CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
TIMES OF DELIGHT!
"Here we are!" said Bob Dimsted, as he sat handling the sculls veryfairly, and, as the stream was with them, sending the boat easily along."I think we managed that first-rate."
Dexter made no reply, for he had his teeth fast set, and his lipspressed together to keep the former from chattering, but he thought agreat deal, and found himself wondering what Bob had done toward gettingthe boat.
With the covering up of his goose-skinned body, and the return of someof his surface heat, the terrible fit of despondency began to pass away,and Dexter felt less ready to sit down in helpless misery at the bottomof the boat.
"Getting nice and warm, ain'tcher?"
"Not very, yet."
"Ah, you soon will be, and if you ain't you shall take one of these hereoars. That'll soon put you right. But what a while you was!"
"I--I couldn't help it," shivered Dexter, drawing in his breath with aquick hissing sound; "the chain was so hard to undo."
"Ah, well, never mind now," said Bob, "only, if we'd got to do it againI should go myself."
Dexter made no protest, but he thought it sounded rather ungrateful. Hewas too busy, though, with buttons, and getting his fingers to work intheir regular way, to pay much heed, and he went on dressing.
"I say, what a jolly long while you are!" continued Bob. "Oh, and lookhere! I'd forgot again: why didn't you bring your bundle with all yourclothes and things, eh!"
"Because they weren't mine."
"Well, you are a chap! Not yourn? Why, they were made for you, and youwore 'em. They can't be anybody else's. I never see such a fellow asyou are! I brought all mine."
It was an easy task, judging from the size of the bundle dimly seen inthe bottom of the boat, but Dexter said nothing.
"How much money have you got?" said Bob, after a pause.
"None at all."
"What?"
There was utter astonishment in Bob Dimsted's tones as he satmotionless, with the sculls balanced on the rowlocks, staring wildlythrough the gloom, as Dexter now sat down and fought hard with anobstinate stocking, which refused to go on over a wet foot--a waystockings have at such times.
"Did you say you hadn't got any money?" cried Bob.
"Yes. I sent it all in a letter to pay for the boat in case we keptit."
"What, for this boat?" cried Bob.
"Yes."
"And you call yourself a mate?" cried Bob, letting the scull blades dropin the water with a splash, and pulling hard for a few strokes. "Well!"
"I felt obliged to," said Dexter, whose perseverance was rewarded by acomplete victory over the first stocking, when the second yielded itwith a better grace, and he soon had on his shoes, and then began to dryhis ears by thrusting his handkerchief-covered finger in the variouswindings of each gristly maze.
"Felt obliged to?"
"Yes, of course. We couldn't steal the boat."
"Yah, steal it! Who ever said a word about stealing? We've onlyborrowed it, and if we don't send it back, old Danby's got lots ofmoney, and he can buy another. But, got no money! Well!"
"But we don't want money, do we!" said Dexter, whom the excitement aswell as his clothes now began to make comparatively warm. "I thought wewere going where we could soon make our fortunes."
"Yes, of course we are, stoopid; but you can't make fortunes withoutmoney. You can't ketch fish if yer ain't got no bait."
This was a philosophical view of matters which took Dexter aback, and hefaltered rather as he spoke next, this time with his ears dry, his hairnot so very wet, and his jacket buttoned up to his chin.
"I'm very sorry, Bob," he said gently.
"Sorry! Being sorry won't butter no parsneps," growled Bob.
"No," said Dexter mildly, "but we haven't got any parsneps to butter."
"No, nor ain't likely to have," growled Bob, and then returning to afavourite form of expression: "And you call yourself a mate! Here, comeand kitch holt of this scull."
Dexter sat down on the thwart, and took the scull after Bob hadcontrived to give him a spiteful blow on the back with it before heextricated it from its rowlock.
Dexter winced slightly, but he bore the pain without a word, and beganrowing as well as a boy does row who handles a scull for the first timein his life. And there he sat, gazing to right and left at the darkbanks of the river, and the stars above and reflected below, as theywent slowly on along the bends and reaches of the little river,everything looking strangely distorted and threatening to the boy'sunaccustomed eyes.
The exercise soon began to bring a general feeling of warmth to hischilled frame, and as the inward helplessness passed away it began togive place to an acute sense of fear, and his eyes wandered here andthere in search of Sir James Danby, the doctor, and others moreterrible, who would charge them with stealing the boat in spite of hisprotests and the money he had left behind.
And all the time to make his trip more pleasant he had to suffer fromjarring blows upon the spine, given by the top of Bob's oar.
In nearly every case this was intentional, and Bob chuckled to himself,as with the customary outburst of his class he began to abuse hiscompanion.
"Why don't yer mind and keep time!" he cried. "Who's to row if you goon like that? I never see such a stoopid."
"All right, Bob, I'll mind," said Dexter, with all the humility of anignorance which kept him from knowing that as he was rowing stroke Bobshould have taken his time from him.
The blows on the back had two good effects, however: they gratified Bob,who had the pleasure of tyrannising over and inflicting pain upon hiscomrade, while Dexter gained by the rapid increase of warmth, and wasmost likely saved from a chill and its accompanying fever.
Still that night trip was not pleasant, for when Bob was not grumblingabout the regularity of Dexter's stroke, he had fault to find as to hispulling too hard or not hard enough, and so sending the head of the boattoward the right or left bank of the stream. In addition, the youngbully kept up a running fire of comment on his companion's shortcomings.
"I never see such a mate," he said. "No money and no clothes. I say,"he added at the end of one grumbling fit, "what made you want to runaway!"
"I don't know," said Dexter sadly. "I suppose it was because youpersuaded me."
"Oh, come, that's a good un," said Bob. "Why, it was you persuaded me!You were always wanting to go away, and you said we could take Danby'sboat, and go right down to the sea."
"No!" protested Dexter; "it was you said that."
"Me!" cried Bob. "Oh, come, I like that, 'pon my word I do. It was youalways begging of me to go, and to take you with me. Why, I shouldn'tnever have thought of such a thing if you hadn't begun it."
Dexter was silent, and now getting thoroughly warm he toiled on with hisoar, wondering whether Bob would be more amiable when the day came, andtrying to think of something to say to divert his thoughts and make himcease his quarrelsome tone.
"I never see such a mate," growled Bob again. "No money, no clothes!why, I shall have to keep yer, I s'pose."
"How long will it take us to get down to the sea, Bob?" said Dexter atlast.
"I d'know. Week p'r'aps."
"But we shall begin fishing before then, shan't we!"
"Fishing! How are you going to fish without any rod and line? Expectsme to find 'em for yer, I s'pose!"
"No, but I thought you would catch the fish, and I could light a fireand cook them."
"Oh, that's what yer thought, was it? Well, p'r'aps we shall, andp'r'aps we shan't."
"Do you think they will come after us!" ventured Dexter, after a time.
"Sure to, I should say; and if they do, and they kitches us, I shall sayas it was you who stole the boat."
"No, you won't," said Dexter, plucking up a little spirit now he wasgetting more himself. "You wouldn't be such a sneak."
"If you call me a sneak, I'll chuck you out of the boat," cried Bobangrily.
"I didn't call you a sneak, I only said you wouldn't be such a sneak,"protested Dexter.
"I know what you said: yer needn't tell me, and I won't have it, so nowthen. If you want to quarrel, you'd better get out and go back."
"But I don't want to quarrel, Bob; I want to be the best of friends."
"Then don't yer call me a sneak, because if you do it'll be the worsefor you."
"Oh, I say, Bob," protested Dexter, as he tugged away at his oar, "don'tbe so disagreeable."
"And now he says I'm disagreeable!" cried Bob. "Well of all the chapsas ever I see you're about the nastiest. Look here, do you want tofight? because if you do, we'll just go ashore here and have it out."
"I don't want to fight indeed, Bob."
"Yes, you do; you keep egging of me on, and saying disagreeable thingsas would have made some chaps give you one for yourself ever so longago. Lookye here, only one on us can be captain in this here boat, andit is going to be either me or you. I don't want to be, but I ain'tgoing to be quite jumped upon, so we'll get ashore here, and soon seewho it's going to be."
As Bob Dimsted spoke in a low snarling way, he gave his scull so hard apull that he sent the boat's head in toward the bank.
"First you want one thing, and then you want another, and then you tryto make out that it was me who stole the boat."
"I only said it wasn't me."
"There," cried Bob, "hark at that! Why, who was it then?" Didn't youtake yer clothes off and swim over while I stood t'other side?
Dexter did not answer, but went on rowing with a hot feeling of angerrising in his breast.
"Oh, so now you're sulky, are you? Very well, my lad, we'll soon see tothat. If you don't know who's best man, I'm going to show you. It'sdark, but it's light enough for that, so come ashore and--"
_Whish! rush! crash_!
"Row! pull! pull!" whispered Bob excitedly, as there was a loud breakingof the low growth on the bank close by them, followed by the loud clapgiven by a swing-gate violently dashed to.
Dexter pulled, but against the bank, for they were too close in for themto get a dip of the oar in the water; but what he did was not withoutsome effect, and, as Bob backed, the boat's head gradually glided round,shot into the stream, and they went swiftly on again, pulling as hard asthey could.
"Did you see him!" whispered Bob at last.
"No, did you?"
"No, but I nearly did. He has been creeping along the bank for ever solong, and he nearly got hold of the boat."
"Who was it?" whispered Dexter.
"Pleeceman, but pull hard, and we shall get away from him yet."
They both pulled a slow stroke for quite an hour, and by that time thehorse that had been feeding upon the succulent weedy growth close to thewater's edge had got over its fright, and was grazing peaceably oncemore.
Bob was quiet after that. The sudden alarm had cut his string of wordsin two, and he was too much disturbed to take them up again to join. Infact he was afraid to speak lest he should be heard, and he kept hisill-temper--stirred up by the loss of a night's rest--to himself for thenext hour, when suddenly throwing in his oar he said--
"Look here, I'm tired, and I shall lie down in the bottom here and havea nap. You keep a sharp look-out."
"But I can't row two oars," said Dexter.
"Well, nobody asked you to. You've got to sit there with the boat-hook,and push her off if ever she runs into the bushes. The stream'll takeher down like it does a float."
"How far are we away from the town!"
"I d'know."
"Well, how soon will it be morning!"
"How should I know? I haven't got a watch, have I? If I'd had one Ishould have sold it so as to have some money to share with my mate."
"Have you got any money, Bob?"
"Course I have. Don't think I'm such a stoopid as you, do yer!"
Dexter was silent, and in the darkness he laid in his oar after thefashion of his companion, and took up the boat-hook, while Bob liftedone of the cushions from the seat, placed it in the bottom of the boat,and then curled up, something after the fashion of a dog, and went offto sleep.
Dexter sat watching him as he could dimly make out his shape, and thenfound that the stern of the boat had been caught in an eddy and swunground, so that he had some occupation for a few moments trying to alterher position in the water, which he did at last by hooking the trunk ofan overhanging willow.
This had the required effect, and the head swung round once more; but inobtaining this result Dexter found himself in this position--the willowrefused to give up its hold of the boat-hook. He naturally, on hisside, also refused, and, to make matters worse, the current here wasquite a race, and the boat was going rapidly on.
He was within an ace of having to leave the boat-hook behind, for hedeclined to try another bath--this time in his clothes. Just, however,at the crucial moment the bark of the willow gave way, the hookdescended with a splash, and Dexter breathed more freely, and sat therewith the boat-hook across his knees looking first to right and then toleft in search of danger, but seeing nothing but the low-wooded banks ofthe stream, which was gradually growing wider as they travelled furtherfrom the town.
It was a strange experience; and, comparatively happy now in the silenceof the night, Dexter kept his lonely watch, thinking how much pleasanterit was for his companion to be asleep, but all the time suffering apeculiar sensation of loneliness, and gazing wonderingly at the strange,dark shapes which he approached.
Men, huge beasts, strange monsters, they seemed sometimes right infront, rising from the river, apparently as if to bar his way, butalways proving to be tree, bush, or stump, and their position caused bythe bending of the stream.
Once there was a sudden short and peculiar grating, and the boat stoppedshort, but only to glide on again as he realised that the river wasshallow there, and they had touched the clean-washed gravelly bottom.
There was enough excitement now he was left to himself to keep off thedepression he had felt, for now the feeling that he was gliding awayinto a new life was made more impressive by the movement of the boat,which seemed to him to go faster and faster among dimly seen trees, andalways over a glistening path that seemed to be paved with stars.
Once, and once only, after leaving the town behind was there any sign ofinhabited building, and that was about an hour after they started, whena faint gleam seemed to be burning steadily on the bank, and so nearthat the light shone down upon the water. But that was soon passed, andthe river ran wandering on through a wild and open district, where theonly inhabitants were the few shepherds who attended the flocks.
On still, and on, among the low meadows, through which the river had cutits way in bygone times. Serpentine hardly expressed its course, for itso often turned and doubled back over the ground it had passed before;but still it, on the whole, flowed rapidly, and by slow degrees mileafter mile was placed between the boys and the town. Twice over acurious sensation of drowsiness came upon Dexter, and he found himselfhard at work trying to hunt out some of his pets, which seemed to him tohave gone into the most extraordinary places.
For instance, Sam the toad had worked himself down into the very toe ofthe stocking he had been obliged to take off when he went into thewater, and the more he tried to shake it out, the more tightly it clungwith its little hands.
Then he woke with a start, and found out that he had dozed off.
Pulling himself together he determined not to give way again, but to tryand guide the boat.
To properly effect this he still sat fast with the boat-hook across hisknees, and in an instant he was back at the doctor's house in Coleby,looking on while Helen was busy reading the letter which had beenbrought down from the bedroom.
Dexter could see her perfectly plainly. It seemed a thoroughlyrealistic proceeding, and she was wiping her eyes as she read, while, atthe same moment, the doctor entered the room with the willow pollardfrom the bottom of the garden; and lifting it up he called
him anungrateful boy, and struck him a severe blow on the forehead which senthim back on to the carpet.
But it was not on to the carpet, but back into the bottom of the boat,and certainly it was a willow branch which had done the mischief, thoughnot in the doctor's hand.
Dexter got up again, feeling rather sore and confused, for the boat haddrifted under a projecting bough, just on a level with the boy's head,but his cap had saved him from much harm.
Dexter's first thought was that Bob would jump up and begin to bully himfor going to sleep. But Bob was sleeping heavily, and the bump, thefall, and the rocking of the boat only acted as a lullaby to hispleasant dreams.
And then it seemed that a tree on the bank--a tall poplar--was very muchplainer than he had seen any tree before that night. So was another onthe other bank, and directly after came a sound with which he wasperfectly familiar at the doctor's--a sound that came beneath his windowamong the laurustinus bushes.
_Chink_--_chink_--_chink_--_chink_.
A blackbird--answered by another. And then all at once it seemed to beso cold that it was impossible to help shivering; and to ward off thechilling sensation Dexter began to use the boat-hook as a pole,thrusting it down first on one side of the boat and then on the other assilently as he could, so as not to wake Bob. Sometimes he touchedbottom, and was able to give the boat a good impetus, but as often asnot he could not reach the river-bed. Still the exercise made his bloodcirculate, and drove away the dull sense of misery that had been comingon.
As he toiled on with the pole, the trees grew plainer and plainer, and asoft pearly dawn seemed to be floating over the river. The birdsuttered their calls, and then, all at once, in a loud burst of melody,up rose a lark from one of the dewy meadows on his right. Then furtheroff there was another, and right away high up in the east one tiny speckof dull red.
Soon this red began to glow as if gradually getting hotter. Thenanother and another speck appeared--then scores, fifties, hundreds--andDexter stood bathed in the rich light which played through the curlingriver mists, as the whole of the eastern heavens became damasked withflecks of gold.
In a comparatively short time these faded, and a warm glow spread aroundthe meadows and wild country on either side, where empurpled hills rosehigher and higher, grew more and more glorious, and the river sparkledand danced and ran in smooth curves, formed eddies, and further inadvance became one wonderful stretch of dancing golden ripples, sobeautiful that Dexter stood on the thwart with the pole balanced in hishand wondering whether everything could be as beautiful at Coleby as hesaw it now.
Then there was a sudden shock, so sharp that he could not save himself,but took a kind of header, not into the water, but right on to BobDimsted, landing with his knees in Bob's softest portion, and the poleright across his neck, just as Bob tried to rise, and uttered atremendous yell. The wonder was that the end of the boat-hook had notgone through the bottom of the boat.