CHAPTER TWENTY.
A COLD START IN A NEW LIFE.
Brother Solomon loitered about the garden with Old Brownsmith, and itwas not until we had had an early tea that I had to fetch down my littlebox to put in the cart, which was standing in the yard with Shockholding the horse, and teasing it by thrusting a barley straw in itsnostrils and ears.
As I came down with the box, Mrs Dodley said "Good-bye" very warmly andwetly on my face, giving as she said:
"Mind you send me all your stockings and shirts and I'll always put themright for you, my dear, and Goodbye."
She hurried away, and as soon as my box was in the cart I ran down thegarden to say "Good-bye" to Ike; but he had gone home, so I was told,and I came back disappointed.
"Good-bye, Shock!" I said, holding out my hand; but he did not take it,only stared at me stolidly, just as if he hated me and was glad I wasgoing; and this nettled me so that I did not mind his sulkiness, anddrawing myself up, I tried hard to smile and look as if I didn't care abit.
Brother Solomon came slowly towards the cart, rolling the stalk of arosebud in his mouth, and as he took the reins he said to one of thechimneys at the top of the house:
"If I was you, Ez, I'd plant a good big bit with that winter lettuce.You'll find 'em go off well."
I knew now that he was talking to his brother, but he certainly seemedto be addressing himself to the chimney-pot.
"I will, Sol, a whole rood of 'em," said Old Brownsmith, "and thank yefor the advice."
"Quite welkim," said Brother Solomon to the horse's ears. "Jump up."
He seemed to say this to Shock, who stared at him, wrinkled up his face,and shook his head.
"Yes, jump up, Grant, my lad," said Old Brownsmith. "Fine evening foryour drive."
"Yes, sir," I said, "good-bye; and say good-bye to Ike for me, will you,please?"
"Yes, to be sure, good-bye; God bless you, lad; and do your best."
And I was so firm and hard just before, thinking no one cared for me,that I was ready to smile as I went away.
That "God bless you!" did it, and that firm pressure of the hand. Hedid like me, then, and was sorry I was going; and though I tried tospeak, not a word would come. I could only pinch my lips together andgive him an agonised look--the look of an orphan boy going off into whatwas to him an unknown world.
I was so blinded by a kind of mist in my eyes that I could notdistinctly see that all the men and women were gathered together closeto the cart, it being near leaving time; but I did see that BrotherSolomon nodded at one of the gate-posts, as he said:
"Tlck! go on."
And then, as the wheels turned and we were going out of the gate, therewas a hoarse "_Hooroar_!" from the men, and a shrill "_Hurray_!" fromthe women; and then--_whack_!
A great stone had hit the panel at the back of the cart, and I knewwithout telling that it was Shock who had thrown that stone.
Then we were fairly off, with Brother Solomon sitting straight up in thecart beside me, and the horse throwing out his legs in a great swingingtrot that soon carried us past the walls of Old Brownsmith's garden, andpast the hedges into the main road, on a glorious evening that hadsucceeded the storm of the previous night; but, fast as the horse went,Brother Solomon did not seem satisfied, for he kept on screwing up hislips and making a noise, like a young thrush just out of the nest, tohurry the horse on, but it had not the slightest effect, for the animalhad its own pace--a very quick one, and kept to it.
I never remember the lane to have looked so beautiful before. The greatelm-trees in the hedgerow seemed gilded by the sinking sun, and thefields were of a glorious green, while a flock of rooks, startled by thehorse's hoofs, flew off with a loud cawing noise, and I could see thepurply black feathers on their backs glisten as they caught the light.
The wheels spun round and seemed to form a kind of tune that hadsomething to do with my going away, while as the horse trotted on andon, uttering a snort at times as if glad to be homeward bound, my heartseemed to sink lower and lower, and I looked in vain for a sympatheticglance or a word of encouragement and comfort from the silent stolid manat my side.
"But some of them were sorry I was going!" I thought with a flash ofjoy, which went away at once as I recalled the behaviour of Ike andShock, towards whom I felt something like resentment, till I thoughtagain that I was for the second time going away from home, and this timeamong people who were all as strange as strange could be.
At any other time it would have been a pleasant evening drive, butcertainly one wanted a different driver, for whether it was our crops atOld Brownsmith's, or the idea that he had undertaken a greatresponsibility in taking charge of me, or whether at any moment heanticipated meeting with an accident, I don't know. All I do know isthat Mr Solomon did not speak to me once, but sat rolling theflower-stalk in his mouth, and staring right before him, aiming straightat some place or another that was going to be my prison, and all thewhile the sturdy horse trotted fast, the wheels spun round, and therewas a disposition on the part of my box to hop and slide about on thegreat knot in the centre made by the cord.
Fields and hedgerows, and gentlemen's residences with lawns and gardens,first on one side and then on another, but they only suggestedhiding-places to me as I sat there wondering what would be theconsequences if I were to slip over the back of the seat on to my boxwhen Mr Solomon was not looking, and then over the back of the cart andescape.
The idea was too childish, but it kept coming again and again allthrough that dismal journey.
All at once, after an hour's drive, I caught sight of a great whitehouse among some trees, and as we passed it Mr Solomon slowly turnedround to me and gave his head a jerk, which nearly shook off his hat.Then he poked it back straight with the handle of his whip, and Iwondered what he meant; but realised directly after that he wished todraw my attention to that house as being probably the one to which wewere bound, for a few minutes later, after driving for some distance bya high blank wall, he stuck the whip behind him, and the horse stoppedof its own accord with its nose close to some great closed gates.
On either side of these was a brick pillar, with what looked like anenormous stone egg in an egg-cup on the top, while on the right-handpillar there was painted a square white patch, in the centre of whichwas a black knob looking out of it like an eye.
I quite started, so wrapped was I in thought, when Mr Solomon spoke forthe first time in a sharp decided way.
"Pop out and pull that bell," he said, looking at it as if he wonderedwhether it would ring without being touched.
I hurriedly got down and pulled the knob, feeling ashamed the nextmoment for my act seemed to have awakened the sleepy place. There was atremendous jangling of a great angry-voiced bell which sounded hollowand echoing all over the place; there was the rattling of chains, ashalf a dozen dogs seemed to have rushed out of their kennels, and theybegan baying furiously, with the result that the horse threw up his headand uttered a loud neigh. Then there was a trampling, as of some one invery heavy nailed boots over a paved yard, and after the rattling ofbolts, the clang of a great iron bar, and the sharp click of a big lock,a sour-looking man drew back first one gate and then the other, eachfold uttering a dissatisfied creak as if disliking to be disturbed.
The horse wanted no driving, but walked right into the yard and acrossto a large open shed, while five dogs--there were not six--barked andbayed at me, tugging at their chains. There was a large Newfoundland--this was before the days of Saint Bernards--a couple of spottedcoach-dogs, a great hound of some kind with shortly cropped ears, andlooking like a terrier grown out of knowledge, and a curly blackretriever, each of which had a great green kennel, and they tugged sofuriously at their chains that it seemed as if they would drag theirhouses across the yard in an attack upon the stranger.
"Get out!" shouted Mr Solomon as the sour-looking man closed andfastened the doors; but the dogs barked the more furiously. "Here, comealong," said Mr Solomon to me, and he took me up to the g
reatfurious-looking hound on whose neck, as I approached, I could see abrass collar studded with spikes, while as we closed up, his white teethglistened, and I could see right into his great red mouth with its blackgums.
"Hi, Nero!" cried Mr Solomon, as I began to feel extremely nervous."Steady, boy. This is Grant. Now, Grant, make friends."
There was a tremendous chorus of barks here, just as if Nero was out ofpatience, and the other four dogs were savage because he was going to befed with the new boy before them; but as Mr Solomon laid his hand onthe great fierce-looking beast's head it ceased barking, and the othersstopped as well.
"He won't hurt you now," said Mr Solomon. "Come close."
I did not like the task, for I was doubtful of the gardener's knowledge,but I did go close up, and the great dog began to smell me from my toesupwards, and subsided into a low growl that sounded like disappointmentthat he was not to eat me.
"Pat him now," said Mr Solomon.
I obeyed rather nervously, and the great dog threw up his head and beganstriking at me with one great paw, which I found meant that it was to betaken, and I gave it a friendly shake.
Hereupon there was a chorus of short sharp whining barks and snaps fromthe other dogs, all of which began to strain at their chains withrenewed vigour.
"Go and pat 'em all," said Mr Solomon; "they'll make friends now."
I went to the great shaggy Newfoundland, who smelt me, and then threwhimself up on his hind legs, and hanging against his chain put out histongue in the most rollicking fashion, and offered me both his hands--Imean paws--in token of friendship. Then the retriever literally danced,and yelped, and jumped over his chain, favouring me with a lick or twoon the hand, while the two spotted coach-dogs cowered down, licked myboots, and yelped as I patted them in turn.
Only so many dogs, who barked again as I left them, but it seemed to dome good, and I felt better and readier to help Mr Solomon when hecalled me to aid in unharnessing the horse, which trotted of its ownfree-will into its stable, while we ran the cart back into the shed, andlifted my box out on to the stones.
"That'll be all right till we fetch it," said Mr Solomon in his quietdry way, and he led the way into the stable, where, as I was thinkinghow hard and unfriendly he seemed, he went up to the horse, patted itkindly, and ended by going to a bin, filling a large measure with oats;and taking them to the horse, which gave a snort of satisfaction as theywere turned into its manger.
"Shall I get a pail of water for him, sir?" I said.
He looked at me and nodded, and I went out to a great pump in the middleof the yard with a hook on its spout, upon which I was able to hang thestable pail as I worked hard to throw the long handle up and down.
"Wages!" said Mr Solomon, taking the pail from me and holding it forthe horse to drink.
For the moment I felt confused, not knowing whether he meant that as aquestion about what wages I required, but he turned his back, and bydegrees I found that he meant that the corn and water were the horse'swages.
He busied himself about the horse for some minutes in a quietpunctilious way, for the sour-looking man had gone, and as I waitedabout, the great yard seemed with its big wall and gates, anddog-kennels, such a cold cheerless place that the trees had all turnedthe shabby parts of their backs to it and were looking the other way.Everything was very prim and clean and freshly painted, and only in oneplace could I see some short grass peeping between the stones. Therewas a patch of moss, too, like a dark green velvet pin-cushion on thetop of the little penthouse where the big bell lived on the end of agreat curly spring, otherwise everything was carefully painted, and therow of stabling buildings with rooms over looked like prisons for horsesand their warders, who must, I felt, live very unhappy lives.
There was one door up in a corner of the great yard, right in the wall,and down towards this, from where it had grown on the other side, therehung a few strands of ivy in a very untidy fashion, and it struck methat this ivy did not belong to the yard, or else it would have beenclipped or cut away.
In summer, with the warm glow of the setting sun in the sky, the placelooked shivery and depressing, and as I waited for Mr Solomon I foundmyself thinking what a place it must be in the winter when the snow hadfallen and drifted into the corners, and how miserable the poor dogsmust be.
Then as I stood looking at my box and wondering what Shock was doing,and whether he had gone to his home or was sleeping in the loft, and whyIke was so surly to me, and what a miserable piece of business it wasthat I should have to leave that pleasant old garden and Old Brownsmith,I suddenly felt a hand laid upon my shoulder.
I started and stared as I saw Mr Solomon's cold, stern face.
"Come along," he said; and he led the way to that door in the cornerthat seemed to me as if it led into an inner prison.
I shivered and felt depressed and cold as we went towards the door, and,to make matters worse, the dogs rattled their chains and howled inchorus as if, having made friends, they were very sorry for me. The bighound, Nero, seemed the most sorrowful of all, and putting his head ashigh as he could reach he uttered a deep hollow howl, that to my excitedfancy sounded like "Poooooor boooooy!" just as Mr Solomon, with a faceas stern as an executioner's might have been as he led someone to theTower block, threw open the great door in the wall and said shortly:
"Go on!"
I went on before him, passed through in a wretched, despairing way,wishing I had been a boy like Shock, who was not ashamed to run away,and then, as I took a few steps forward, I uttered a loud "Oh!"