Part 22 (2/2)
”X rays aren't in it,” cried Dan. ”Eyes of a hawk, and a heart of stone. What a combination!”
”That there littlest basket,” went on f.a.n.n.y, turning to Kitty, ”is for Master Tony; and you must see that Master Dan don't get hold of it, and let his little brother wear hisself out carrying the 'eavy one.”
”f.a.n.n.y, what do you take me for?”
”I take 'ee for what you are,” said f.a.n.n.y calmly--”an anointed young limb, and as artful as you are high.”
”Wait till I have gone back to school,” said Dan wistfully, ”then every cruel and unjust thing you have said and thought of me will come back to you, and 'Too late, ah, too late,' you will moan as you sob yourself ill; 'and I loved that boy better than any one in the whole wide world!'”
Which had enough of truth in it to make f.a.n.n.y quite cross, or seem to be.
”Master Tony's basket has got some lunch in it for you all to eat on your way. There's a little pasty each, and some biscuits. I did put in a big one for Master Dan, but I've more'n half a mind to take it out again, seeing as he's be'aving so, sitting on the table and swinging his legs. I s'pose those are the manners they learns him to school!”
Dan chuckled. ”I wish they did,” he said. ”No, it's only you who let me behave myself as I like, f.a.n.n.y. No one else in the wide world is so kind to me. O f.a.n.n.y, I wish you were coming with us.”
”So do I,” cried Kitty. ”Wouldn't it be fun!” And f.a.n.n.y, quite mollified, did not remove Dan's big pasty.
The door opened and Jabez came in. ”I've got the moke,” he said; ”he's in the yard; and I've put a few carrots in the cart for 'ee to 'tice un along with, for if that there creetur haven't made up his mind a'ready not to see Helbarrow Tor this day--well, I'm a Dutchman, and whatever my failings I ain't that yet.”
”The only enticing he'll get from me will be with the whip,” said Dan with great scorn, ”so you can take out the carrots again.” But Jabez shook his head wisely.
”They won't take up much room,” he said. ”I'll put 'em in the nose-bag, and if you don't need 'em on the way, you can give 'em to the creetur when he gets there, by way of encouraging un another time. Now, are you all ready, miss? It's best for 'ee to start before he falls asleep again, for they'm always poor-tempered if they'm woke up, and then they'm obstinater than ever.”
The five of them could not all get into the cart at once, at least not with any comfort, so they always, on these excursions, took it in turn to ride and tie; and Dan, who did not crave for the glory of driving Mokus through the street, walked on with Betty, leaving the others to follow.
It was certainly cold when first they started; the air was fresh and biting, with a touch of frost in it, and the sun had not yet come out.
Anna s.h.i.+vered beneath her fur-lined cloak, and Tony, thrusting his hands deep down in his pockets, snuggled down between Kitty and Anna, and felt very glad for once that he was not allowed an outside seat.
But by degrees the sun shone through the misty grayness, bathing the road before them, and lighting up the bare hedges on either side until it really seemed that spring had come, that the fresh morning air was certainly full of the scent of primroses and violets, and the sweet earthy smell of moss. The birds evidently thought so too, for they came fluttering and flying from all manner of cosy hiding-places, and, undaunted by the sight of the brown branches and the leafless twigs, boldly perched themselves on telegraph wires and trees to survey the scene while they made their summer plans.
What more could one want than brown branches if the sun was on them!
And how could one hurry or worry, or do anything but revel quietly in the beauty that lay all about one, and tell oneself there were no gray days to come!
Mokus, for one, evidently felt that this was no occasion for haste, and Kitty did not contradict him. She herself felt that she wanted to linger over every moment, and get the fullest enjoyment out of it all.
Dan, however, had other views, and when, at the foot of Tremellen Hill, they found him and Betty perched on a low bridge awaiting them, he upbraided them plaintively for their waste of time.
”But no girl ever could drive, even a donkey,” he said loftily.
”He will find out now that he has met his master. Get up, Betty. Do be quick. I want to reach Helbarrow to-day, and it must be lunch-time already.” At which Tony, who was scrambling down from the cart, reached back for his basket.
”I fink I'd better take it wiv me,” he said gravely. ”If they are going so fast, p'r'aps we shan't see them any more till we get there.”
”I think we needn't be afraid of that,” said Anna sarcastically, ”if we don't walk too fast.”
Oh what a day it was! and what a donkey! and what a journey! And oh the time it took! and how they did enjoy it all! When they had walked for about a mile or more, the three sat down to rest and await the carriage folk, of whom they had not caught a glimpse since they walked away and left them. Then by degrees Tony's luncheon basket a.s.sumed a prominent position in their thoughts and before their eyes. Morning air, particularly in January, is hungry air; and to wait, with the food under your very nose, and not be free to eat it, is not easy.
”I really must go back a little way to see if they are anywhere near,”
said Kitty at last, growing impatient and hungry. Anna and Tony were hungry too, but they were too comfortable and lazy to move, so they leaned luxuriously amongst the dry twigs and leaves and dead gra.s.s in the hedge, and watched Kitty as she walked eagerly back again along the level road they had just travelled. When she reached the brow of the hill she stopped, and the next moment a peal of laughter announced the fact that she had caught sight of the laggards.
<script>