ofall if you have. Fancy camping out a night like this! We shan't quitebe drowned by the morning, but just about almost."
"I'm going to cut across this field," said Bailey. "It's ever so farround by the road, but we shall get there in less than no time if wego this way."
The suggestion tickled Ellis.
"Fancy cutting across fields on a night like this! Oh, my gracious!what will old Mother Fletcher say?"
Bailey climbed over a gate, and the others clambered after him. Itmight be the shortest cut, but it was emphatically the dirtiest.
"Why, if they haven't been ploughing it!" cried Griffin, before theyhad taken half a dozen steps.
Apparently they had, and very recently too. The furrows were wide anddeep, the soil seemed to be a stiffish clay; walking was exercise ofthe most hazardous kind. There was an exclamation from some one; butas it appeared that Griffin had only fallen forward on to his nose,his friends were too much occupied with their own proceedings to paymuch heed.
"I have lost my shoe!" declared Wheeler, immediately after. "Oh, I'mstuck in the mud; I believe I'm planted in this beastly field."
"Never mind your shoe, since you've lost your hat already," saidEllis, with ready sympathy. "You might as well leave all the rest ofyour things behind you, for all the use they'll be after this littlespree is over."
"I don't know what Bailey calls a short cut," grumbled Griffin. "Atthe rate I'm going it'll take me about a couple of hours to do ahundred yards."
"We shall be home with the milk," said Ellis.
"I've lost my other shoe!" cried Wheeler.
"No, have you really, though?"
"I believe I have, but I don't know whether I have or whether Ihaven't; all I know is, I've got about a hundred pounds of mudsticking to my feet. I wish Bailey was at Jericho with his shortcuts!"
"This is nicer than that old lunatic," sang out Dick Ellis. "Don't Iwish old Mother Fletcher could see us now."
"I don't know what you call nice," said Griffin. "You'd call it niceif you had your eyes and nose and mouth bunged up. I'm down again!"
"You needn't pull me with you," remonstrated Ellis.
But Griffin did. Feeling that he was going, he made a frantic clutchat Ellis, who was just in front of him, and the two friends embracedeach other on the treacherous ground. Ellis' tone underwent a suddenchange.
"I'll pay you out for this!"
"I couldn't help it," protested Griffin.
"Couldn't help it! What do you mean, you couldn't help it? Do you meanto say you couldn't help catching hold of me, and dragging me downinto this beastly ditch?"
"It isn't a ditch; it's a furrow."
"
I don't know what you call a furrow. I know I'm sopping wet, andwhere my hat's gone to I don't know."
"What's it matter about your hat? I've lost mine ever so long ago! Iwish I'd stopped at home, and never bothered old Shane to let me out.I know whoever else calls this a spree, I don't; spree indeed!"
When they had regained their feet, and were cool enough to look aboutthem, they found that the others were out of sight, and apparently outof hearing too.
"Blessed if this isn't a go! If they haven't been and gone and leftus. Hollo!" Ellis put his hand to his mouth, that his voice mightcarry further; but no answer came. "Ba-a-ailey! Ba-a-ailey!" But fromBailey came no sign. "This is a pretty state of things! wherever havethey gone? If this is a game they think they're having, it's themeanest thing of which I ever heard, and I'll be even with them, markmy words. Which way did they go?"
"How should I know? I don't even know which way we came. How's afellow to know anything when he can't see his hand before his face ina place like this? It's my belief it's one of Bailey's little games."
"Ba-a-ailey!" Ellis gave another view-halloo. In vain, only silenceanswered. "Well, this is a go! If it hadn't been for you I shouldn'thave been in this hole."
"I wish I'd never bothered old Shane to let me out!"
"Bother old Shane, and bother you too! I don't know where I am anymore than Adam."
"I'm sure I don't."
"It's no good standing here like a couple of moon-struck donkeys. Isink in the mud every time I put my foot to the ground; we shall beover head and heels by the time the morning comes. I'm going straightahead; it must bring us somewhere, and it seems to me it don't muchmatter where."
Minus his hat, not improved in person by his contact with the ground,nor in temper by the desertion of his friends, Dick Ellis renewed hisjourneying. Griffin found some difficulty in keeping up with him. Howmany times they lost their footing during the next few minutes itwould be bootless to recount. Over mud, through mire, uphill,downhill, they staggered wildly.
"I wonder how large this field is," observed Ellis, after about tenminutes of this sort of work. "It seems to me we've gone about sixmiles."
"It seems to me we've gone sixty," groaned his friend.
"Talk about short cuts! Fancy bringing a fellow into the middle of aploughed field on a pitch-dark, rainy night, and leaving him to findhis way alone! I say, Ellis, supposing we lose our way?"
"Supposing we lose our way!" shouted Dick. "I guess we've lost it!What an ass you are! What do you think we're doing here, if we haven'tlost our way? Do you think I'd stop in a place like this if I knew away of getting out of it?" Just then he emphasized his remarks bysitting down in the mud, and remaining seated where he was. "I can'tget up; I believe I'm stuck, and here I'll stick; and in the morningthey'll find me dead: you mark my words, and see if they don't."
The terror of the situation moved Griffin almost to tears.
"Let's shout," he said.
"What's the good of shouting?"
"I don't know," said Griffin.
"Then what an ass you are!" With difficulty Ellis staggered to hisfeet. "It's my belief I've got about an acre of land fastened to theseat of my breeches. I should like to know how I'm to walk and carrythat about."
They staggered on. A few yards further on they heard the sound ofwheels upon a road.
"There's the road!" cried Griffin, rapture in his voice. The soundgave him courage. He quickened his pace, and hastened on. Suddenlythere was a splash, a cry of terror, then all was silence.
"What's the matter?" cried Ellis, startled he scarcely knew at what.There was no reply. "Griffin, where are you? What's the matter?"
There was a sound as of a splashing of water, and a stifled voiceexclaimed,--
"Help! I am drowning! He-elp!"
Ellis pulled up short, and only just in time, for the ground seemedall at once to come to an end. He stood on the edge of a declivity,and in front of him was he knew not what. It was so dark, he could notsee his hand in front of him. There was only the sound as of some onestruggling in water, and faint cries for help. For an instant his legsseemed to refuse their office, his knees gave way from under him, andhis tongue clave to the roof of his mouth. Then he became conscious ofwheels moving along a road which was close at hand. The sound gave himcourage, and he shouted with the full force of his lungs,--
"Help! help!"
To his intense satisfaction, an immediate answer was returned.
"Hollo!" a gruff voice replied; "who's that a-calling?"
"I!--here!--in the field! There's some one drowning."
"Hold hard! I'll bring you a light."
A moment's pause; then in front of him a light was seen dimlyapproaching through the night. Never before had a light been soheartily welcome to Master Richard Ellis.
"Where are you?"
"Here! Take care where you're coming; there's a pond, or something,just in front of you."
The new-comer approached, keeping a wary eye upon the ground as headvanced. Ellis saw it was a carter, and that he carried anold-fashioned round lantern in his hand, with a lighted candle stuckin the socket. The carter held the lantern above his head, standingstill, and peering through the night. The man was visible to the boy,but the boy, shrouded in the blackness of the night, was invisible tothe man.
"Where are you?" he asked, seeing nothing in the gloom.
"Never mind me; Griffin's drowning in a pond, or something."
The splashing continued.
"I'm drowning! He-elp!"
The carter stooped forward, so that the light fell on the ground. ThenEllis perceived that between the man and himself was a little pond,into which the over-anxious Griffin had managed to fall.
"There ain't no water there," said the carter. "Where are you? Comeout of it. There ain't enough water to drown a cat."
Griffin, perceiving that the fact was as the carter stated, proceededto betake himself to what was, in comparison, dry land. But though notdrowned, a more pitiable sight could scarcely be presented. He hadfallen head-foremost into the filthy pool; the water was tricklingdown his head and face, and his countenance was plastered with anunsavoury coating of green slime.
"What are you? a boy?" inquired the carter. "Well, you're a prettysight, anyhow!"
For answer Griffin burst into tears. Ellis, who had by this time foundhis way round the pond, joined in the criticism of his friend.
"Well, I am blessed!" In spite of his own plight, he was almost movedto mirth. "Won't old Mother Fletcher take it out of you! I wouldn't bein your shoes for a pound."
"Who's she? and who are you?" asked the carter.
"Have you ever heard of Mecklemburg House?"
"What, the school? Be you from the school? Well, you're a prettycouple, the pair of you. What little game are you up to now--runningaway? Won't they lay it into you!" The carter grinned; he was notaware that corporal punishment was interdicted at Mecklemburg House,and already seemed to see the "laying in" in his mind's eye.
"We--weren't running--away!" wept Griffin. "We've lost our way."
"Lost your way! Well, I never! That's a good one!" The carter seemedto doubt the statement.
"We have lost our way," said Ellis.
"Look here! for a couple of pins I'll take you by the scruff of yournecks and walk you back myself, if you come any of your games on me."
From his tone and manner the carter seemed to be indignant. Griffinstared--as well as he could through his tears and the slime--and Ellisstared, being both at a loss to understand his indignation.
"Coming with your tales to me, telling me you've lost your way, withthe school just across the road."
His hearers stared still more.
"You don't mean it?" Ellis said. "Why, if--I don't believe--why, ifthis isn't old Palmer's field, which he was only ploughing yesterday,and if you haven't tumbled into old Palmer's pond! Well, if we aren'ta couple of beauties!"
Griffin stared at Ellis, and the carter stared at both of them. Thefact was begi
nning to dawn upon these young gentlemen, the startlingfact, that they had been all the time in a country with every inch ofwhich they were acquainted, and that it was only the darkness whichhad confused them. As the carter had said, Palmer's field--which wasthe name by which it was known to the boys--was right in front ofMecklemburg House, and, in consequence, the school, instead of being,as they supposed, a mile or so away, was just across the road. Whenthey had fully realized this fact, the young gentlemen gave asimultaneous yell of satisfaction, and without wasting any time incompliments and thanks, dashed through the open gate, and out ofsight, leaving the carter to the enjoyment of his own society.
"Well," was the comment of that worthy, when he perceived the fullmeasure of ingratitude which was entailed by this unlooked-for flight,"if I ever helps another being out of a ditch I'll let him know. Noteven the price of half a pint!" Then he shouted after them, "I hopethe schoolmeaster'll tan the hide from off you. I would if I werehim."
Possibly the expression of this pious wish in some degree relieved hisfeelings, for he followed the boys, though at a much more decorouspace, through the gate. When he reached the road, he stopped for amoment and looked around him, but there were no signs of any one insight--the birds had flown. So, muttering beneath his breath what wereprobably not blessings, he returned to his charge, a huge vehicle,drawn by four perspiring horses, and which was loaded with marketproduce. Climbing up to his seat, he started his horses and continuedhis journey through the night. But though he was not aware of it, theyoung gentlemen who had treated him with such ingratitude had not cometo the end of their adventure.
The front gate of Mecklemburg House stood wide open, and theyunhesitatingly dashed inside. But no sooner were they in thegrass-grown courtyard than a thought struck Griffin.
"I wonder if Bailey and Wheeler have come back?"
"I don't know, and I don't care," said Ellis.
But the interchange of speech brought them back to the sense of theirsituation.
"How are you going to get in?" asked Griffin.
"Through the schoolroom window; it's always open," replied his friend.
But this always was a rule liable to exceptions, for on this occasionthe particular window referred to happened to be shut. However, tounderstand all that was to follow, it is necessary to bring thischapter to an end.