Part 31 (2/2)
”That wouldn't have been any use to us,” said the Terror.
”Of use to you?” said Sir James.
”Yes; if he'd caught you, there wouldn't be any reason why we should fish your water,” said the Terror.
Sir James looked puzzled:
”But is there any reason now?” he said.
”Yes. You see, you were poaching,” said the Terror in a very gentle explanatory voice.
”And you caught three fish,” said Erebus in something of the manner of a chorus in an Athenian tragedy.
Sir James sat bolt upright with a sudden air of astonished enlightenment:
”Well, I'm--hanged if it isn't blackmail!” he cried.
”Blackmail?” said the Terror in a tone of pleasant animation. ”Why, that's what the Scotch reavers used to do! I never knew exactly what it was.”
”And we're doing it. That is nice,” said Erebus, almost preening herself.
”But this is disgraceful! If you'd been village children--but gentlefolk!” cried Sir James with considerable heat.
”Well, the Douglases were gentlefolk; and they blackmailed,” said the Terror in a tone of sweet reason.
”Poaching's a misdemeanor; blackmailing's a kind of stealing,” said Erebus virtuously, forgetting for the moment her mother's fur stole.
”Poaching's a misdemeanor; blackmailing's a felony,” said Sir James loftily.
The distinction was lost on the Twins; and Erebus said with conviction: ”Poaching's worse.”
Sir James hated to be beaten; and he looked from one to the other with very angry eyes. The Twins wore a cold imperturbable air. Their appearance no longer pleased him.
”It's your own fault entirely,” said the Terror coldly. ”If you'd been civil and answered our letter, even refusing, we shouldn't have bothered about you. But you didn't take any notice of it--”
”And it was beastly cheek,” said Erebus.
”You couldn't expect us to stand that kind of thing. So we kept an eye on you and caught you poaching,” said the Terror.
”Without any excuse for it. You've plenty of fis.h.i.+ng of your own,”
said Erebus severely.
”And if I don't give you leave to fish my water, you're going to sneak to the police, are you?” said Sir James in a tone of angry disgust.
The Terror flushed and with a very cold dignity said: ”We aren't going to do anything of the kind; and we don't want any leave to fish your water at all. We're just going to fish it; and if you go sneaking to the police and prosecuting us, then after you've started it you'll get prosecuted yourself by old Glazebrook. That's what we came to say.”
”And that'll teach you to be polite and answer people next time they write to you,” said Erebus in a tone of cold triumph.
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