Hollowdell Grange Part 14

"Who's afraid?" said Harry; "I'm not; come on, boys," and away they scampered again on their new expedition; while Sam leaned upon his broom with which he was brushing the velvet green lawn, and chuckled again at the success of his _ruse_.

The boys armed themselves with stout sticks, and let d.i.c.k loose to take with them; and then away down by the big fence to the north planting d.i.c.k industriously hunting along the hedges and ditches as they went.

"Keep back, d.i.c.k!" said Harry, when they reached the manure heaps; "keep back, sir; quiet; down, dog, down!"

But d.i.c.k was not a well-trained dog at all. He did not often come out, and when he did he seemed to make the most of it; so every command given by his master d.i.c.k answered by a leap, a scamper, and a bark, and doing everything but what he was told.

"Catch hold of him, Phil; he'll frighten all the snakes away before we see them."

But d.i.c.k would not be caught hold of, but capered about just out of reach, and lolled his tongue out as though in derision of the efforts made to secure him, till, growing more bold and impudent, he kept making charges at his young masters' legs, until by one quick s.n.a.t.c.h Philip caught the rascal by one of his ears, and so secured him in a most ign.o.ble manner, dragging him along with his skin all drawn on one side, his eyes out of place, and his mouth wearing a most serio-comical expression.

Poor d.i.c.k! he did not mean any harm; but as to being a trained and obedient dog, he was, as I said before, nothing of the kind, and often spoiled a great deal of sport by his wild harum-scarum ways. But now, as he was secured, a handkerchief was tied tightly round his neck, and another to that by way of a chain or slip, and then the search was prosecuted.

The manure heaps were very long and large, and lay on a piece of waste ground beside the park palings, and it was through the rents and gaps in these pales that the snakes came out of the plantation to lay their eggs in the warm manure; and, of course, if Master d.i.c.k had been left alone, he would have run barking and scratching all along and alarmed the game.

As it was, they went the whole length of the first heap without hearing so much as a rustle. The second heap was nearly pa.s.sed in the same way, when Harry, who was first, stepped nimbly back and caught hold of the handkerchief that held d.i.c.k, who, seeing that something exciting was going on, immediately became rampant, but was soon guided to a spot where a snake had nearly buried itself in the rotten straw, and lay with about nine inches of its tail exposed, after the fashion of an ostrich, which supposes that if its head is hidden it must be all right and safe.

But there was no safety for the poor snake, for d.i.c.k was down upon him in a moment and hanging on to its tail, in spite of the struggles of the poor thing to get away.

All d.i.c.k's efforts were directed towards dragging the snake out of its hole, while the snake, by means of its scaly and plated body, offered a most powerful resistance, and tried hard to creep farther in; and so they went on for some time, the snake, however, gradually losing ground, until the lads began to dig round it with their sticks, and loosen the manure, when out it came all at once, writhing and twining, and trying to fasten upon d.i.c.k's head; but the dog's s.h.a.ggy, wiry hair protected him, and shaking the unco' brute off for a moment, he got another gripe at it close up to the head, and shook it, and worried it, until the poor snake hardly moved, but gave in, conquered and dying.

The trophy was secured, and d.i.c.k's stumpy tail wag-waggled, as much as to say, "Didn't I do that well?" and then he kept snapping and leaping up at the handkerchief which held the snake, while his red tongue quivered and stuck out between his sharp shiny teeth that were longing to have another snap at something. The huntsmen then cautiously went along the side of the two remaining heaps, but not another trace of a snake could they find, so they went back the whole length of the four heaps, but with no better success, till d.i.c.k, who was down at the bottom of the bramble-covered ditch, suddenly set up a sharp, short bark, then there was a rustle and skurry for a moment, and he rushed open-mouthed up the bank head fust at the oak palings, and came against them with a thud just after a snake's tail was seen to disappear through a hole at the bottom, where a small piece had rotted away.

d.i.c.k whined and howled with rage at being thus stopped in his career, and seizing a piece of the broken pale in his teeth, dragged it so that he would shortly have made himself a way through, but his young masters were soon by his side.

"Throw him over, Harry," said Philip, excitedly, and in a moment Harry had the struggling dog in his arms, raising him till he got his feet on the top of the palings, when he leaped lightly down on the other side, and began hunting about through the fallen leaves and twigs for the escaped quarry; but all in vain, as his whining testified, so that poor d.i.c.k was called off, and had to run nearly a quarter of a mile before he could find a place to creep through, which he did at last by sc.r.a.ping a little of the earth from beneath the pales, and then grovelling through, getting stuck about the middle of his back, though, and whining till he got free, which he did after two or three struggles, and then ran to join his young masters, who were whistling and calling him as loudly as they could, and who now turned their steps homeward, for Harry declared he could smell the roast beef they were going to have for dinner.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

A FLIGHT WITH THE FLIES.

I don't suppose Harry could smell the roast beef when he was a mile from home, but sure enough it was done when the boys got there, and they had only just time to get themselves ready before the dinner-bell rang.

"Well, boys, I suppose you have been very quiet," said Mr Inglis, "and are ready for a good long walk this afternoon?"

"We're ready for the walk, Papa, but we haven't been very quiet," said Philip. "One don't seem as if one could keep very quiet this fine weather. I never do. I should like to be always out."

"I shouldn't," said Harry, with his mouth full of beef and potato; "I should like to come in when dinner and tea were ready."

"Well said, Harry!" exclaimed Mr Inglis; "that was certainly not a very polite speech, but there was a good deal of common sense in it; and I don't think Master Phil, there, would care much about stopping out when it rained. But make haste, boys; we must not stop talking, for there are all the things to get ready, and we have a long walk before us."

Half an hour after, Mr Inglis and the boys were pa.s.sing out of the gate, and they soon reached the spot where the lads entered the wood the day they were lost; but this time they kept along the fields by the side; and beautiful those fields looked, and beautiful, too, the wood-side. There were wood anemones and hyacinths by the thousand, spangling the bright green gra.s.s here with delicate white, and there with the dark blue bells; while the brionies and honeysuckle cl.u.s.tered in every direction along the dwarf bushes by the side of the wood.

"There he goes," said Harry, all at once starting off full speed after a sulphur b.u.t.terfly.

"Stop, stop!" cried Mr Inglis. "Here, Philip, take the net, and go steadily and quietly and see if you cannot catch it, but you must not hurry, or you will send it right away."

Philip took the green clap-net and went in chase of the beautiful fly which flitted on before him, now stopping, now going on again, and sipping flower after flower. At last he got close enough, and stooping as far forward as he could reach, popped the green gauze net down upon the gra.s.s.

The other boys ran breathlessly up, while Mr Inglis drew from his pocket a large-sized pill-box and a pair of forceps, and on coming up to the spot where Philip and the other boys were, he stooped down to secure the prize.

"Well, where is it?" said Mr Inglis.

"Just underneath," said Philip.

"I don't think it is," said Mr Inglis, looking down at the net.

"Oh yes, it is," said Philip; "I'm sure I caught it."

So Mr Inglis looked through the net in all directions, but not a sign could he see of any sulphur b.u.t.terfly, for Philip had popped the net down just behind it, and the bright-coloured fly was off and away far enough by that time.

"Never mind; try again," said Mr Inglis, "only don't be so impetuous; go quietly after the b.u.t.terfly till you get within reach, and then press the net down firmly and quickly, or close it over the prize. If you go so impetuously you agitate the air, and drive a volume of it before you, which not only alarms the insect, but helps to force it out of your reach."

"But I was sure I had it," said Philip.

"Just so," said Mr Inglis, smiling; "but it does not do to be too sure of anything. Now, Philip," he continued, "take the net again, and see if you cannot have a little better success; there's one of the little blue b.u.t.terflies hovering over that dry bank--there, where we picked the harebells last year. Don't you see it?--it almost looks like a harebell itself."

"Oh! I see it now," said Philip, seizing the net and rushing off.

"Not so fast--not so fast," cried Mr Inglis; but it was of no use, for Philip darted up to the bank, and as he did so the little blue b.u.t.terfly gently rose in the air, and disappeared over the hedge into the next field.

"Here, Fred," said Mr Inglis, handing his nephew a small bag net fitted to a joint of a fishing-rod; "now try what you can do, and see if you cannot creep up quietly without all that rush and fuss your cousins make. Now, then, there goes another sulphur b.u.t.terfly."

Fred started off, and followed the insect all along one side of the field by the wood, and then partly along the other, when the game gently rose and went over to the other side. But there was a gap in the hedge, and Fred crept through; but on reaching the other side no b.u.t.terfly could he see for a minute, when all at once it rose from a flower close beside him, and began flitting down the hedge-side again. At last it alighted upon a bunch of Mayflower, quite low down, a late cl.u.s.ter that ought to have been out in bloom a month earlier; and now Fred crept up closer and closer till he stood within reach, when he dashed the net down and just missed the insect, which began to rise, when, recovering his net, Fred made another flying dash, and to his great delight he saw that the yellow treasure was fluttering about inside.

Just then his uncle and the boys came through the gap, and the b.u.t.terfly, which Mr Inglis said was a very fine specimen, was secured and placed in one of the large pill-boxes.

The captures now made became frequent: at one time it was a gorgeous peac.o.c.k admiral, with the splendid eyes upon its wings; then one of the pretty tortoisesh.e.l.l b.u.t.terflies, or a red admiral, with its lovely lace-edged wings; then again, one of the curious dusky-veined, or an orange-tipped, with its under wings so beautifully traced with green.

Down by the pond side, too, they captured some of the fierce libellulae, the gauzy-winged dragon-flies, that darted about with such a powerful flight over the water, and then hovered apparently motionless, as though looking at their beautiful bodies reflected on the bright surface. On one bank, too, a bright little green lizard was captured, and carefully secured, to place in one of the fern cases; besides which there were rose beetles, watchmen, spiders, and tiny flies, that Fred considered were neither curious nor pretty, but which Mr Inglis said were quite the contrary, being both curious and pretty, or, rather, beautiful, as he would show Master Fred when they reached home. There were plenty of specimens, too, to have been obtained from the water; but this was not a water expedition, so they contented themselves with the productions of the air, and rich indeed was this part of the country in insect wonders.

Fred at first only looked upon the gaily-painted b.u.t.terflies, and bright rose beetles, as being beautiful, till he heard some of the explanations from Mr Inglis, when he found that in some of the smallest insects they captured there were ten times the beauties and wonders that were to be found in their larger companions. There were numberless things that he would have pa.s.sed over because they were not striking at the first glance, but which the eye of the naturalist had sought out, and made known to those who had not chosen insect life for their study.

Fred never before saw such plumes of feathers as some little gnats wore on their heads, nor knew of such a wondrous or dangerous instrument as the sting of a bee, so fine and so sharp; and yet fine as it was, able to contain a channel by which the minute portion of poison was injected into the tiny wound to rankle and create such great pain.

"But come," said Mr Inglis, "we must talk about these things when we get back to-night, and have the microscope out. We must have some more specimens yet. Try after those great cabbage b.u.t.terflies, boys'--those we have are getting very shabby in appearance."

Away started Harry and Philip, forgetting in a moment all the advice they had received, and dashing off after the inserts in a wild chase, that ended, of course, in the b.u.t.terflies soaring up out of reach, and the boys coming back hot and out of breath to be laughed at by their father and Fred.

At last they reached Mr Benson's farm, where they were most cordially received by the farmer's happy-faced dame, who seemed delighted to see her belated friends again, and soon had them into the house to feast upon fresh-gathered strawberries and some of the thick yellow cream that she skimmed morning and night from the pans in her snowy dairy; and when they had finished, and Mr Inglis was having a quiet chat with Farmer Benson about crops, and markets, and similar matters, which Harry cla.s.sed together as "all bother," Mrs Benson showed the boys her famous dairy, which I was quite right in calling "snowy," for it was in everything of the whitest and coldest. For Mrs Benson's dairy was famous for the b.u.t.ter and cream it produced, and was well known at all the markets round, for from nowhere else was there such sweet golden-looking b.u.t.ter to be obtained.

After Fred had been initiated in the mysteries of churning and cheese pressing, they all went into the orchard, and saw what a goodly promise of apples there was, and then and there Mrs Benson promised them a basketful, which she said she would send to them at the school. Then into the garden, which seemed to be overflowing with fruit and vegetables; and then into the farm-yard to see the fowls, cows, and calves, and have a peep in at the great brindle bull, whose low thundering bellow made the door vibrate and rattle upon its hinges, and who turned round his great heavy, stupid-looking face to the full length of his bright chain, and stared at his visitors as much as to say, "Did you ever see such a great bull-headed thing before in all your life?"

He seemed to be anything but the great savage, roaring beast that Fred had expected to see. But for all his dull look, this very bull could fly into a pa.s.sion sometimes when he was out in the fields, and stamp and bellow and tear up the ground, making the sods fly in all directions. He once charged at the cowman who was going to drive the cows all up for milking, and as soon as the man saw him coming away he ran for the gate, and after him came the bull, full tear. The more the cowman ran the more the bull ran, till at last the gate was reached, and over it went the poor fellow, in a half jump, half tumble sort of fashion, and then away again on the other side; while the bull, evidently considering the gate as unworthy of his notice, disdained to try and leap, but went rush at it like a small railway train at a crossing where the gates have been accidentally left open.

"Crash" went the gate, and "Bellow" went the bull, for it really hurt him, as was testified by one of his horns being broken short off, making the poor beast stop short, and stamp and bellow louder than ever; and, giving up all thought of chasing the cowman, run tearing round the field in a great clumsy gallop, frightening the cows till they all did the same, with tails sticking straight up, and having plenty of difficulty to get out of the poor bull's way, I say "_poor_" bull, for the animal must have been suffering intense pain, though he deserved very little pity, for there is no knowing what might have been the cowman's fate if it had not been for the gate.

When the visitors stood looking at the great staring-eyed, one-horned beast, the place was quite well, and but for the one-sided appearance given to him by the ragged stump having been sawn short off, there was no trace of the feat he had performed in rushing at the gate.

There was so much to see at the farm that Mr Inglis had a hard matter to get away; besides which, the farmer and his dame were very anxious that they should all stay to tea, and the lads had not the slightest objection; but Mr Inglis said, when they came out for a specified purpose they ought no to turn aside from it, and now; as they had paid their visit to the farm, as previously arranged, they ought to return to their collecting, for the moths would now be coming out fast.

At last they were off, and this time took their way across the meadows by the river side, so as to get to the wood again a couple of miles nearer home, Mr Inglis considering that several pleasing objects of natural history might here be collected.