air.
All the time he was dressing his head was full of his confused dream andthe fight in the narrow passage, while the events of the preceding dayhad so impressed him that he hurried downstairs, glanced at the hallclock, which pointed to a quarter to five, and, taking his hat, ran out,and down the garden.
"Morning, Master Fred," came from behind the hedge; and it was so suddenthat the lad jumped.
"You, Samson?" he cried. "Yes; I've been starting that gen'leman whocome yesterday. Had to get up at four and have his horse ready. Goingfishing?"
"No; only for a walk."
"Over to the Hall?"
"Yes, Samson," replied the lad, impatiently. "Then, if you see that badbrother o' mine, Master Fred, don't you speak to him. I'm gettingashamed of him."
"No: he's getting ashamed of you, Sam," cried Fred, tauntingly. "What?"
"Well, he said so last night."
"Ashamed of me, sir. I should like to see him be 'shamed of me. I'dgive him something to be 'shamed about."
"Oh yes, of course," cried Fred; and he ran on, forgetting all about thegardener in his eagerness to get to the lake.
The birds were twittering and singing in the woods and coppices, thesoft, silvery mists were rising from the hollow, and each broad fernfrond glistened as if set with tiny jewels of every prismatic hue. Awaytoo in the distance, as he topped a hill, one corner of the Hall lakecould be seen glistening like burnished silver set in a frame of vividgreen.
But these were too common objects to take the boy's attention as hewalked up the hill slope and trotted down the other side, for he wasintent upon one thing only, a faint indication of which was given by hisexclaiming once--
"How surprised old Scar will be!"
It was not to go under his window and rouse Scar by throwing pebbles upat the lattice-pane, for instead of taking the dewy path round, by thehigh trees, which would have taken him at once to the house, Fred randown the sharp slope into the little coombe, through which ran off thesurplus waters of the lake. Here there was a clump of alders growingamongst the sandstone rocks, and three of the larger trees had been cutdown to act as posts, to one of which the old flat-bottomed boat wasfastened by a chain.
The boy had about fifty yards to go through this clump of alders, alittle winding path trampled by the cattle forming his way; and alongthis he turned, so as to get to the opening where the trees had been cutdown, and the boat lay.
But before he was three-parts of the way through, he heard a peculiarscraping sound, followed by a splash, and then a repetition, and anotherrepetition, in regular rhythm and measure.
Fred stopped short, listening. "How tiresome!" he muttered. "Scar musthave told old Nat to bale her out before he went to bed. Wonder howlong he'll be?" Evidently intending to wait until the man whom he heardwas gone, Fred crept softly along, listening to the rhythmic splash ofwater, till he could peer through the thin growth at the person bailingout the boat.
No sooner did he catch sight of him than he dashed forward to whereScarlett sat on the edge of the old punt wielding a shallow iron pot.
"Fred!"
"Scar!"
"Why, what brought you over so soon?"
"What are you doing there?"
"Baling."
"Yes; and you were going over yonder without me?"
Scarlett sat tapping the gunwale of the boat with the pot, having ceasedto bale.
"Yes, I knew you were," continued Fred, in an altered tone, as the otherremained silent.
"Come, now, confess."
"I don't know that I need call it confessing," said Scarlett, throwingback his head and speaking haughtily. "It's our boat, and our lake, andthat place is all ours."
"Yes; but we were schoolfellows, and we found it together."
Scarlett winced a little at this. "And you were going to steal a marchand find it all out by yourself. I do call it mean," cried Fred,angrily. "I didn't think you'd do such a thing, Scar, and--"
"You thought just the same," said Scarlett, quickly, "and meant to takethe boat before I was up, and that's why you are here."
He looked sharply at Fred, who thrust his hands in his pockets, andsuddenly became interested in the movements of a bald coot, which waspaddling in and out among the reeds which grew right into the lake.
"There now, you're found out too, and you're as bad as I am," criedScarlett.
"Well, I only meant it as a surprise. Is she very leaky?"
Scarlett seemed disposed to hold off, but the interest of the project inhand swept all that away, and he replied sociably enough.
"No; she has been so deep in the water and got so soaked, that I don'tthink much comes in."
"Bale away, then," cried Fred.
"Suppose you have a turn. I'm getting hot."
Fred required no further hint, but stripping off his jerkin and rollingup his sleeves, he was soon at work scooping up the water and sending itflying and sparkling in the morning sunshine, while Scarlett sat andchatted.
"I didn't care to ask Nat to clean out the boat," he said, "for he'ssuch an inquisitive fellow. He'd have wanted to know what I was goingto do, and if I hadn't told him--"
"I know," said Fred, making a momentary iris as he sent the waterflying, "he'd have hidden away and watched you."
"Yes; sure to."
"And Samson's just the same. I have to cheat him sometimes. But itdidn't matter cheating old Nat. What I think was so shabby was tryingto cheat me."
Scarlett was silent for a minute.
"I should have told you afterwards," he said. "Here, let me have a turnnow."
"No; I shall finish," replied Fred, wielding the old pot with increasedenergy, "just to show you how forgiving I am."
"Ah! but you're found out too," cried Scarlett.
"Well, I didn't mean any harm," cried Fred, with a droll look, "andshould have told you afterwards."
"Yes; but--"
"Look here," cried Fred, "you say another word about it, and I'll throwall the water over you."
"Let's make haste, then, and go and find the way in before breakfast."
For answer Fred scooped away at such a rate that he had soon cleared theboat down to the little well-like hollow arranged to catch thedrainings.
"Now then," he cried, "I'm tired. You row."
Scarlett unhooked the chain, gave the boat a good thrust, seized theoars, and in ten minutes more they were coasting along as near to thebank as the overhanging trees and projecting bushes would allow.
For quite half an hour they searched to and fro, but without result.There were plenty of likely looking places overgrown with ivy, andsheltered by the willows, alders, and birches, but not one showed a signof having been built up with rough blocks of stone, or presented a holesuch as they had seen from the inside.
"We shall never find it like this," said Fred, at last.
"How are we to find it, then? And we must go soon, as some one will seeus, and wonder what we are doing."
"Oh no; they'll only think we are fishing," said Fred. "I'll tell youhow to find it."
"How?"
"We must cut a long willow, and strip it all but the leaves on the end."
"What for?"
"Then one of us must go down the opening yonder, wade along the passage,poke the stick out through the hole, and shout."
"Yes; that would do it nicely," said Scarlett. "But who's to do it?"
"Let's both go."
"Then we should be no wiser, because there would be no one out here tolisten."
"No," said Fred; and then, "Let's have another try."
They had another try--a long and careful search, but the entrance hadbeen too cunningly masked.
"It's of no use," said Scarlett, drawing in the oars. "One of us mustgo."
Silence. And Fred seemed to be deeply interested in the proceedings ofa great flap-winged heron which had alighted on the further shore.
"Will you go, Fred?" said Scarlett, at last.
"No. It's your place, and
you ought to go."
"Yes," said Scarlett, slowly; "I suppose I ought."
"No, no, I'll go," cried Fred, eagerly. "I will not be so shabby.Let's cut a stick, and then set me ashore."
Scarlett nodded, and resuming the rowing, ran the boat's head ashore,close to a clump of willows. Then, taking out his knife, he hacked offa rod about ten feet long, trimmed off the twigs and leaves, all but apatch on the end, and,