duet into atrio, there was another whistler in the shape of a speckled lark,soaring round and round as if he were describing the figure of agigantic corkscrew, whose point was intended to pierce the clouds.
There had been a shower earlier in the day, and the earth sent forth asweet fragrance, which mingled with the soft salt breeze, and sent athrill of pleasure through the frames of the two lads hastening to theirtrysting-place. They did not know that their feet crushed the wildthyme, or caused fresh odours to float upon the air, or whether thebreeze came from north, south, or west; all that they knew was that theyfelt very happy, and that they were out on the moor, ready to enjoythemselves by doing something, they knew not what. They did not evenknow that they were each performing a part in a trio, the little larkbeing so common an object as to be unnoticed, while the top of the hilldivided the two terrestrial whistlers from each other.
Fred was at the highest point first, and throwing himself down on theturf, he lay watching the coming figure toiling up, while thegrasshoppers _chizzed_ and leaped from strand of grass to harebell, andthence to heather, and even on to the figure lying there.
The view was grand. Away to right were the undulations of the moor; tothe left the high hills which seemed as if cut off short, and descendedalmost perpendicularly to the sea, and in front of them the sea itself,glistening in the sunshine beyond the cliff, which from the point whereFred lay looked like a lion _couchant_, end on to him, and passing outto sea. Here and there some boat's sail seemed like a speck upon thesea, while going in different directions--seaward and toward Bristolwere a couple of what Fred mentally dubbed "king's ships." Away as faras eye could reach to right and left lay the softly blue Welsh coast;but Fred's attention was divided between the lion's head-like outline ofthe Rill, and the slowly advancing figure of Scarlett Markham, whofinished his ascent by breaking into a trot, and zigzagging up the laststeep piece to throw himself down beside his friend.
They lay for some few minutes enjoying themselves, their ideas ofenjoyment consisting in lying face downward resting upon their crossedarms, which formed a pillow for their chins, and kicking the turf withtheir toes. Then, as if moved by the same spirit, they leaped to theirfeet with all a boy's energy and vital force.
"Let's do something," exclaimed Scar. "Shall we go to the lake?"
"That's just what I was going to say," cried Fred; but they did not gofar in an aimless way--they began to descend the hill slowly at first,then at a trot, then at headlong speed, till they stopped a part of theway up the next slope, after crossing the bottom of the little coombebetween the hills.
This second hill looked wearisome after their rapid descent, so theycontented themselves with walking along its side parallel with thebottom of the little valley, talking of indifferent matters till theycame upon a little flock of grey and white gulls feeding amongst theshort herbage, where the rain had brought out various soft-bodiedcreatures good in a gull's eyes for food.
The beautiful white-breasted creatures rose on their long narrow wings,and flapped and floated away.
From force of habit, Fred took up a stone and threw it after the birds,not with any prospect of hitting them, for they were a couple of hundredyards away.
"Wish I could fly like that," said Scarlett. "Look at them; they'regoing right over the Rill Head."
The two boys stopped and watched until the birds glided out of sight,beyond the lion-like headland, an object, however, which grew lesslion-like the nearer they drew.
"What would be the good?" replied Fred. "It would soon be very stupidto go gliding here and there."
"But see how easy it would be to float like that."
"How do you know?" said practical Fred. "I dare say a bird's wings achesometimes as much as our legs do with running. I say, Scar."
"Yes."
"Let's go and have a look at the caves."
"What caves?"
"Down below the Rill. Now, only think of it; we were born here, andnever went and had a look at them. Samson says that one of them isquite big and runs in ever so far, with a place like a chimney at oneend, so that you can get down from the land side."
"And Nat said one day that it was all nonsense; that they were just likeso many rabbit-holes--and that's what he thought they were."
"But our Samson said he had been in them; and if they were no biggerthan rabbit-holes, he couldn't have done that. Let's go and see."
"Bother! I had enough of poking about in that damp old passage, and allfor nothing. I thought we were going to find the way in there."
"Well, so we did."
"But I mean the other end."
"Bother, bother! what's the good!"
"How do I know? It's very curious. There's something seems to draw youon when you are underground," said Scarlett, dreamily.
"Hark at the old worm! Why, Scar, I believe you'd like to liveunderground."
Scarlett shook his head.
"I mean to find that way in to our place some day, whether you help meor whether you do not. Never mind what your Samson said about the Rillcaves. He don't know. Let's go and see."
"What's the good?"
"I don't know that it will be any good, but let's see. There may be allkinds of strange things in a cave. I've read about wonderful placesthat went into the earth for a long way."
"Yes; but our Rill cave would not. My father told me one day about twocaves he went into in Derbyshire. One had a little river running out ofit, and he went in and walked by the side of the water for a long waytill he came to a black arch, and there the gentlemen who were with himlit candles and they waded into the water and crept under the dark arch,and then went on and on for a long way through cave after cave, all wetand dripping from the top. Sometimes they were obliged to wade in thestream, and sometimes they walked along the edge."
"And what did they find?"
"Mud," said Fred, laconically.
"Nothing else?"
"No; only mud, sticky mud, no matter how far they went; and at last theygot tired of it, and turned back to find that the water had risen, andwas close up to the top of the arch under which they had crept, so thatthey had to wait half a day before it went down."
"What made the water rise?" asked Scarlett; "the tide?"
"No; there were no tides there right in among the hills."
"Then how was it?"
"There had been a storm, and the water had run down and filled thelittle river."
As they chatted, the lads walked steadily on, and began to ascend thelong, low eminence, which formed, as it were, the large body of thecouchant lion, but which from where they were, seemed like the mostordinary of hills.
"There was another cave, too, that my father went into, but that wasvery different. It was high up in among the hills, and you went downquite a hole to get to it, and then it was just as if the inside of thehill had come full of cracks and splits along which he kept climbing andwalking with the two sides just alike, just as if the stone had beenbroken in two."
"Then this was stone, not mud," said Scarlett, who was deeplyinterested.
"Yes, solid stone--rock; and every here and there you could see curiousshapes, just as if water had been running down, and it had all beenturned into stone."
"I should like to go and see a place like that," said Scarlett.
"Yes; I shouldn't mind seeing a cave like that. Father says it went infor miles, and nobody had ever got to the end of it, for it branched offinto narrow slits, and sometimes you were walking on shelves, and youcould hold the candle over and look down horrible holes that were nobodyknows how deep, and there you could hear the water gurgling at thebottom, and hissing and splashing, and--Oh!"
"Scar!" yelled Fred, making a dash at his companion just in time tocatch him by the arm as he suddenly dropped down through a narrowopening in the midst of the short green turf over which they werewalking.
So narrow was the opening, and so nearly hidden by grass and heath, thatScarlett had no difficulty in supporting himself by sprea
ding out hisarms, as soon as he had recovered from the first startling effect of hisslip.
But he did not stop many minutes in this position. Fred hung on to hisarm. He threw himself sidewise, grasped tightly hold of a stout branchof heath, and scrambled out.
"Who'd have thought of there being a hole like that?" said Scarlett, assoon as he was safe. "But I don't suppose it's very deep, after all.Got a stone?"
"No. Listen."
Fred had thrown himself upon his breast, and craned his neck over theplace, trying to peer down, but only into darkness, the hole evidentlynot going down straight; it being, in fact, a narrow crack, such as