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 AS HIS TORMENTOR WENT AWAY NICK SHUT HIS ACHING EYES. 
 
 Frontispiece. Pa ee
 
 UNDER THE DOG-STAR 
 
 A TALE OF THE BORDERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 AUSTIN CLARE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "THE CARVED CARTOON," "BY LANTERN LIGHT," "ONE STEP ASTRAY," ETC. 
 
 ' Give a dog a bad name and hang it " 
 
 Old Proverb. 
 
 ' What mean ye, that ye use this proverb . . . 
 ' The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and 
 The children's teeth are set on edge ' ? " 
 
 EZEKIEL xviii. 2. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY SIDNEY PAGffiT. 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE GENERAL LITERATURE 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, 
 NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C. ; 
 
 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREBT, B.C. 
 
 BRIGHTON: 129, NORTH STREET. 
 NEW YORK : E. & J. B. YOUNG AND CO.
 
 TO MY COUSINS 
 ALFRED AND HARRY FELLOWS, 
 
 AND MY GODSONS 
 CHARLIE G.RE1G AND GWYNNE JAMES.
 
 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE WANDERER. 
 
 day long he had trudged along the 
 muddy roads, going on and on with 
 dogged determination, and still, foot- 
 sore and utterly weary, he pressed on- 
 ward, with the same set look upon his young face. 
 The dull November evening was closing in. The 
 clouds, which had hung low over the sodden fields 
 and brown moors all day long, seemed to droop 
 lower than ever, swallowing up the hills in their 
 thick, woolly folds, and creeping down in lines of 
 trailing vapour till they hemmed in the road along 
 which the solitary traveller was plodding. 
 
 Perhaps, to look at the lad, it would be more 
 correct to say "tramp," instead of "traveller," 
 for anything more wanting in the dignity and 
 
 222907
 
 4 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 respectability with which one associates the latter 
 name could scarcely have been found. His clothes 
 were little more than a mass of rags, his toes were 
 through his boots, and the Tam-o'-Shanter which 
 covered his shock of red hair was only fit for the 
 head of a scarecrow. 
 
 Yet the lad was not ill-looking. Despite his 
 clothes, despite his homely features, and the hard, 
 dogged expression upon his face, the healthy youth, 
 which belonged to his sixteen years of open-air life, 
 asserted itself and refused to be disguised. 
 
 The figure, though lean and angular, was well- 
 knit and squarely built ; the skin (under its dirt) 
 was of a wholesome brown ; the set lips were as 
 scarlet as the rose-hips which the birds had left 
 here and there by the roadside ; and the eyes, for 
 all their joylessness, were clear and good. 
 
 The wan light faded more and more. 
 
 The river, which followed the base of the hills to 
 the left of the road, ceased to reflect the dying 
 day, and as our tramp crossed the bridge over the 
 tributary burn, where the high-road turns into the 
 main street of the little grey Northumbrian town 
 of Haltwhistle, a thick drizzle began to fall. 
 
 The boy's head drooped a little as he passed 
 through the street. He drew his ragged Tam-o'- 
 Shanter down over his brows, and kept his face as 
 much as possible turned away when he passed one 
 of the scattered gas-lamps of the little country town. 
 
 One would have said that he was shunning obser- 
 vation.
 
 THE WANDERER. 5 
 
 He gave a little sigh, as of relief, when he had 
 passed the last lamp and was crossing a second 
 bridge over the river outside the town. 
 
 The water bubbled along its stony channel below 
 the bridge, but the misty darkness was almost too 
 thick, by this time, to allow of its being seen, espe- 
 cially by eyes newly dazzled by the gas. But the 
 tramp seemed to know well enough where he was. 
 Passing the bridge, he turned sharply to the right, 
 and, after a little more walking, felt for a gate on 
 the left of the road, swung it open, and entered 
 what is known in the north as a " loaning," that is, 
 a lane along which cattle are driven on their way 
 to be milked. 
 
 There were no cattle there now, but the boy could 
 feel with his ill-shod feet the prints made by their 
 hoofs in the miry road. No, he was not mis- 
 taken. He knew well enough where he was. 
 
 There were trees on either side of him, the 
 remains, perhaps, of a former avenue. Standing 
 still for a moment, he could hear the faint sound 
 made by the drip of the mist-drops from their 
 leafless boughs, and feel them upon his upturned 
 face. 
 
 He drew another deep breath and moved on 
 again. The ground in front of him began to rise. 
 He seemed to be climbing a hill. 
 
 He looked up, the dogged, joyless look in his 
 face changing to one of eagerness, not unmixed 
 with anxiety. 
 
 He was beyond the trees now, and the sky,
 
 6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 perhaps under the influence of a rising moon, 
 hidden somewhere behind the mist, had lightened 
 to a pale grey background of cloud. Against this 
 stood out the dark masses and broken lines of what 
 seemed to be a ruined castle. The windows and 
 loopholes were dark and unglazed. No light, to 
 show habitation, shone through any of them. 
 
 To the left of the ruined keep, the tramp opened 
 another gate under an ivied archway and passed 
 into what seemed to be a farmyard. Here, at 
 least, were the signs of life. 
 
 Through an open door came a dusty stream of 
 light, and the regular sound of milk falling into a 
 milking-pail. The lad stopped and listened, his 
 breath coming more quickly as he did so. He 
 could see, also, how the cheerful glow of a fire shone 
 through a window opposite to where he stood, and 
 hear the stamp of horses in the stable somewhere 
 on. the left. 
 
 Presently, a hand came and drew down the blind 
 over the window. But still the firelight filtered 
 cheerily through the chinks, in warm, red contrast 
 to the chill of the November evening and the 
 clammy greyness of the falling mist. 
 
 The tramp leaned against the gate, while his 
 eyes fixed themselves wistfully on the light. He 
 seemed in no haste to move, though the door 
 opposite to him had been the goal towards which 
 he had pressed so determinately all that day. It 
 seemed enough for him, at present, to know that 
 he had arrived.
 
 THE WANDERER. 7 
 
 There was a movement in the byre. The sound 
 of milking came to an end. The light flickered, 
 and, after a minute or two, a girl came out carrying 
 two milking-skeels, followed by a boy with a lantern 
 in his hand. 
 
 Without noticing the tramp at the gate, they 
 crossed the yard and went into the house. Then, 
 after a few minutes' longer hesitation, the tramp 
 followed them, knocked at the door, and, hardly 
 giving time for an answer, lifted the latch and 
 walked in. 
 
 The combined light of lamp and fire, shining 
 full in his eyes, almost blinded him at first after 
 the darkness outside. He stood, like one dazed, 
 trying to make out the figures round the hearth, 
 but, for the moment, quite unable to do so. 
 
 His ears were keen enough, however, to take in 
 all the sounds which met them. 
 
 A small dog barked furiously, and rushed towards 
 the new-comer in a perfect frenzy of duty joyfully 
 fulfilled. There was the peculiar rasping sound of 
 chairs pushed back over a sanded stone floor, a 
 shrill exclamation from a woman's throat, and a 
 little ciy of surprise from a girl. 
 
 Then the tramp's eyes cleared, and he saw plainly 
 the comfortable farm-kitchen and its inmates. 
 
 There were the usual signs of comfort without 
 luxury, which mark the house of the smaller north- 
 country farmer the rag hearthrug on the clean, 
 stone floor ; the plainly cushioned armchairs on 
 each side of the wide fireplace ; the polished dresser.
 
 8 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 with its store of crockery and pewter-pots and 
 plates. The plain wooden table, made for use and 
 not show, was set out for the evening meal with 
 plenty of wholesome food. 
 
 But the new-comer did not need to look at all 
 these details. He knew them by heart already. 
 It was the living part of the scene which fixed his 
 attention. 
 
 A tall, gaunt woman was standing in the middle 
 of the floor, the steaming potato-pan, which she had 
 just taken from the fire, still in her hands. She 
 wore a rusty-black gown, a clean white apron, and 
 one of those abominations, dear to certain elderly 
 women of her class, known as " a black cap," under 
 which her grizzled hair was severely brushed down 
 on either side of a hard-featured face. 
 
 Behind her was the same girl who had just come 
 in from milking a plump, fair little body of, perhaps, 
 fourteen years old, with flaxen hair of the kind that 
 refuses to lie flat, wide, blue, childish eyes, and an 
 apple-blossom face. She was holding a chair by the 
 back with both her hands, and her full, rosy lips 
 were wide-open with surprise. A black-haired lad 
 was taking off his boots by the fire, but had stopped 
 midway in the act, with one on his foot and one 
 in his hand, as the door opened. 
 
 " Well, I never ! If it isn't yon lad come back ! " 
 This is what the woman said, and the words came 
 with a shrillness which spoke of no pleasure in the 
 return. 
 
 "Nick, is't you? Where have ye been all this
 
 THE WANDERER. 9 
 
 while ? Viper, be quiet, can't ye ? Dinna ye see 
 it's Nick ? " 
 
 The girl's sweet voice was pleasant after the 
 woman's shrill tones ; but, at the same time, the 
 words showed more surprise than joy. 
 
 The black-haired boy by the fire said nothing. 
 He sat there stolidly, with the boot, which he had 
 just taken off", still in his hand, and an expression 
 which was the reverse of pleasant on his dark, 
 handsome face. 
 
 It was left for the fourth member of the party, a 
 little, sandy, wiry-haired terrier, with a shrewish little 
 face and prick ears, to give the welcome which his 
 superiors denied. At the girl's words, Viper had 
 suddenly ceased the barking with which, as a 
 dutiful watch-dog, she had felt bound to salute a 
 stranger. A careful investigation of the ragged 
 legs had convinced the fussy little household guar- 
 dian that the new-comer, though at first sight he 
 had with justice been classed with vagrants, a set 
 of people which all right-minded dogs abhor, was 
 less strange to the scent than Viper had supposed. 
 The snuffing had ended in a dubious wag of the 
 tail, a cautious attempt at fawning, and finally in 
 a lick of the hand, which said as plainly as any 
 words could have done, " I've seen you before, some 
 time or other. My remembrance of you, though 
 not vivid, is pleasant, and I bid you welcome." 
 
 The boy bent down to caress the little creature, 
 and the water came into his eyes all against his 
 will.
 
 10 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "She kens me, I'm thinkin'," he said in rather 
 a husky voice. "It's the bit pup I left behind, 
 likely ? " 
 
 "Ay, it's Viper," said the girl. "She made a 
 big set when ye went away. Nick, whatever did 
 you gan for to leave us like that ? " 
 
 The girl's voice was full of reproach. 
 
 " Ye'd a deal better ax what he's come back for," 
 said the woman, severely, as she proceeded to turn 
 the potatoes out into a dish. 
 
 " A bad shillen's boon' to turn up again, mother," 
 growled the black-haired lad, pulling off his other 
 boot, and slipping his feet into a pair of carpet 
 shoes. " I always said Nick would come back yan 
 o' these fine days." 
 
 " And you said reet, as usual, Teddy. But that's 
 not sayen' he's goin' to bide. It's a deal easier to 
 throw away yer bread-and-butter than to pick it 
 up again when the fancy takes you. There's them 
 as folks warm in their bosoms only to find them 
 vipers who sting in return." 
 
 Hearing her name pronounced with emphasis, 
 the little, sandy terrier looked up with a short 
 bark, evidently thinking that supper-time had 
 come. 
 
 " Drat the dog ! " cried the farmer's wife, im- 
 patiently. " Canna ye take her in t' back-kitchen 
 and give her her meat, Marg'et, instead o' starin' 
 at yon lad ? " Then, setting down the empty pan 
 upon the fender, she turned to the young tramp, 
 who was still standing by the door. " Come now,
 
 THE WANDERER, II 
 
 you," she said sharply, "move out o' this. We 
 diven't want any such good-for-nothings here." 
 
 " But, missus, I've come heam ! " 
 
 The boy said the words wistfully, and looked 
 into the hard-featured face as though he could not 
 believe that the sentence was really meant. 
 
 " Heam ! " the woman cried scornfully ; "this is no 
 heam for sich as you. It was, yance, mebbe, for ye 
 were housed here for mony a lang day, when nae- 
 body else would tak' ye in. And kindly tret 
 too, ye were a deal better nor ye desarved. And 
 how did ye sarve us for't ? Why, ran awa' in a 
 tantrum because words were said that didn't please 
 ye ! What were you to pick and choose, I should 
 like to ken ? " 
 
 "But, missus, I've come back," said the boy 
 again. He seemed too utterly weary to be able to 
 tli ink of anything else, but just the one fact that 
 here he was, and here, at all costs, he must remain. 
 
 "Ay, you've come back, I can see that without 
 your tellen' me," said the farmer's wife, no whit 
 moved by the lad's wistful words and weary look. 
 " But whae telt ye ye might come back ? Not I, 
 at ony rate. Come, ye'd better be movin' ; the 
 maister-man '11 be in directly." 
 
 But still Nick did not stir. He stood, looking at 
 the woman, with the same pathetic, uncomprehend- 
 ing look on his thin face, the moisture dripping from 
 his rags upon the clean stone floor. 
 
 " Let him have a bite to eat, onyhow," pleaded 
 the apple-faced lassie, coming back into the kitchen,
 
 12 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 and laying a hand on her mother's arm. " He looks 
 fairly starved, does pier Nick, and fit to drop. There, 
 sit down, lad. Mother '11 not deny you a bite and 
 sup, onyhow, if go you must. Oh dear, but ye were 
 a silly to run awa' ! " 
 
 She pushed a chair towards the young tramp, into 
 which he dropped without a word. 
 
 The farmer's wife looked at him, as he sat there, 
 his face white through the brown of tan and dirt. 
 
 "My, ye're reet there, Maggie. It was a fool's 
 trick to give up a good heam, and he's suffered 
 for't, as folks can see. Here, lad, I winna deny 
 ye a taitee ; it'll warm ye and put a bit o' life into 
 ye afore ye gan. Bad as ye've served us, I diven't 
 want ye to die upon the road for the want o' a 
 bite and a sup. Meggie, get him a drink o' tea." 
 
 The boy opened the eyes which were closing for 
 weariness and faintness, as he felt the hot potato 
 in his hand. He looked at it for a moment, and 
 then began to eat greedily, drinking down the tea, 
 that Meggie handed him, in great gulps. The 
 others watched him silently till he had finished. 
 Then the woman spoke again. 
 
 " There, now," she said briskly, " ye'll do better, 
 I'm thinkin'. It's time to be off." 
 
 But Nick did not stir. 
 
 " Diven't ye hear me, lad ? " the mistress said 
 more sharply. " Quick march ! " 
 
 " Whae's to march ? " asked a new voice. 
 
 The door had been opened, unperceived by those 
 in the room, and a man came in, wrapped in a
 
 THE WANDERER. 13 
 
 shepherd's plaid, with the mist-drops thick on his 
 tweed cap, his hair, and whiskers. He was a wiry, 
 well-built countryman, looking young for his years, 
 which counted between fifty and sixty. He had 
 a ruddy complexion, a keen, cold blue eye, dark 
 hair and whiskers, and a thin-lipped mouth and 
 well-developed chin, which spoke of an obstinate 
 nature. 
 
 " Why, whae've ye got here ? " he went on, 
 shutting the door behind him, and unwinding his 
 plaid. " It's sae mirk outside I can hardlys mak' 
 oot onything now I'm in t' light ! Whae is't, 
 Meggie ? " 
 
 This to his young daughter, who had taken her 
 father's plaid and was hanging it up to dry. 
 
 " It's Nick, faither ; he's come back, and moother 
 wants to set him off again." 
 
 "Nick, is it ?" asked the man, turning to look at 
 the lad more closely. "My sakes, and so it is! 
 I'd hardly have kent him again, he's that waxed 
 (grown). 
 
 "Ay, but he's half-starved, faither, and dead 
 beat. Ye'll let him bide to-neet, onyhow, won't 
 ye ? " pleaded the girl. 
 
 " Whisht, Meggie ! The sooner he's off t' better," 
 said the farmer's wife. "Tell him to gan, John. 
 He winna stir for me." 
 
 But John did not obey. Masterful as the wife 
 was with the world at large, once the goodman was 
 at home, her word was no longer law. 
 
 He stood, looking silently at the boy, who, made
 
 14 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 drowsy by the food and warmth, seemed dropping 
 off to sleep in his chair. 
 
 "Let him bide, faither," pleaded the girl 
 again. 
 
 "Ay, he can bide till mornin', onyway," said the 
 master, slowly. " He's dead beat, that's what he is. 
 Give him a shake-down in the little cart-shed, Teddy, 
 where Viper lies. She'll see to his behaviour, wife, 
 if ye're feared o' that. Man, but he's waxed some 
 since he left us ! " 
 
 The master looked with a sort of wondering ad- 
 miration at the tall, well-knit form of the young 
 tramp, as Teddy, evidently much against the grain, 
 took him by the arm and marched him off to the 
 cart-shed, followed by the dog. 
 
 Not till he was out in the air again, and moving 
 across the yard, did Nick become fully conscious of 
 what was taking place. At first a horror came over 
 him that the threat of the mistress was actually in 
 course of being carried out. 
 
 At the thought, he stopped suddenly and tried 
 to shake himself free from Teddy's grasp. 
 
 " Nay, I'll bide," he said sullenly. 
 
 "Be quiet, cannot ye?" was the testy answer. 
 " Isn't t' cart-shed good enough for ye, then ? If 
 moother and I'd had our ways, ye'd have been 
 marched clean off the premises, ye beggar, you ! 
 Kick up a row, and I'll do it yet." 
 
 But Nick was in no condition to " kick up a row." 
 The promise of the cart-shed at that moment was 
 quite enough for him. He was worn out, body
 
 THE WANDERER. 15 
 
 and mind, and sank at once into the straw, where 
 Teddy pushed him, with passive indifference. 
 
 But when his conductor was gone and the door 
 of the shed had closed behind him, the drowsy 
 comfort which had stolen upon him in the warm 
 kitchen began to yield to a condition of things much 
 less pleasant. The air of the shed was cold, his rags 
 were wet, and he soon began to shiver. His mind, 
 too, awoke to the misery of the situation, as well as 
 his body. The sense of the utter want of welcome 
 with which every one had met him came over him, 
 for the first time, with a sharp stab. He had so 
 longed to be here, and those he had come to seemed 
 to think of nothing but how soon he could be made 
 to go. 
 
 To realize that you are without a friend in the 
 world, nay, even without a well-wisher, brings with 
 it a terrible sense of dreary loneliness ; and the boy's 
 soft young heart felt it sorely. As his teeth began to 
 chatter, sobs, which he could not restrain, shook his 
 body no less than did the cold. 
 
 The sounds caused a stir among the straw not 
 far from where he lay, and, presently, a warm, hairy 
 creature crept near to the sobbing boy, nestled a 
 moist nose into his hand, and then, failing to attract 
 notice, began to lick the tears from his cheeks. The 
 boy's sobs suddenly stopped ; he stole an arm round 
 the hairy body, and drew it close up against his 
 breast. 
 
 " Viper," he whispered, " is't thoo, lass ? " 
 
 At the sound of the voice and the touch of the
 
 1 6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 hand the little terrier whined softly with pleasure, 
 and nestled closer into the boy's bosom, so that the 
 chills which shook him began to subside. His heart, 
 too, was touched and warmed by the dumb affection, 
 and comfort stole slowly back again. 
 
 Here, at least, was one creature to give him a 
 welcome on his return. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 A STROKE OF BUSINESS. 
 
 TlIE farmer's family, meanwhile, was sitting at 
 supper in the kitchen. 
 
 While the business of eating was going on, little 
 or nothing was said. 
 
 The mistress, as she helped her husband and 
 children to bacon and potatoes, pursed up her 
 mouth, as who would say, "Well, it's no business 
 of mine, I suppose ; but my judgment does not go 
 with what has just been done." 
 
 Teddy looked sullen, and little Margaret, though 
 she had got her way, was evidently wise enough 
 to know that the less said about it, just now, the 
 better. 
 
 The master, John Ridley, to give him his full 
 name, sat in his armchair at the fire end of the 
 table, and seemed to be ruminating some particular 
 thought as he chewed the savoury food.
 
 A STROKE OF BUSINESS. I? 
 
 When supper was over, he drew up his chair to 
 the hearth, filled and lit his pipe, and began to 
 smoke, still, to all appearance, ruminating. Teddy 
 took his seat on the settle at the other side of the 
 great fireplace, which had, evidently, served in old 
 days for the burning of logs, but had now been 
 filled in with a modern range. He did not smoke, 
 his father considering the luxury unnecessary for 
 a lad of his years, but he leaned his dark face on 
 his two hands, set his elbows on his knees, and 
 ruminated like his father. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley and Meggie bustled about between 
 the two kitchens, washing up and putting away 
 the supper things. 
 
 Not till his wife and daughter had sat down in 
 their turn, Mrs. Ridley in the armchair by her son, 
 Meggie on a wooden stool at her father's feet, did 
 the farmer give his family the benefit of his long 
 meditations. 
 
 "Well," he said slowly, removing his pipe from 
 his lips, and holding it in his hand, "that's t' 
 third hirin' I've been to and I canna light on." 
 
 "Why," asked Mrs. Ridley, plying her knitting- 
 needles, which she had taken up as she sat down, 
 " were there nae lads ? There's generally plenty 
 o' them sort when a body isn't wantin' them." 
 
 "Ay, plenty. But when yan dis want them 
 they're, mostlys, hard to hire." 
 
 " Wantin' over mickle wage, likely ? " 
 
 "Ay." 
 
 " Well, John, if wages is up, it canna be helped ; 
 
 C
 
 1 8 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 ye'll just have to give in. We canna do, wantin' 
 a lad, wi' you at t' pit nearlings all day since they 
 made you viewer, and the beasts all in." 
 
 " If Teddy, there, was worth his salt we could dac 
 well enough," said Ridley, with a glance across the 
 hearth at his dark-browed son. " He's gettin' a big 
 lad, and might dae a deal mair than he dis." 
 
 Teddy frowned, but made no reply. It was his 
 mother who took up the cudgels on his behalf. 
 
 "A growen' lad like Teddy disn't dae wi' ower 
 hard wark," she said tartly. "And, besides, ye're 
 gey oft wanten' him down at t' pit. It's me and 
 Meggie as t' work falls on heaviest, and we're 
 nowther on us fit to slave oot o' doors in winter 
 weather." 
 
 " Nor I diven't ask it of you nowther," was the 
 rather testy answer. 
 
 "Then we maun have a lad," responded Mrs. 
 Ridley, decidedly, feeling that the logic was all on 
 her side. 
 
 "Ay, but them big wages I winnot give," was 
 the equally decided rejoinder. 
 
 " Then where's the lad to come from ? " asked 
 the wife. 
 
 The husband paused a moment, then, looking 
 across the hearth to see how she would take it, out 
 came the thought which he had been ruminating 
 all the evening. 
 
 "There's Nick," he said slowly. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley dropped her knitting and almost 
 shrieked.
 
 A STROKE OF BUSINESS. IQ 
 
 " Nick ! " she exclaimed, a red spot of colour 
 appearing on each of her high cheek-bones. " Nick ! 
 That good-for-nothing, ungrateful rascal ? Surely, 
 John, ye'd niver go for to have him back again ? " 
 
 " Why not ? " asked her husband, quietly. 
 
 " Why not ? Ye ask me why not ? Why, man 
 alive, there's tveryth'mg again' it. Didn't he run 
 awa' when we had him before ? and will ye try him 
 again ? What good can ye expect to get out o' a 
 chap like yon ? A nameless brat, whose moother 
 was nothin' but a tramp, and whose faither nobody 
 kens. It's not to be expected that a lad like yon 
 should turn out well. I told ye that afore, and it's 
 come to pass as I said. Didn't I ken that hizzy 
 Sarah " 
 
 " Whisht, woman ! " said the master, sternly, hold- 
 ing up his hand to stem the goodwife's torrent 
 of angry speech, which, indeed, only he had the 
 power of stemming, " remember, the bairns is here. 
 Meggie, lass," he went on, his voice softening as 
 he spoke to his little daughter, "go and fetch my 
 backy-pooch out of the pocket o' my top-coat. It's 
 hingin' aback o' the bedroom door." 
 
 The girl rose and went upstairs, rather reluctantly, 
 for she was interested in the result of the struggle 
 between her father and mother on the subject of 
 Nick. 
 
 "Ay, there're the bairns to consider. Ye're reet 
 there, John," began the wife again, after a little 
 pause. " But that's just what I was goin' to put 
 to ye. Ye diven't consider the mischief they may
 
 2O UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 get from the example of a chap like yon ; " she 
 jerked her head in the direction of the cart-shed, 
 setting the bits of jet, which did duty for flowers 
 on her black cap, all a-quiver. " ' Evil communica- 
 tions corrupt good manners ; ' that's in the Scrip- 
 tures, and ye canna deny 't. And, besides, there's 
 Meggie. She's gettin' a big girl, and she and yon 
 lad were a deal too friendly when he was here 
 before, to my thinkin'." 
 
 " Hoots, wife ! " snorted the farmer, contemptu- 
 ously. "She's nobbut a bairn, is Meggie, and 
 he's but little mair." 
 
 "Ay, but bairns at that yage '11 not be bairns 
 much longer," answered Mrs. Ridley, with a saga- 
 cious nod. 
 
 " There's nae danger, I tell you," was her husband's 
 testy reply. Opposition always made him obstinate, 
 and his wife but seldom ventured to oppose his will 
 as she was doing this evening. 
 
 But the woman still refused to throw down her 
 arms. She shifted the attack to another point. 
 
 "And how much good did ye find him afore?" 
 she asked caustically. "Ye said yerself he wasn't 
 worth his meat, and ye thrashed him that last day 
 because he answered ye back." 
 
 " He's grown since then," said the farmer. " He'll 
 be worth his meat now, and his clothes as well, and 
 cheap at that. He nobbut wants good feedin' to 
 mak' a fine-like lad ; I can see that. He's starved 
 now, and weakly for want o' food, as I take it ; 
 but that'll mend. If I like his looks in the mornin'
 
 A STROKE OF BUSINESS. 21 
 
 as much as I did to-neet, I'll tell him he can bide. 
 Nick ! Why, he's come in the nick o' time, he 
 has ! Eh, Meggie ? " 
 
 The farmer laughed at his own little joke, and 
 pinched the pink cheek of his little daughter, as 
 she handed him his tobacco-pouch, and seated her- 
 self again at his feet. 
 
 "And what if he serves us as he did afore, and 
 runs away ? " asked Mrs. Ridley, with a last effort 
 at contradiction. 
 
 " Ye'll have to see that he's made mair comfort- 
 able, this time," was her husband's reply, as he lit 
 his pipe at the fire. "Give him plenty o' good 
 meat, let him lie warm, and dinna be always 
 fratching at him ; he'll bide then. Ay, and I'll 
 get the work done, and be saved the wage," he 
 muttered contentedly to himself, between the puffs 
 of his pipe. Then he leaned back in his chair, and 
 gave himself up to comfort. If the day's labour 
 had been thrown away, he was conscious of having 
 made up for it by the work of the evening. His 
 rumination had brought forth excellent results, and 
 he had the pleasing sense of having, once more, 
 shown that he was master in his own house. 
 
 When, seventeen years ago, he had married Nancy 
 Robinson, his friends had jokingly prophesied that 
 the grey mare would prove the better horse. But 
 John Ridley had shown them, long ago, to be false 
 prophets. Next to his shrewdness in business and 
 his tidy balance at the bank, the farmer and pit- 
 viewer prided himself on his strong will, and there
 
 22 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 were few that had once tried to stand against it 
 who could be found to say that his boasting was 
 empty words. 
 
 For all his usually quiet ways, John Ridley was 
 known throughout the district as a man of iron. 
 Only one hand there was that had any power to 
 move him when he had once decided upon any- 
 thing, and that was the soft little hand of his 
 daughter Meggie. Yet there were limits even to 
 her power over her father's heart, and, child though 
 she was, she had learnt to know them. 
 
 Some may think it strange that, once defied 
 by one of his dependants, a man so hard and 
 determined as was John Ridley, should have been 
 so ready to overlook past offences. But this readi- 
 ness did not in any way belie the character of the 
 man. Not to mention the pleasure it gave him to 
 get a servant and save the wages, it flattered his 
 vanity to think that, in the long run, his tussle with 
 the young rebel had ended in victory. Nick had 
 run away because of hard words and harder blows ; 
 yet, in spite of these, he had returned, glad and 
 willing to bend his neck again to the yoke which 
 he had thrown off. There is a satisfaction for some 
 men in being able to beat the dog which has dis- 
 obeyed them, when it crouches again at their feet ; 
 and it was just this sort of satisfaction which John 
 Ridley was tasting, as he smoked his pipe that 
 evening in the chair of honour by his own fireside. 
 He had silenced his wife, he had saved his pocket, 
 and now all was in train for breaking in and using
 
 AN ORDEAL. 23 
 
 the self-willed young dog who had so vainly defied 
 him. 
 
 John Ridley, for all his apparent readiness to 
 forgive, went to bed, that night, with no more con- 
 sideration in his heart for the friendless boy that 
 slept in his outhouse than was felt by the woman 
 who would have thrust him from her door. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AN ORDEAL. 
 
 "AND now, gan to t' car-shed and bring in yon 
 chap to his breakfas'," said the farmer, next morning, 
 when, the early work being over, he entered the 
 kitchen. 
 
 "Ay, and see that he gets a good wesh at t' 
 well afore he comes in here, since yer faither's set 
 on his takin' his meat wi' us ! " Mrs. Ridley called 
 after her son, as he slowly went to fulfil his father's 
 bidding. 
 
 No more than any one else did Teddy dare 
 openly to resist that iron will. But, nevertheless, 
 it was often against the grain ; and if, behind 
 backs, he could evade an uncongenial order, Master 
 Teddy's conscience did not trouble itself to protest. 
 
 Nick, meanwhile, had already awakened. Little 
 Viper was not accustomed to go on sleeping after 
 the stir of foddering the cattle had begun in the 
 yard. There was a hole at the bottom of the door
 
 24 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 through which she could creep out when she had 
 had enough of bed, and though, this morning, out 
 of consideration for her bedfellow, she had lain 
 longer than usual, yet her movements had ended 
 in rousing Nick. 
 
 At first, after his deep and dreamless sleep of 
 full twelve hours, he could not make out where he 
 was, or how it came to pass that a little brown 
 object, warm and hairy, was lying upon his breast, 
 busily engaged in licking his face. He opened his 
 eyes. 
 
 Above him was a heather- thatched roof, with 
 rough, heavy rafters crossing it at regular intervals, 
 and holes in the thatch, here and there, through 
 which long, dusty rays of light slanted, like Jacob's 
 ladder in the Scripture prints, from heaven to earth. 
 
 Added to what came in at Viper's hole in the 
 door, this light was just sufficient to show the out- 
 lines of a small cart, a farm-gig, and a raking- 
 machine, with their shafts up in the air, on the 
 wheels of which some stout, matronly-looking hens 
 were roosting. These latter were just beginning to 
 rouse themselves from their slumbers, with clucks, 
 and caws, and such-like inarticulate noises as are 
 common to hens of their figure, and which answer 
 to the grunts and yawns of awakening humanity of 
 the stout and elderly sort. 
 
 A vigorous wagging of the ropy tail affixed to 
 the hairy creature which sat on his breast, greeted 
 the boy's opening eyes, and contributed still further 
 to bring him to a consciousness of his surroundings.
 
 AN ORDEAL. 25 
 
 In a flash of memory he seemed to see himself 
 and a child-companion seated aloft in that very gig, 
 whipping an imaginary horse and careering away 
 into such an unknown country of sunny brightness 
 as his late wanderings had now almost convinced 
 him was nowhere to be fond. 
 
 Yes, this must be the little cart-shed at Bellister, 
 where he and Meggie Ridley had so often played 
 together when both were children (the boy had 
 now quite ceased to consider himself as a child) ; 
 and this creature which was licking his face was 
 none other than the terrier pup which had shared 
 their frolic in the straw, that then, as now, lay piled 
 in the corner. 
 
 The boy sat up, sending the little terrier sprawling 
 suddenly on its back. 
 
 " Viper," he said softly, with a sigh of satisfaction, 
 " so I've won heam ! " 
 
 Viper answered by a whine of pleasure, and such 
 an accelerated wagging of the tail as seemed to say 
 that she, for one, was delighted at the wanderer's 
 return. 
 
 Nick caressed her to her heart's content ; but the 
 remembrances that every one at Bellister had not 
 quite echoed the sentiments of this little terrier 
 came to temper his satisfaction, and made him slow 
 to leave the shed and to try once more his fortune 
 in the house. While he was still hesitating, the door 
 opened, and a boy's dark head was thrust in. 
 
 " Nick," said a surly voice, which he recognized 
 as Teddy's, "ye're to come in to breakfas',"
 
 26 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Nick got up with alacrity, for the pangs of hunger 
 awoke at the word " breakfast," and shook the straw 
 from his clothes. 
 
 " Eh, what a sight ye are, lad ! " exclaimed Teddy, 
 as he came out into the yard. 
 
 "Am I?" asked Nick, innocently. 
 
 The other boy burst out laughing. 
 
 " Ye're for all the world like the scarecrow we set 
 up in the cornfields," he said, scornfully. " Ye'd 
 scare all the birds, first-rate, if we could use ye now, 
 just as ye are, in them rags, with yer hair all on 
 end, and as full of straws as mother's cushion is full 
 o' pins, and yer face as black as though ye'd been up 
 the chimbley. Take a douse at the well, lad, and 
 a spell at the reddin'-keam * in the back-kitchen, 
 afore ye show yer face to mother ; that's my advice." 
 
 He ran off whistling, leaving Nick to follow his 
 directions. 
 
 The mist had cleared off the hills, and the sky, 
 where the sun would presently rise, was free from 
 clouds, but, nevertheless, the November morning was 
 sufficiently chilly to make the well-water a stinging 
 experience. Nick did not spare the splashing, how- 
 ever. The summons to breakfast was a good omen, 
 in his eyes, and if he could pass muster under the 
 sharp eyes of Mrs. Ridley, he still had hopes that 
 "the master" would allow him to stay. 
 
 He splashed and scrubbed till face and neck and 
 hands, at least, were clean ; then, going to a side 
 
 * In some north-country farm-houses and cottages, a comb, called 
 the " redding-comb," hangs handy for the use of the whole family.
 
 AN ORDEAL. 2/ 
 
 door, he stole into the empty back-kitchen, and 
 vigorously applied the comb to his matted locks, 
 careless of the agony caused by too long neglect 
 of the same. 
 
 This done, he gravely surveyed the result in the 
 little hand-glass which hung beside the comb, not 
 for the self-gratification which a girl might have 
 drawn in from the sight of what was reflected there, 
 but simply to see how it was likely to appear in 
 the critical eyes of Mrs. Ridley. Poor Nick 
 shook his head rather sadly, as he turned his back 
 on the mirror and made his way towards the 
 kitchen. 
 
 The immediate result of such a scrubbing as his 
 countenance had undergone is not always becoming, 
 and, what with cold water and trepidation, his cheeks 
 glowed red as the rising sun, and his eyes pricked 
 uncomfortably, as he made his appearance before 
 the assembled family. 
 
 The Ridleys were already sitting at table when 
 he went into the front kitchen. Mrs. Ridley had 
 the tea-tray before her, and was sipping a cup of 
 tea, while her husband and children were busily 
 attacking their steaming porridge and milk. 
 
 A plate of the same was set by an empty chair 
 at the end of the table nearest the door, which, of 
 old, had been the place occupied by Nick, and here 
 he now sat down without a word, and began to 
 ply his porridge-spoon with the rest. 
 
 John Ridley was not a man to hold much con- 
 versation at meals, and, consequently, not a word
 
 28 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 was said, nor did he bestow any notice on the new- 
 comer till his plate was empty and he had pushed 
 it back and taken the cup of tea which was wont 
 to follow the porridge, from his wife's hands. Then 
 he lifted his keen eyes, and looked long and criti- 
 cally at the boy's face, still bent over the porridge- 
 plate at the end of the table. 
 
 Apparently Nick did not notice him any more 
 than, a moment before, he had noticed Nick. He 
 went on supping up the warm nourishing mess which 
 .was set before him without once looking up till 
 the last spoonful had disappeared down his throat. 
 Not till then did he raise his eyes, and, encounter- 
 ing the whole family battery turned upon him, grew 
 redder than ever. 
 
 Every one else seemed to have finished break- 
 fast and to be watching him. Even Viper was 
 sitting up on her hind legs by his chair, in- 
 treating him, with dumb, wistful brown eyes, to 
 remember his bedfellow and leave her a spoonful 
 behind. The blood rushed in tingling waves to 
 poor Nick's face, so that he could scarcely see. He 
 felt that the ordeal had begun, and that on it 
 depended his future life. 
 
 " Come here, lad," said Ridley at last, when, 
 according to poor Nick's feelings, the tall old clock 
 in the corner had been ticking molten drops of 
 lead upon his brain for at least an hour "come 
 here, and let's have a good look at ye." 
 
 A good look ! Had he not taken that already ? 
 
 Nick rose to his feet and stumbled across the
 
 AN ORDEAL. 29 
 
 floor till he came to a stand in front of the arm- 
 chair by the fire where Ridley was now sitting. 
 
 The farmer indicated the exact spot on the rag- 
 rug where the runaway was to remain, the finger, 
 which he held up for the purpose, remaining sus- 
 pended for some time after Nick had taken up his 
 position. 
 
 It is never agreeable to be pointed at, and the 
 sensation that he was so, and that every other eye 
 in the room was following the direction of the 
 master's, and every ear on the alert to hear what 
 he would say, made the boy, if possible, even 
 hotter than before. 
 
 For another minute Ridley was silent, and looked 
 the boy carefully up and down the while, as though 
 measuring his inches and calculating how much 
 work might be got out of his wiry young frame. 
 
 " Well, and what have ye got to say for yersel' ? " 
 he asked at last. 
 
 The boy fidgeted first to one foot, then to the 
 other, but he made no answer. 
 
 " Come, tells us why ye ran awa' ? " 
 
 Still no reply. 
 
 An angry sparkle came into the man's steel-blue 
 eyes. 
 
 " Can't ye speak, ye young rascal, ye ? " he said 
 impatiently. " If ye've got nothing to say for 
 yersel', what garred (made) ye show yer face here 
 again, eh ? " 
 
 Thus bated, Nick managed to find words at 
 length.
 
 30 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " I couldna bide avva' nae longer," he muttered ; 
 " I joost had to come back." 
 
 "Just so. Ye rued yer folly in leavin' a good 
 beam, eh ? " 
 
 " Mebbe," answered the boy, sullenly. 
 
 "And where hae ye been since ?" 
 
 " Oh, joost onywhere ! Well, then," as Ridley 
 pulled him up sternly, " I hired for a bit, Brampton- 
 ways, but I didn't care for t' folk, and 
 
 " Ye ran away again ? " asked Ridley, sarcasti- 
 cally, as the boy came to a standstill. 
 
 "Ay." 
 
 Ridley laughed, and the laugh was echoed by his 
 son, who had taken his usual seat on the settle. 
 
 Nick raised his head, and cast an angry glance 
 in Teddy's direction ; but, catching sight of a pair of 
 soft blue eyes anxiously fixed upon him, the anger 
 died out of his face, and he turned again towards 
 his questioner. 
 
 " And what next ? " asked Ridley. 
 
 " I travelled a bit wi' some tinkers, till 
 
 " Well, what ? Ye left them and all ? " 
 
 "Noa, I took bad, and they left me." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I lay a-back o' a dyke till somebody found me 
 and took me to the House." 
 
 "And a fit place for sich as you ! " broke in Mrs. 
 Ridley, who was beginning to clear the table, im- 
 patient of the time and attention which her husband 
 was bestowing on this young tramp. " Why couldn't 
 ye bide there ? "
 
 AN ORDEAL. 31 
 
 " Whisht, wife ! " said Ridley, turning round 
 sharply to put down the interruption. 
 
 " Well, Nick," he continued, as she subsided into 
 silence, only rattling the plates and cups to relieve 
 her feelings a little "come, lad, get on vvi' yer 
 story. It's time I was at t' pit." 
 
 "They kept me there till I mended, and when 
 I came out, I just tramped back here. That's all." 
 
 " And ye want to bide ? " 
 
 The boy looked up with a sparkle in his eye, 
 but he only said "Ay." 
 
 "Well, if I let bygones be bygones, will ye be 
 a good lad in future ? " 
 
 "Ay." 
 
 " Well, what div ye think, missus ? " Ridley 
 turned and appeared to consult his wife, though 
 both he and she knew full well that he had come 
 to a decision already, and would carry it out, what- 
 ever she might say. " It 'ud be a charity, eh ? " 
 
 Mrs. Ridley made no answer. She had no mind 
 to play a second in her husband's farce. 
 
 " Could we do wi'm, think ye ? " he asked again ; 
 and, seeing that he meant to have an answer, she 
 threw him a sour reply, as she carried the breakfast- 
 things into the back-kitchen. 
 
 " Ye'll please yersel', Ridley, I suppose. Ye ken 
 weel enough arlready what / think. But there, ye 
 can please yersel' ! " 
 
 " Vara weel, then, I'll tak' ye back, lad," said the 
 master, turning again to his submissive rebel, "on 
 t' same terms as before," he added, after a little
 
 32 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 pause. "Only, now ye're grown bigger, I shall 
 expect mair work. And, mind, if ye serve us again 
 as ye did last time, ye need niver show yer face 
 again at Bellister. Now, gan and muck t' byres. 
 Ye'll find the barra' and brush and shovel in t' 
 auld spot." He got up, called to his son to follow 
 him, and the two went off to the pit where Ridley 
 was viewer. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "SOME PLEASED." 
 
 WHEN the master was gone, Nick stood for some 
 time quite still in the same spot where his exa- 
 mination had taken place. Then he drew a deep 
 breath and ruffled his thick red hair with his hands, 
 as though he wished to assure himself that he had 
 come out of the ordeal with his head still on his 
 shoulders. 
 
 He looked round. Yes, this w r as the old kitchen 
 at Bellister. The struggle to maintain his position 
 was over, and here he was in possession of the 
 field. 
 
 At first the boy thought himself alone. But 
 that glance round, presently, made him aware of a 
 little figure standing near the doorway, and a pair 
 of eager blue eyes turned in his direction. 
 
 " And are ye really to bide, Nick ? " asked a 
 sweet voice.
 
 "SOME PLEASED." 33 
 
 " Ay. Are ye pleased, Meggie ? " 
 
 The girl crossed the floor till she was quite close 
 to the ragged figure on the hearthrug. 
 
 " Ay," she said, " I'm some pleased. But why 
 did ye go for to leave us, Nick ? " 
 
 There was reproach in her voice and look. 
 
 The boy was touched. 
 
 " There was many a time I wished I hadn't," he 
 said earnestly. 
 
 She stood looking into the face of her old com- 
 panion, as though trying to find out whether this 
 was the Nick she had known, or whether he had 
 turned into some one else. Apparently the ex- 
 amination was not quite satisfactory ; for, presently, 
 the child said, rather wistfully 
 
 " It's alang o' the sickness, I suppose ? " 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " I diven't joost ken," she answered slowly, " but, 
 somehow, ye diven't look quite as ye used. There's 
 little holes in yer face, Nick, not joost all over, and 
 I only see them now I'm quite close, but ye didn't 
 use to look like that, and " 
 
 Her breath seemed to catch in her throat, and 
 she stopped short. 
 
 " Oh, that's nowt ! " answered the boy, cheerfully. 
 " It's nobbut skin-deep, Meggie. I'm joost t' same 
 if ye could look t' other side. It was t' small pox 
 made them holes." 
 
 " The small pox ! " she cried, starting away from 
 him in horror. " Was that the badness ye had ? 
 Oh, Nick, pier Nick ! " 
 
 D
 
 34 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "Ye needn't be scared at me, Meggie," he said 
 reassuringly. "I was quite mended long since. 
 They wouldn't have let me out if I hadn't been ; 
 and, besides, it took me near ten days to tramp 
 back here." 
 
 "And what brought ye back, lad? Ye get nac 
 wages here. Ye'd better have hired again." 
 
 "Folks wouldn't have taken such a ragged lad 
 as me," he answered, with a rueful look at his 
 clothes, "and, besides 
 
 "Well, what?" 
 
 " I couldn't bide away from Bellister. Whenever 
 I dreamed, it was here I was again, lakin' (play- 
 ing) wi' you in t' ruins. I was forced to come 
 back." 
 
 He said the words with a vehemence which 
 showed their truth. 
 
 Meggie looked at him thoughtfully, with her 
 hands behind her back. 
 
 " It's queer," she said presently. 
 
 " What's queer ? " 
 
 "Why, that ye went away and then had to come 
 back. If ye liked Bellister that much, I diven't 
 ken why ever ye left it." 
 
 " Nor me nowther," answered Nick. " I'd niver 
 have gone, not if they'd kest up things at me nivcr 
 sae bad, nor licked me niver sae hard, if I'd kcnt 
 how I'd feel when my back was turned. It's cruel 
 to feel that a body has nowther a heam nor a 
 friend ! " 
 
 Meggie was silent. Such a condition as Nick
 
 "SOME PLEASED." 35 
 
 described was quite outside of her childish ex- 
 perience. 
 
 " Mebbe, faither '11 lick you again," she remarked, 
 presently. 
 
 "Let him!" said Nick; "I'll bide." 
 
 " Even if folks here isna' friendly ? " 
 
 " There's arlways you and Viper," answered the 
 boy. " I feel a deal comfortabler now, i' my inside, 
 than iver I did since I runned awa'. Ay, I'll bide." 
 
 He said it with as much decision, and planted his 
 burst boots on the hearthrug as firmly as though he 
 were a general who has won a position of vantage 
 at the cost of blood, and would rather die than 
 abandon it. 
 
 Meggie laughed. 
 
 " Ye'll have to please t' auld folk then," she said, 
 " and ye'll find that none sae easy. Faither wants 
 a deal o' work out o' t' lad that's to bide here. 
 He sacked the one we had this last term, 'coz he 
 didn't get through what faither thought he ought, 
 and he'll sack ye and arl if he isn't satisfied. And 
 then, there's moother " 
 
 She paused here, as though words failed her to 
 express all that would be needed to please Mrs. 
 Ridley. But Nick had heard enough. 
 
 His master had set him a job, and here he was, 
 chatting with his old playfellow instead of doing 
 it. She was right in reminding him that this was 
 not the way to maintain the position so hardly 
 won. 
 
 " He telt me to muck t' byres. I maun set aboot
 
 36 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 it," the boy said hastily. " We'll have anither crack 
 (chat) when arl's done, Meggie." 
 
 "Ay. And I've a pail o' water to fetch from t' 
 well. There's moother carlin' of me ! Dear sakes, 
 shouldn't I catch it if she saw me now ! Ay, ye're 
 a good-for-nothin' lad, Nick, garrin' (making) me 
 waste my time this gait (way) ! " With a merry 
 laugh she picked up her pail and ran out into the 
 yard, leaving her companion to follow more slowly 
 on his way to the byres. 
 
 A broad smile beamed out on his scarred face 
 as he followed the flitting figure with his eyes. 
 
 " She isn't mickle altered," he said to himself. 
 " A bit bigger, a bit bonnier, mebbe, but joost t' 
 same sarcy Meggie as I left, a year gone last May 
 Day. Eh, but it's good to be back ! " 
 
 And " It's good to be back," he said again, after 
 t\vo hours of hard work in the byres, as, having 
 made all clean and tidy, he sat down on the shafts 
 of his barrow and took Viper's head between his 
 knees. 
 
 His back ached, his limbs trembled, and the 
 perspiration stood thick on his brow ; for, of late, 
 he had become unused to labour, and the strength 
 lost during his severe illness had not yet wholly 
 returned. 
 
 "Ay, it's good to be back, Viper," he repeated, 
 as he looked into the brown eyes so lovingly fixed 
 upon him. " What is't the sang says ? 
 
 " ' Be it niver sae humble, 
 
 There's nae place like heam.'
 
 "SOME PLEASED." 57 
 
 What doest think, lass ? Lickin's and hard words 
 and slavin' here is better nor liberty in ither places, 
 eh ? And sae thoo's some pleased to see pier Nick 
 come back ? Eh, Viper, lass ? And thoo isn't the 
 only one, owther. She said so, an' arl. ' Some 
 pleased.' Ay, them was t' words. It's worth a deal 
 to hear a body say that to yan, it is that. There's 
 naebody cared a snuff whether I went or came, 
 whether I died or lived, since I left Bellister. Ay, 
 wag thy bit tail and lick ma hand, my lass, since 
 that's thy way o' sayin' thoo's pleased to see me. I 
 like it, Viper, I dae so. Eh, Viper, but I dinna 
 ken kow I feel to-day. If I was a bairn, I think 
 I'd greet!" (cry). 
 
 And, though Nick considered that he had left 
 childhood far behind, it is not so certain that he 
 did not "greet" tears of joy and tenderness of 
 heart, as he sat there in the dim byre, with his 
 cheek resting against the dog's rough head. And, 
 if he did, what then ? There were only Viper and 
 the cows there to see, and the beasts do not betray 
 our weaknesses. 
 
 It had taken but a very little love and kindness 
 to touch the heart of this poor wanderer ; but a 
 little goes a long way with the friendless of this 
 world. 
 
 In the story of a man's life, the date and place 
 of his birth, the names of his father and mother, 
 and a description of the family whence he has 
 sprung, are considered of primary importance. But 
 in the story of poor Nick all these details were
 
 38 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 wanting. No one knew for certain when or where 
 he was born. His mother's name was but guessed 
 at, and, as you have already gathered from Mrs. 
 Ridley's tirade, who and what his father was, was 
 a matter even beyond speculation. 
 
 Nobody owned poor Nick, and the only place 
 which he had ever called "home" was Bellister. 
 His infancy had been spent in the Haltwhistle 
 Union ; and when, at seven years old, the Guardians 
 had seen fit to "board him out," the Ridleys, for 
 reasons of their own, had taken him in. 
 
 They were not, at that time, so well-to-do as they 
 had since become, and the money paid for his keep 
 by the Union was a consideration. Moreover, the 
 characters of the farmer and his wife being then the 
 same, and their eyes open to the main chance, they 
 saw the makings of a useful servant in the healthy, 
 hearty little boy. Mrs. Ridley had then young 
 children of her own ; and a boy to run errands, 
 and feed the fowls, and do such little odd jobs as 
 cottage children manage to do, even at the tender 
 age of seven, was not unwelcome. 
 
 It was Nick who took care of the other two 
 children on the way to and from school ; Nick who 
 lifted little Meggie to her feet when she fell down 
 in the mud, and comforted her concerning her 
 bruised knees ; Nick who helped the lazy Teddy, 
 though (according to workhouse calculation) but 
 half a year his senior, to learn his lessons of an 
 evening. But the bigger Nick grew and the more 
 useful he became, the more he was "put upon."
 
 "SOME PLEASED." 39 
 
 Willing and capable though he was, it was held as 
 an article of faith in the household that from such 
 an origin as his nothing good was to be expected. 
 Therefore, toil as he might, he could never win 
 praise, and blame was his daily wage. 
 
 Yet, having a boy's light heart and careless 
 nature, Nick was not unhappy. With little Meggie 
 as his friend and companion, he enjoyed many an 
 hour of merry play, hiding among the ruins of the 
 old castle which formed part of the farmstead, 
 rolling down the hill on which it was built, or 
 " making believe " to drive the old gig in the cart- 
 shed. And when, one day, on their return from 
 Haltwhistle, they found Viper, a poor half-drowned 
 pup, struggling, no one knew how, out of the river, 
 and took her home and kept her there (by Meggie's 
 power) to be their pet and plaything, another in- 
 gredient of pleasure was added to Nick's life. 
 
 Matters might have gone on like this for a good 
 bit longer, had it not been for the return to her 
 native town of a woman who went by the name of 
 Tramping Sal. No one in the district had seen 
 her coarse red face, carroty locks, and big, stout 
 figure for ten or twelve years back. But when she 
 turned up again, an old, half-forgotten story was 
 revived which fixed on her as Nick's mother. 
 
 Whether there were any real truth in this nobody 
 knew ; for Sarah did not claim Nick, and Nick in- 
 dignantly refused to acknowledge Sarah. But there 
 the story was, and, once revived, it was not allowed 
 to die out.
 
 40 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley got hold of it, and used it as a whip 
 of scorpions wherewith to goad her " servant lad " 
 whenever he failed to please her. Teddy, between 
 whom and Nick no love had ever been lost, in 
 spite of the kind offices of the latter, delighted to 
 taunt his more industrious companion with his 
 supposed origin, calling him, " Sally's brat ; " and 
 poor Nick, to whom the drunken, red-faced woman 
 was loathsome, writhed under these taunts, which 
 stung him beyond endurance. 
 
 Those who have the happiness to come of a 
 good stock which every one knows and respects, 
 can have but little idea how handicapped is the 
 man who does not possess this advantage. An 
 honourable name not only reflects credit on its 
 possessor, but is in itself an inheritance of virtue. 
 If it is hard to do right even when a man is trained 
 as a child in the way which he should go, and has 
 the training of generations to keep him straight, 
 how much harder must it be when he has had to 
 tumble up as best he can, with that behind him 
 which seems for ever trying to pull him downhill ? 
 For if noblesse oblige, is not the contrary, also, true, 
 and is not evil an inheritance as well as good ? 
 
 Poor Nick could not argue the matter out in 
 words, but he felt that it was so. He wanted to 
 do right and he tried to do it, but it was hard 
 sometimes, in the teeth of these strong, mysterious 
 passions which he felt within him, pulling the other 
 way, more especially hard when it was evil that 
 every one seemed to expect from him and not good.
 
 "SOME PLEASED." 4! 
 
 " What can ye expect from a pig but a grunt ? 
 He's a fool that thinks to make a silk purse out 
 o' a sow's lug, and what's to be looked for from 
 Sarah's brat ? " 
 
 It is, perhaps, natural that from an evil stock 
 good fruit should not be expected, and yet, God be 
 praised, it is not impossible, for, by grafting, even 
 an evil stock may be reclaimed. But it is the 
 cruelest injustice to taunt a fellow-creature with a 
 defect which is no fault of his, and to blame him 
 for a want which you take no pains to supply. 
 
 No wonder the boy felt the injustice, and that, 
 feeling at the same time the growth of his young 
 strength, his patience gave way at length, and 
 he turned on his tormentors. 
 
 One fine day, when, after a worse rating than 
 usual from Mrs. Ridley, Teddy followed him out 
 among the ruins with the usual jibes, Nick suddenly 
 flew at him like a tiger-cat, speedily got the better 
 of his persecutor, and sent him howling to his 
 mother with a black eye. Then, when, set on by 
 his wife, the master had taken him sternly to task, 
 Nick, his temper up, had answered back. A sound 
 thrashing had been the consequence, and, full of 
 resentment and fury, the boy had turned his back 
 on Bellister and run away.
 
 42 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 
 
 BELLISTER CASTLE was a Border stronghold in the 
 days when moss-troopers and border-riders made 
 excursions and incursions from Scotland to England, 
 and vice versa, to "lift" each other's cattle and 
 harry each other's homesteads. 
 
 It must have been a strong place enough in 
 those turbulent days, to judge by the thickness of 
 the walls which still remain, and the vantage of its 
 position. 
 
 It stands on a grassy hill, whose sides seem to 
 have been "scarped," or cut away, so as to make 
 them even more abrupt than nature intended. 
 Perched on the top of this, the old grey tower 
 commands a view up and down the valley of the 
 South Tyne, both westward towards Carlisle and 
 the Scottish border, and eastward towards Hexham 
 and the wild region of North Tyne. 
 
 The first-mentioned river partly encloses the hill 
 and adjoining fields in a silver semicircle, while 
 behind the castle a belt of trees shelters it from 
 the winds which rush down the narrow valley at 
 whose head rises Cross Fell. The farm-buildings, 
 which now share the hill with the ruins, have been 
 partly formed out of the old walls, partly built 
 up with the fallen stones, till they have become
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 43 
 
 part and parcel of the castle itself. House, barn, 
 byres, and stable are all so neatly niched into 
 the old fortress, whose grey keep rises in front of 
 them, almost hiding them from view till you have 
 mounted the hill and are quite close, that they 
 hardly interfere with the picturesqueness of the 
 place. A fine old plane-tree, with great spreading 
 boughs, which grows under the castle wall, lends its 
 leafy aid in screening off the modern additions and 
 breaking up the old grey walls into picturesque 
 masses of light and shade. 
 
 Nick and Meggie knew and loved every stone 
 about the place. They knew where the owls built 
 in the ivy, and where the tribe of chattering jack- 
 daws lodged which had haunted the castle for 
 generations. They had crept through a hole in 
 the walls into a dungeon underground and found 
 a rusty iron ring let into the foundations, to which 
 many a poor Scot must have been chained in the 
 good old times of long ago. 
 
 Meggie was fond of inventing stones about this 
 dungeon and the ghost of the captive who, as, 
 she declared, still haunted it. When Nick had 
 been sent to fetch in the cattle on dark nights, 
 Meggie's story had more than once given him the 
 shivers, and even the inventor of the story had 
 ended in making herself believe that the moans of 
 the wind, as, on stormy nights, it blew through the 
 arrow-slits of the castle walls, were the moans of 
 the poor languishing captive whom her own fancy 
 had created.
 
 44 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Teddy Ridley never cared for such " make-be- 
 lieve," and scoffed at his sister's stories, which he 
 was pleased to call "a parcel of lies." But Nick 
 and Meggie minded little what Teddy said and 
 thought, and were quite content to let him lie in 
 the sun on the south side of the castle wall, while 
 they told stories and played games out of earshot. 
 
 This and much else was associated in the mind 
 of the wanderer with Bellister Castle, and, during 
 his eighteen months of absence, the miseries of his 
 sojourn there had been almost forgotten, pressed 
 into the background of his mind by the vivid re- 
 membrance of its joys. Bellister was " home " to 
 the homeless lad, and memory idealized it and 
 made it appear to him what in actual experience 
 it had never been. 
 
 The leaves of the great plane-tree, which had 
 been green when he went away, had turned yellow 
 for the second time, and were dropping down, like 
 golden fans, over the old grey walls of the castle and 
 the green hill on which it stood, as, one evening, 
 a week after his return, Nick drove home the cows 
 from the river-side pasture where they had been 
 feeding during the day. 
 
 The old place looked very fair in the dying glow 
 of the short November day, its broken \valls and 
 roofless tower rising darkly against a yellow sky, 
 from whose clearness every twig and branch of 
 the fast-thinning plane-tree detached itself in sharp 
 black lines, as though drawn with pen and ink. 
 
 Viper was with him, walking sedately at his heels.
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 45 
 
 Indeed, the little terrier had attached herself so 
 closely to Nick since his return that he was seldom 
 seen without her. But Viper was not on duty. 
 She was merely there for her own pleasure, and 
 knew better than to interfere with Bounce, the 
 black-and-white collie, whose business it was to 
 bark behind the cows when they came in to be 
 milked. 
 
 Nick was whistling. The boy's heart was glad 
 in those days, for not only was he "at home" 
 again, but the folks there had treated him with, 
 what seemed to him, great consideration since his 
 arrival. Viper and Meggie, now that he had had 
 that little explanation with the latter which had 
 soothed her hurt feelings, had been as friendly as 
 ever. Mrs. Ridley and Teddy, seeing that "the 
 master man" was bent on retaining a servant who 
 was willing to serve without wages, had, since the 
 evening of his arrival, refrained from attacking him ; 
 and Ridley himself had, hitherto, found nothing to 
 blame. No wonder the boy whistled as he drove 
 home the cows. 
 
 He was looking a very different creature from the 
 ragged, footsore tramp who, only a week ago, had 
 struggled up the same hill. At John Ridley's 
 command, Mrs. Ridley had found for him an old 
 checked suit of Teddy's, which, though shabby, 
 and short in leg and sleeve for the long-limbed lad, 
 was of good tweed, and looked infinitely more 
 respectable than the rags. A contented heart, 
 sound sleep, good food, and plenty of clean water
 
 46 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 had done the rest of the work. And now, in spite 
 of pock-marks, red hair, and plain features, no one 
 could say that John Ridley's servant-lad looked 
 otherwise than respectable. He was whistling still, 
 as he drove the cows into the yard through the 
 same gate against which he had leaned, a home- 
 less outcast, only a week ago. He whistled more 
 cheerily than ever as he tied them up in the byre, 
 lit the lantern, and waited for Meggie to come out 
 of the house and help him to milk. 
 
 She came speedily, one milking-pail on her 
 thigh, the other swinging from her right hand. 
 
 "Here, lad," she said brightly, "take yer skeel, 
 and let's to work. It's gone five o'clock." 
 
 "Ay, but it isn't me that's late, Meggie," he 
 retorted merrily ; " I was here first." 
 
 "Of course ye were," she returned, without a 
 pause. "Ye wouldn't have me here afore the kye 
 (cows) ? Come, lad, we're nowther on us late. T' 
 kitchen clock's swift, and she's only just gone 
 five." 
 
 They settled themselves on their three-legged 
 milking-stools by the side of adjoining cows, and 
 soon the regular sound of alternate streams flowing 
 sharply into the pails, sounded through the dim, 
 warm byre. But this was not the only sound, nor 
 yet the "munch, munch" of the cows, making their 
 supper off the fragrant hay, with which each stall 
 was supplied. These were but the accompaniments 
 of the gay chatter of young voices which went on 
 with almost as little pause as the milking itself.
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 47 
 
 Nick and Meggie thoroughly enjoyed the milking- 
 hour, morning and evening. Since Nick's return, 
 Teddy no longer helped on these occasions, and 
 they had the byre all to themselves. Nowadays, 
 there was but little time besides when they were 
 able to be together, for Mrs. Ridley generally 
 managed to want Meggie during the odd half- 
 hours when Nick was disengaged, and the old free 
 intercourse among the ruins was almost at an end. 
 
 Nick, indeed, considered himself too big to play 
 at hide-and-seek any longer, and had quite ceased 
 to believe in the captive. And, though Meggie 
 would willingly have begun again just where they 
 left off, such a renewal of bygone days is seldom 
 possible. 
 
 The two young things made the best of the 
 opportunities that remained to them, however, 
 and of these the milking-hour was one of the 
 happiest and least untrammelled. 
 
 As the lad and lass settled themselves on their 
 milking-stools, little Viper rolled herself round 
 in the nest of hay which bore the long-standing 
 impress of her little body in the last stall by the 
 door. This stall was vacant, and here the terrier 
 had lain every day, during the morning and evening 
 milking-hour, since Nick came back. She considered 
 herself on duty now, and always gave the alarm 
 when any one besides the milkers entered the byre. 
 For Bounce, the cows once in, invariably retired to 
 the kitchen, told Meggie, with a wag of the tail, 
 that her services were required, and then lay down
 
 48 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 under the table. For dogs have their regular hours 
 for rest and duty as well as their masters and mis- 
 tresses. 
 
 "What would you do if you were rich, Nick?" 
 asked Meggie, during the course of the evening 
 conversation. 
 
 Nick paused a moment in his work, and scratched 
 his thick red thatch, which stood out in flaming 
 contrast against the black side of the cow which 
 he was milking. 
 
 " What would you do, Nick ? " repeated the girl. 
 
 " I diven't ken," he answered, in a sorely puzzled 
 voice. "Ye see, I niver was rich, Meggie, and I 
 ken nowt aboot t' ways of rich folk. Mebbe 
 well, mebbe I'd buy ye some bullets and get a new 
 Sunday suit." 
 
 "A body needn't be sae vara rich to dae that." 
 
 " No ? Well, mebbe not. I could dae that when 
 I was hired, and they didn't give me over-much 
 brass, didn't the folks there. I thought, whiles, aboot 
 that Sunday suit, but I niver bought it What was 
 t' use when I niver got nae liberty, week-days or 
 Sundays owther ? It was a hard place that, Meggie." 
 
 " Was it ? Harder nor this, Nick ? " 
 
 "Oh, a vast! At least," the boy added, after a 
 moment of thought, "there was, mebbe, not sae 
 mickle mair work, but there was naebody to give 
 a chap a kind word, and niver a moment off t' spot. 
 Eh, lass, but it was dull ! " 
 
 " But ye got paid ; that was something." 
 
 " Ay, I got paid. But where was t' odds ? I
 
 OPEN DOOR.
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 49 
 
 could nowther go and spend t' brass, nor was there 
 aught I cared to spend it on." 
 
 "And what did ye dae wi't ? " 
 
 "Oh, when I got wi' them tramps it went." 
 
 "But how?" 
 
 " How ? " The boy scratched his head again, at 
 a loss how to satisfy his questioner on a point so 
 mysterious. "Well, lass, I diven't joost ken," he 
 said at last. " It went somekoiv" 
 
 "And how much wage did ye get, Nick ?" 
 
 " Six pund the half year. They " 
 
 There was a sudden " Wuff!" from the stall 
 where Viper was lying, and before Nick could com- 
 plete his sentence the terrier had leaped up and 
 was barking furiously before the door. The boy 
 and girl stopped milking and rose to their feet, 
 turning their eyes, at the same time, towards the 
 door, which had been partly opened. 
 
 It had grown dark while the milking was in 
 progress, so that even the dim light within the 
 byre looked bright in contrast to the blackness 
 outside. 
 
 Against this dark background, and full in the 
 rays of the lantern which hung near the door, a 
 face was visible, looking into the byre through the 
 partially open door. It was a coarse, red face, 
 with bloated lips and bleared eyes, framed in 
 grizzled red hair, which a rusty-black bonnet did 
 but little to keep in order. 
 
 Nick's heart leaped up, and then suddenly sank, 
 as he felt, into his shoes. He turned cold and 
 
 E
 
 50 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 then hot. For he remembered that face far too 
 well. It was the face of his bugbear, " Tramping 
 Sal." 
 
 He did not need Meggie's exclamation to tell 
 him this. But the name which came so glibly to 
 her lips refused to pass his. 
 
 " Why, it's Sally the Tramp ! " said Meggie. 
 " Whisht, Viper, cannot ye ? " 
 
 "Ay, carl off yer dorg," cried the harsh, rough 
 voice the boy knew so well. " Down, ye vixen 
 ye ! Wad ye bite me, then ? Carl it off, I say ! " 
 
 Nick stepped forward and made a sign to the 
 dog, and she came to him immediately, only con- 
 tinuing to show her displeasure by low, underground 
 growls. 
 
 " What ! it's really Nick come back, is it ? " asked 
 the woman, coming a few steps further into the 
 byre. "I was hearin' sae, and I thowt I'd step 
 up and find out for certain. I heard yer voices 
 in here, and cam' this way instead o' troublin' t' 
 hoose. Mistress Ridley's, whiles, hardlys mair 
 friendly nor her dorg." 
 
 The woman laughed as she said this, and her 
 laugh was even more disagreeable than her voice. 
 
 " What is't ye're wantin', Sally ? " asked Meggie, 
 seeing that Nick stood still and did not speak. 
 "A bit bread, eh?" 
 
 The woman laughed scornfully. 
 
 "When a widdie woman has a lad, like yon, 
 earnin' a good wage, it isn't fit that she should go 
 on beggin' frae door to door," she said. "A bit
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 51 
 
 bread ? Nay, I maun hae mair nor that. Come, 
 lad, fork out ! " 
 
 "But I've nae brass," gasped poor Nick, with 
 hanging head. 
 
 The sight of this woman and her demand seemed 
 utterly to have taken all spirit out of him. He did 
 not seem able to repulse the claim of relationship, 
 which, when he was a child, she had never acknow- 
 ledged. 
 
 "Come now, I like that!" retorted the rough, 
 coarse voice. " But it's nae use pretendin', lad, 
 when I heard ye say as I come in, that ye were 
 gettin' sax pund t' half year." 
 
 "But that was in his last place," said Meggie, 
 speaking up for her companion. " Faither's givin' 
 him nowt here." 
 
 " Nowt ! Tell that to t' horse-marines ! " scoffed 
 Tramping Sally. " Divn't tell me, lass, that a lusty 
 lad, like yon, will sarve ony man for nowt. 'Tisn't 
 likely. Nay, nay, it's nae use owther on ye tryin' 
 to take me in. Trampin Sally wasn't born yester- 
 day, no, nor yet t' day afore, my bairns." 
 
 " But it's quite true. I hevn't ony brass, no, not 
 even a copper," burst out Nick, desperately. 
 
 " Not to give yer moother, ye mean ! " retorted 
 Sarah. " Shame on ye for an onnatural bairn, 
 Xick! shame on ye, I say!" 
 
 Nick clasped his hands till the nails ran into his 
 flesh, behind the shelter of the black cow, where 
 he had again retired. To hear this wretched 
 creature call herself his mother was more than he
 
 52 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 could endure. He had got back to Bellister, and 
 had been so happy there this last week. Since 
 that first evening no one had taunted him with 
 his origin, so that he himself was even beginning 
 to forget that there was such a person as Sally the 
 Tramp. But now here she was again, and his 
 torment would begin once more ! 
 
 If only he had kept some of those wages he had 
 cared for so little at the time, that he might have 
 bribed her to go before any one in the house 
 found out that she had come ! If only he could 
 get rid of her without the others knowing, he felt 
 sure that Meggie would not betray him ! But there 
 seemed no hope of that, for he had not a penny in 
 the world. 
 
 While these thoughts were pressing through his 
 tortured brain, Meggie spoke again. 
 
 " Will a sixpence do, Sally ? " 
 
 The woman looked at her as though weighing 
 her words, and trying to find out how much more 
 might be extracted. 
 
 "A shullin' might," she said presently. 
 
 " And would ye gan reet awa' if ye got that ? " 
 asked the little maid, with all her father's caution 
 in making a bargain. 
 
 "Ay, I wouldn't carl again till t' next time," 
 was the equally cautious answer. 
 
 " And how long would it be afore that ? " 
 
 " I could, mebbe, mak' it dae for a day or twac," 
 replied Sally. 
 
 " Then ye winnot get it," was the prompt
 
 TRAMPING SAL. 53 
 
 rejoinder. " If ye want the shullin' it must last a 
 month at least." 
 
 " Hoots ! Who can live on a shullin' a month ? " 
 asked Sally, scornfully. "Even t' Union allows 
 more nor that when a body gets outdoor relief, 
 which is what they refuse to me, pier widdie woman 
 though I am ! " The sentence ended in the true 
 professional whine. 
 
 " That lad ought to keep me arltogether instead o' 
 puttin' me off wi' a beggarly shullin'," she went on, 
 after a pause, pointing reproachfully towards Nick. 
 
 "Ye'll get nowt out o' him," answered Meggie, 
 stoutly ; " he's only just keepin' hissel'. Will ye 
 tak' t' shullin' and mak' the promise, Sally ? If 
 not, ye'll joost have to gan without, for mother'll give 
 ye nowt. I heard her say sae, last time ye cam'." 
 
 Sally used some bad language concerning Mrs. 
 Ridley, which may as well be left out ; but, having 
 thus relieved herself, she came to terms. 
 
 " Weel, weel," she said at last, with a windy sigh, 
 perceiving that Ridley's little daughter was no 
 more to be bullied into compliance than was Ridley 
 himself, "it's a pitiful dole, it is that, but it's, 
 mebbe, better nor nowt. I'll joost tak't." 
 
 " And promise ? " 
 
 " Fly awa' wi' t' lass ! She's her faither's ain 
 dowter!" exclaimed Sally with irritation "Ay, I 
 promise, since needs must." 
 
 "Very well. Wait till I come back." 
 
 Meggie went off to her private hoard, leaving 
 Nick and Sally alone together.
 
 54 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The woman said a good deal during the interval 
 complaining, wheedling, threatening. The boy 
 said nothing. He stood behind his sheltering cow, 
 weathering the storm as best he could, wincing 
 sorely sometimes, but giving no sign. 
 
 It seemed ages before Meggie was back. 
 
 "There tak' 't, and be off!" she said sharply, 
 handing a bright new shilling to the tramp, who 
 clutched it greedily and went. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 NAEBODY'S BAIRN. 
 
 WHEN she was gone neither Meggie nor Nick 
 said a word to each other till the milking was over, 
 which was not till rather late, that evening, on 
 account of the interruption. 
 
 Nick did not seem able to open his mouth, and 
 Meggie, fearing that he might feel himself under 
 an obligation to her on account of the shilling, 
 would not allude to the occasion of her small 
 service. 
 
 She guessed, moreover, that her companion must 
 be ill-pleased at Sally's claim, knowing him to be 
 sore on the subject of the supposed relationship. 
 But even Meggie did not guess how terribly sore 
 the boy was, or how much he feared a renewal of 
 the old persecution concerning her.
 
 XAEBODY'S BAIRX. 55 
 
 \\'hen the last cow was stripped, however, and 
 the girl was carefully carrying her brimming vessel 
 towards the door, Nick came behind her, took it 
 from her hand, and set it down. 
 
 His face was very red, and he seemed as though 
 he wanted to say something, but could neither find 
 voice nor words. At last he blurted out 
 
 " Meggie, lass, ye winna let on ? " 
 
 The girl looked at him in some surprise. 
 
 " Aboot t' shullin' ? Nay, Nick, ye needn't be 
 flayed (afraid) ; it was my own." 
 
 "Aboot aboot Sally, I mean." 
 
 The name seemed to stick in his throat. 
 
 " I winnot say a word ! " was the vehement 
 answer. 
 
 Still the boy detained her. He seemed to have 
 something else on his mind. His face turned posi- 
 tively scarlet, and he breathed hard. 
 
 " What is't, lad ? " asked the girl at length, seeing 
 he did not speak. 
 
 "Meggie oh, Meggie," he said at last, with a 
 painful effort, "dost think she really is what folks 
 say my my moother ? " The word came out low 
 and smothered. 
 
 "Well, I diven't ken, nae mair nor ye do, lad. 
 But, there, what does it matter ? " she added, 
 touched by his evident distress and anxious to 
 comfort him. "As lang as she keeps away, it 
 needn't mak' a happ'orth o' odds ! " 
 
 " But it does. Wouldst like to have her for thy 
 moother, Meggie ? "
 
 56 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "My moother? Trampin' Sal? Nay, but I 
 vvadn't ! " the answer came with an honest vehe- 
 mence that was unmistakable. 
 
 " Then why should I hev her for mine ? " 
 
 But Meggie could not answer this question. 
 
 "Well, but mebbe she isn't," was all she could 
 find to say. " Come, lad, ye munnot tak' on that 
 gait." 
 
 For the boy's features were working, and in spite 
 of his sixteen years he had to wink very hard to 
 keep back the springing tears of shame and 
 anger. 
 
 " What gars t' folk say she is ? And what gar'd 
 her to claim me joost now ? " he asked at last. 
 "Was it she that brought me to t' Hoose when I 
 was a babby ? " 
 
 "Nay, but she didn't. I ken that onyhow, for 
 I've heard faither say sae," answered Meggie, 
 quickly, delighted to be able to tell him something 
 definite on a subject so mysterious. " Ye were found 
 lying by t' waterside, joost for arl t' world as we 
 found Viper. I thought ye kent that ? " 
 
 "Nay, I didn't." 
 
 He looked a little relieved. 
 
 At that moment a voice was heard calling, 
 " Meggie ! Meggie ! What's got t' lass ? " 
 
 " There's moother ; I maun gan," said the girl, 
 hastily taking up her milking-pail. " Come, Nick, 
 she's waitin' on t' milk." 
 
 Mrs. Ridley was not one to wait patiently at 
 any time, and both Meggie and Nick heard a good
 
 NAEBODY'S BAIRN. 57 
 
 deal about the delay, as they handed in the milk 
 at the dairy door. But Nick did not seem to 
 notice her reproofs. His mind was too full of 
 something yet more stinging. Returning to the 
 byre to put out the lantern and shut the cows up 
 for the night, he was forced to notice little Viper, 
 who had followed close at his heels and was doing 
 her utmost to attract his attention. 
 
 He sat down in the empty stall, took her between 
 his knees, and examined her attentively. Viper 
 was not a pretty dog, nor did she show any of 
 those signs of good breeding which count for more 
 than mere beauty in the eyes of dog-fanciers. 
 
 To what breed she belonged it would be impos- 
 sible to say. She was neither a Dandie Dinmont, 
 nor an Aberdeen, nor a Bedlington, nor, yet, an 
 Airedale. None of the respectable terrier families 
 on either side of the Border would have had any- 
 thing to say to such a nondescript specimen as she 
 was, though, probably, she might have claimed 
 kinship with them all. 
 
 No, Viper had neither beauty nor breeding. She 
 was merely a little, rough, sandy-haired creature, with 
 a tail like a frayed rope, brown prick ears, a good 
 deal torn in the wars, and a vixenish nose. Her 
 one good point was her eyes, and no well-bred 
 terrier could have possessed a pair more capable 
 of expressing the feelings of the loyal little heart. 
 Brown, liquid eyes they were, and as full of love 
 and sympathy as those of a human being. Nay, 
 many a human being might have been proud to
 
 58 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 possess such a pair of speaking eyes as belonged 
 to this little mongrel terrier. 
 
 Those who found her had called her "Viper," 
 though why, would be hard to say, for any living 
 creature less like that venomous and proverbially 
 ungrateful and treacherous reptile could not have 
 been found. 
 
 Poor Viper was one of those unfortunate beings 
 called "a dog with a bad name," a name which she 
 did not merit. 
 
 As Nick finished his examination, he met the 
 look of love and sympathy in the creature's eyes, 
 and his own filled. 
 
 " Mebbe tJioo kens, Viper," he whispered huskily 
 " thoo kens how bad it feels to be naebody's bairn ? 
 We were found t' same way, and we were named 
 in t' same fashion. Thoo's Viper and Fse Nick 
 ' Auld Nick ' they'll ca' me some day, mebbe ! And 
 yet nowther on us is tJiat bad, are we, Viper ? Eh, 
 lass, lass, but it's hard to bide ! " 
 
 His head sank on the dog's rough head, and the 
 scalding tears, which he had kept back in Meggie's 
 presence, broke forth unchecked, and fell fast and 
 thick among her sandy hair. 
 
 The creature seemed well aware that her friend 
 was in trouble. With a low whine she put out a 
 pink tongue and licked away the tears as they 
 fell. 
 
 The dog's dumb sympathy did for the boy's sore 
 heart what, perhaps, no human sympathy could 
 have done. For, instead of feeling obliged to check
 
 NAEBODYS BAIRX. 59 
 
 his tears in the presence of this silent companion, 
 he let them have their way, and the relief was very 
 great. 
 
 "Eh, well, Viper," he said at last, raising his 
 head and caressing the terrier in return, "it's nae 
 use frettin'. We maun just try and mak' t' best 
 on't, little lass, must you and me. We're baith in 
 t' same boat ! " 
 
 They were, indeed. But, at the same time, a boy 
 feels what a dog does not. 
 
 Console himself as he might by fancying them 
 similar, Nick was well aware that there was a 
 difference between his lot and that of his canine 
 companion. For, while Viper cared not a jot whence 
 she had sprung, nor what she was called, Nick 
 was almost as sensitive on the one point as the 
 other. The thoughtlessness of those around him 
 had made even the one name that he possessed un- 
 pleasant to its owner. For though they had not 
 begun to call him "Auld Nick" yet, an allusion to 
 his supposed godfather was one of Teddy's favourite 
 ways of "getting a rise," as he called it, out of 
 the friendless lad. As a baby he had been "frac- 
 tious " and troublesome, getting into all the mischief 
 of which year-old babies are capable. The woman 
 who had had charge of him in the workhouse had 
 angrily called him "a limb," and this had, presently, 
 slid into " Nick." When he came to be christened, 
 the clergyman, ignorant of the origin of the child's 
 name, naturally supposed it to be short for Nicholas, 
 and baptized him accordingly. But that was the
 
 60 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 first and only time that the longer name had been 
 applied to the little waif. 
 
 As "Nick" he had been known before his bap- 
 tism, and "Nick" he continued to be called ever 
 after. " What's in a name ? " we may ask with 
 Shakespeare ; but, nevertheless, there are few of 
 us who could truly answer " Nothing." A name is 
 a sort of label which, once applied to any one, be 
 he dog or man, is apt to stick very fast, and if a 
 good name is a precious possession, a bad one is 
 a possession of another sort, and hard to get rid 
 of, however little we may desire to keep it. 
 
 "We're baith in t' same boat," said Nick to 
 Viper in a would-be cheerful tone ; nevertheless a 
 sigh followed, and the sigh said more than the 
 words. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BLACKMAIL. 
 
 TRAMPING SAL kept her word, and did not turn 
 up again at Bellister for a whole month. Nay, a 
 full month went by, and another began, and still 
 she did not appear. 
 
 But the day of her first visit was the last day 
 of poor Nick's peace of mind. He was always 
 dreading her return, and fearing that, next time, 
 her visit might be of a less private nature.
 
 BLACKMAIL. 6 1 
 
 It was bad enough to receive her after dark, alone 
 in the byre with Meggie. What would it be should 
 she elect to come in the daytime, and pay her 
 call at the kitchen door, when, say, all the family 
 were assembled at breakfast or dinner ? The boy's 
 cheeks flamed as he pictured the scene, and thought 
 over all that might be said. He racked his brains 
 in vain to think of some means by which his reputed 
 parent might be induced to remain at a distance, 
 but rack his brains as he might, no happy thought 
 would come to his aid. There was one means, and 
 one only, so far as Nick could see, by which Sally 
 might be kept away, and that was money. If 
 Meggie's shilling had done this once, then, surely, 
 if only he could raise the wherewithal, the same 
 means would have the same effect in perpetuity. 
 But where was the money to be found ? He re- 
 ceived no wages at Bellister, and his employment 
 there prevented him earning anything from another 
 quarter. He had not a penny to give, let alone a 
 shilling. Nor had Meggie another in her hoard, just 
 then, even if Nick could have made up his mind to 
 ask for it ; and this he was loth to do, though he 
 knew that she would willingly have given it. 
 
 It is true that the boy had never so much as 
 thanked his friend for her accommodation. But this 
 was not because he was ungrateful for what she 
 had done. On the contrary, he felt the little girl's 
 generous kindness even too much. There are 
 certain persons who feel that for certain services 
 mere formal thanks are less than insufficient. To
 
 62 UNDER THE DOCf-STAR. 
 
 say a careless " thank you " in such cases is like 
 throwing a halfpenny to a man who has saved 
 you from walking over a precipice. It can in 
 nowise reward him for what he has done, and 
 is worse than giving him nothing. 
 
 But though he did not thank her, the friendless 
 boy saved up the memory of every little kindness 
 in his heart, to be repaid with interest if ever the 
 chance should come. Meantime, the question 
 troubled him greatly, to the exclusion of every 
 other thought : " Where was the money to come 
 from to buy off Tramping Sarah ? " She might 
 be expected to turn up any day now, and unless 
 he had money ready for her, there was sure to be 
 such a scene as he dreaded to think of. 
 
 Now, of course, people of any experience knew 
 that the system of buying off, or blackmail, as it is 
 called, is about the worst that can be tried. If 
 any one threatens to do you an ill-turn, it is better 
 to brave it out, let them do their worst, and have 
 it over at once. For, once give them money to 
 let you alone, and they will want more and more, 
 till, finally, when you have no more to give, you 
 w r ill be in exactly the same position, if not a worse 
 one, than you were at first. But poor Nick was not 
 experienced, and, like many another in his case, 
 blackmail appeared to him as his only means of 
 salvation. After a great deal of consideration, he 
 made up his mind to ask his master for extra 
 work and a small monthly payment Nothing 
 but the extreme fear and anxiety in which he was
 
 BLACKMAIL, 63 
 
 living could have nerved the boy to make such 
 a request, for he knew Ridley too well to flatter 
 himself that the demand would be welcome. 
 
 John Ridley, indeed, was less easy to do with 
 even than usual, at that time. 
 
 His appointment as viewer to the neighbouring 
 colliery had been unacceptable from the first ; for 
 his character as " a hard man " was well established, 
 and the men had had no reason to change their 
 opinion of him now that he was set over them. 
 
 There had been a good deal of grumbling, and 
 even some attempt at insubordination, which had 
 had to be put down with a high hand. And now, 
 though the men were reduced to order, and Ridley, 
 warned by what had taken place, gave less outward 
 cause for offence, he knew that the feeling against 
 him was unchanged, and vented at home the re- 
 sentment which he dared not show in public. 
 
 It was one afternoon, when they were looking at 
 the stock together, with a view to the Christmas 
 sales, that Nick, with a great deal of inward tremor, 
 ventured to make his request. 
 
 " Maister," he said, when Ridley, pleased with the 
 improvement in the beasts since his new "servant 
 lad" had had the charge of them, had given him 
 a word of grudging commendation "maister, I've 
 been thinkin' 
 
 "Weel, lad?" 
 
 Ridley said the words so sharply and turned with 
 such a sudden movement from the cattle to fix 
 his keen eyes upon his servant, that Nick's heart
 
 64 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 gave a frightened leap, and his breath seemed all 
 to go away. He stood silent, twisting his shabby 
 cap in his hands. 
 
 " Weel, what is't ? " repeated Ridley, with a show 
 of impatience which was by no means encouraging. 
 "I've got ither things to dae than to stand here 
 waitin' of ye to find yer tongue. If ye've got 
 onything to say, out wi't." 
 
 Ridley naturally was expecting a complaint, and 
 the expectation did not make him the pleasanter. 
 
 " I was wantin' to ax ye ye see, I get nowt but 
 clothes and keep, and 
 
 " Ye're wantin' a wage ? Then what for did ye 
 come to Bellister ? Didn't I tell ye I'd only take 
 ye back on the old terms ? My word, after the 
 way ye served us, ye might have been thankful to 
 get back at all ! " 
 
 Ridley's face was red and his voice loud, for in 
 his inmost conscience he knew that in this matter 
 the boy might justly complain against him. 
 
 " Tisn't that," said Nick, hastily, putting up one 
 hand as though to ward off a blow. " I was glad 
 enough to be back on ony terms, ye ken that, 
 maister. It's nobbut 
 
 " There, lad, cannot ye speak oot ? If ye've a 
 complaint to mak', mak' it. Is it the mistress that's 
 been hard on ye, or Teddy ? Come, ye needn't be 
 feared to say. I'll mak' it reet for ye, if that's arl." 
 
 Thus encouraged, Nick made his request. 
 
 " I've nowt to complain on," he said, a little less 
 nervously. "What I was wishin' to ax ye was,
 
 BLACKMAIL. 65 
 
 \vacl ye give me an odd job at the colliery, whiles, 
 for which I could earn a bit brass ? There's times 
 when I could spare an half hour when work here's 
 done." 
 
 "If ye haven't sufficient to fill up yer time here, 
 my lad, it isn't for want of turns that want doin' 
 aboot t' place," returned Ridley, stiffly. "There's 
 always harness to clean, or bits to brighten, it 
 seems to me. Nay, nay, keep to yer ain jobs and 
 don't be hankering after ither folk's wark. It's 
 quite enough havin' Teddy potterin' back'ards and 
 for'ards between this and t' pits wi'out ye. When 
 it comes to.workin' in two spots, when work isn't 
 done at yan, there's aye the excuse o' t' ither, and 
 the end on't is baith are neglected. Nay, nay, my 
 lad, stick to the farm." 
 
 Nick's face fell sadly. He still stood irresolute, 
 twisting his cap in his hands. Had it not been 
 for the fear of Tramping Sal, he must have been 
 utterly discouraged and given up the business as 
 hopeless. But the thought of Sarah held him back. 
 
 " Not even an odd job, whiles ? " he asked, as 
 Ridley stopped. 
 
 " Nay, haven't I said sae already ? " rejoined the 
 master, impatiently. " Why, whativer dae ye want 
 wi' brass, Nick ? " he asked presently. " Ye've yer 
 meat and yer clothes and a good roof over yer 
 head. What more can ye want ? " 
 
 "Ay, but a chap wants a copper in his pocket, 
 whiles," persisted the boy, growing very red, and 
 looking down shamefacedly at the cap in his hands. 
 
 F
 
 66 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Ridley meditated a moment. He reflected that 
 to be penny-wise is often to be pound-foolish, and 
 to deny the boy a little pocket-money might mean 
 the loss of a servant gratis. He put his hand into 
 his own pocket, felt amongst the coins carefully, 
 discriminated between a half-crown and a two- 
 shilling bit, and pulled out the latter. Had there 
 chanced to be a single shilling with the rest, the 
 chances are that he would have chosen it instead. 
 
 "Here, my lad," he said grandly, holding the 
 silver piece towards Nick. "If it's nobbut a bit 
 pocket-money ye want, to buy bullets and sich-like, 
 I'm not the man to deny ye. Take it as a Christ- 
 mas-box, my lad. Nay, nay, ye needn't thank me, 
 it's nobbut yance in a way, ye ken." 
 
 He added this hastily, fearing suddenly, as he 
 watched the delight in the boy's face, and saw 
 how he grabbed the coin, that this taste of wealth 
 might but make him eager for more. 
 
 As for Nick he did not omit the thanks, this 
 time, as he had done in Meggie's case ; but his sense 
 of gratitude was the smaller in proportion. For 
 the boy was not wanting in shrewdness, and had 
 wit enough to perceive that he had a certain right 
 to the gift which had been so grudgingly bestowed. 
 Two shillings! He stood looking at the coin, after 
 Ridley had left him, moving it about in his hand 
 that he might watch the silvery sparkles flash 
 out from Her Majesty's countenance as it caught 
 the slanting rays of the wintry sun. Two shillings ! 
 That meant for him, not bullets or marbles, as
 
 BLACKMAIL. 6/ 
 
 Ridley supposed, judging naturally by what it 
 would mean for other lads of his age, but two 
 months' freedom from Tramping Sally. 
 
 How the coin glittered and sparkled ! The 
 smile broadened on Nick's plain face as he watched 
 it, playing with it in almost childish glee. 
 
 For the moment he forgot to be disappointed 
 that his request had been refused. Even the 
 knowledge that the gift he had received was not 
 likely to be soon repeated had no present power 
 to damp him. He held in his hand a talisman 
 which would banish the disturber of his peace. It 
 was his at once without having to wait for it, as 
 would have been the case if John Ridley had 
 promised him the jobs he had asked for. This 
 was enough for Nick just then. 
 
 He tossed the florin into the air, and watched 
 it spin in the sunshine, like a child with a new 
 plaything. For the moment, his heart was light 
 as a child's indeed, and the shadow which had 
 made his young life dark had passed into the 
 background. 
 
 But it was only for the moment. A very real 
 shadow fell upon the turf in front of him, and, 
 turning quickly round at the sight of it, he found 
 himself face to face with the person he most 
 dreaded in the world. 
 
 Tramping Sally's face looked redder than ever 
 in the crimson glow of the westering sun. Her 
 rusty bonnet was awry, and her grizzled, carroty 
 locks were all on end. It did not need her
 
 68 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 uncertain gait to tell Nick that she had been 
 drinking. 
 
 Quickly he slipped the florin into his pocket. But 
 he was too late. The greedy look in the woman's 
 bleared eyes showed plainly that she had seen it. 
 
 " Well, my darlin', and how are ye to-day ? " she 
 asked, in the harsh, rough tones that belong to 
 the woman who has spurned all the graces and 
 virtues of her sex. "You'll be thinkin' it long 
 since yer mother paid ye a visit, eh, my jewel ? " 
 
 At the sight of the woman's face and the sound 
 of her wheedling speech, Nick's heart sank. The 
 little spring of happiness which had welled out of 
 its dry soil vanished again as suddenly as it had 
 come. 
 
 " Why d'ye carl yerself my moother ? " he asked 
 desperately. 
 
 " Weel, disn't all the folks say I am ? " answered 
 Sarah, cunningly answering the question by putting 
 another. 
 
 " But are you ? " 
 
 The boy's lips were dry as he put the question, 
 and he looked eagerly into the woman's red face, 
 as though he would tear the truth from her and 
 know the worst at once. 
 
 "What arl t' world sez maun be true." 
 
 Nick uttered an impatient exclamation. 
 
 " Come, my honey, ye've nae carl to be 'shamed 
 o' yer ain moother," went on Sarah, coming nearer, 
 and laying a coarse, grimy hand upon the boy's 
 sleeve. " I'm a pier widdie woman, it's true ; but
 
 BLACKMAIL. 69 
 
 what's that ? There's a deal worse folks in the 
 world nor Trampin' Sal. Tisn't ma fault if Fs 
 badly off, and hez to come to my ain good son 
 for a bit help, whiles. I've kep' awa' frae ye mair 
 nor a month now ; but winter's comin' on, and ye 
 wadn't have yer auld moother starve, now, wad ye, 
 honey ? " 
 
 " I'll give ye a shillin' to stop away till the end 
 of January," said Nick, trying to speak sternly. 
 " But ye maun stop here amang t' ruins till I get 
 it. There's nae carl to let onybody see you." 
 
 " And why should I hide oot o' sight ? " asked 
 Sarah, angrily. " Tve nae carl to be 'shamed o' 
 mysel', whativer ye may be o' me, ye onnatural 
 bairn ye ! And, as for takin' a shullin' to bide awa' 
 frae my ain son for six whole weeks, I'm not sae 
 mean as to stoop to 't, not I." 
 
 " A month then ? " said Nick, beginning to 
 tremble. 
 
 "Nor a month nowther! Ye needn't pretend 
 to go for yer brass, and then give me the slip, if 
 that's yer little game, my callant. Trampin' Sally 
 knows a trick worth twae o' that." 
 
 Saying this, the woman plumped herself down on 
 some fallen stones under the castle wall, and folded 
 her arms across her chest. 
 
 Nick looked at her helplessly. What was he to 
 do ? He had nothing with him but the two-shilling 
 piece, and to give it to her all at once seemed a 
 wastry too great to contemplate. 
 
 "But I haven't a shullin' in my pocket," he
 
 70 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 said at last. "Ye'Il have to wait till I go and 
 get one." 
 
 He was turning to go, when Sally jumped up 
 again, and caught him roughly by the arm. 
 
 " Now then, no nonsense," she said as roughly. 
 " If ye haven't a shullin' wi' ye, ye've got tivae, 
 which is a deal better. Nay, ye needn't try to 
 deceive me, for I saw ye tossin' it up, as I came 
 up t' bank ahint ye. So gie it up at yance, my 
 lad, and have done wi' t' matter." 
 
 "Then ye'll come here nae mair for t\vac 
 months ? " 
 
 " 'Deed, and I'll promise nae sich thing ! What 
 for sud I deny myself t' pleasure o' lookin' on ycr 
 bonnie face arl that time, my jewel ? " returned 
 Sally, with a leer. 
 
 The boy turned sick with disgust and despair. 
 Feeling, as he did, he could not make the bold 
 fight that Meggie had done a month before. The 
 personal interest he felt in the matter was too 
 strong to allow him to appear indifferent as to the 
 result, and nothing else could have served him in 
 such a struggle as the present. He made the fatal 
 mistake of asking his adversary for terms. 
 
 " Hoo long, then ? " he asked feebly, anxious 
 only to get quit of his visitor before she was seen, 
 by any means, however disadvantageous to himself. 
 
 " I canna say," was the cool answer. " It'll de- 
 pend on hoo lang it is afore my mootherly heart 
 begins to yearn for a sight o' you, my darlin'. 
 Come, gie me t' brass, or I'll tak' yer arm, and
 
 BLACKMAIL. ?I 
 
 we'll step across together and drop in on Mistress 
 Ridley. It'll be aboot tea-time, I should think." 
 
 The insolent coolness of this speech was a master- 
 piece in its way. It quite got the better of poor 
 Nick. He capitulated at discretion. Pulling out 
 the florin, he almost threw it in Sally's face. 
 
 But she caught it neatly, dropped him a mocking 
 curtsey, and walked off down the hill. 
 
 Hardly was she gone, and poor Nick was still 
 standing looking after her, feeling as though he 
 were turned to stone, when a mocking laugh rang 
 out behind him from the ruins, and Teddy's hand- 
 some face showed itself from one of the loopholes. 
 
 " Hullo ! " shouted Teddy. " How's yer moother, 
 this evenin', Nick ? Ye'll be glad to see her again, 
 I reckon, after the long time ye've been parted. 
 Did she ken ye again for her ain bairn, eh ? " 
 
 So the blow had fallen at last in spite of all 
 that he could do to avert it. The knowledge of 
 this made Nick tremble, while a feeling of helpless 
 rage caused his blood to boil. 
 
 Mad with indignation, he rushed into the ruins 
 in pursuit of his tormentor. But Teddy was no- 
 where to be seen. Presently, however, another 
 mocking laugh sounded above his head, and he 
 caught sight of the black-haired boy perched up in 
 the embrasure of one of the windows which slit the 
 castle wall. 
 
 To swing himself up by the ivy was the work of 
 an instant, but, when he reached the ledge, Teddy 
 was running along the top of the wall, laughing as
 
 72 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 he went. For full five minutes this game went 
 on, in deadly earnest on Nick's part, in laughing 
 mockery so far as Teddy was concerned ; and when 
 at last the former had succeeded in catching the 
 latter, and was about to have his revenge, a stern 
 voice called on the lads to desist. 
 
 " Now then," said John Ridley, appearing sud- 
 denly before the combatants " now then, what's to 
 do ? Haven't I told ye both I'll have nae fightin' ? 
 It was along o' that we parted last time, Nick ; 
 and as for you, Teddy, if ye've been up to yer old 
 games, the sooner ye learn to keep a civil tongue 
 in yer head the better. Now then, march ! Tea's 
 waitin'." 
 
 "It was nobbut a bit of play, faither," panted 
 Teddy, struggling again into the jacket which had 
 been almost pulled off his back. "Nobbut a bit 
 play, eh, Nick ? " 
 
 But Nick answered nothing. All tea-time he sat 
 on thorns, dreading what Teddy might say. But, 
 though the boy whenever his father's eye was off 
 him, grinned maliciously at his neighbour, he made 
 no allusion to Tramping Sal.
 
 ( 73 ) 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BOGLES. 
 
 CHRISTMAS passed, and the New Year, and Teddy, 
 though, at times, when they were alone together, 
 he made his companion smart with a barbed word, 
 said nothing openly concerning the meeting he had 
 witnessed between Nick and his so-called mother. 
 As the two boys were but little in each other's 
 society, Teddy having almost ceased to do any work 
 on the farm since the arrival of Nick, the latter 
 suffered much less from the discovery than he had 
 expected. He began to hope, as time passed, and 
 Teddy said nothing of the money transaction which 
 had taken place, that this, at least, was still a secret. 
 
 Often and often he asked himself, " How much 
 of the conversation between himself and Sarah had 
 Teddy overheard ? " But as he could never bring 
 himself to put this question to the only person who 
 could answer it, there was but little satisfaction to 
 be had. 
 
 He was, however, inclined to believe that the 
 black-haired boy had not arrived on the scene till 
 Sarah was going ; and, if this were the case, it was 
 just possible that he had only guessed that the 
 woman's figure going down the hill in the twilight 
 for the sun had set during the interview was 
 Sally's.
 
 74 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 If this were so, the matter was not so bad as he 
 had at first feared, and if only the tramp could be 
 kept out of sight for the future, it might reasonably 
 be hoped that Teddy would forget. 
 
 But Nick had no more money, so that, if she came 
 again, he felt that he would be at her mercy. 
 
 A boy, however, is always a hopeful being ; and, 
 at sixteen, to be out of sight is apt to be out of 
 mind. Therefore, as the days went by, and Tramp- 
 ing Sal did not reappear, Nick's fears gradually 
 subsided, and the future tormented him less. 
 
 Thus matters stood, when, one evening, towards 
 the middle of January, as Nick and Meggie rose 
 from milking, they suddenly missed Viper. 
 
 She was not in her usual place in the empty stall 
 by the byre door. She was not in the byre at all. 
 She was not even in the yard. Nick called and 
 whistled in vain. She was nowhere to be found. 
 The thing was unusual, for Viper was not one of 
 those independent characters to be found amongst 
 dogs as well as human beings, who have frequently 
 concerns on hand which take them, no one knows 
 where. If such characters as these are missing for 
 a while, their absence causes no anxiety. But when 
 the companionable, sociable souls withdraw into 
 private life, every one begins to dread that some- 
 thing serious must be the matter. 
 
 It was an almost unheard-of thing for Viper to 
 stay for more than a very few minutes away from 
 Nick. She was like his shadow, and could not even 
 sleep quietly at nights unless her friend was by her
 
 BOGLES. 75 
 
 side. The Ridleys had been forced to let her leave the 
 cart-shed since Nick came, so piteously did she howl 
 to be with him ; and even Mrs. Ridley, for the sake 
 of peace and quietness, was obliged to wink at the 
 fact that the terrier crept up nightly to the " servant- 
 lad's " loft over the stable, and lay at the foot of his 
 bed. 
 
 The milkers remembered to have seen Viper 
 before they sat down to milk. She had followed 
 them into the byre as usual, and curled herself up 
 in her accustomed place. Where, then, could she 
 have got to? 
 
 Presently, Meggie remembered that Teddy had 
 looked into the byre while the milking was going 
 on, and had gone away, leaving the door open 
 behind him, which, after a while, finding the wind 
 blew in, she had risen to shut. Viper, she thought, 
 must have followed her brother. But this, also, 
 was unusual, for Viper had no great love for Teddy. 
 
 After taking the milk to the dairy, and making 
 all right in the byre for the night, the milkers con- 
 tinued their search for the terrier. 
 
 Teddy was reading the paper on the kitchen 
 settle, but the dog was not with him, nor could he 
 give any information concerning her. 
 
 Nick went again into the yard and whistled. It 
 was a stormy night. The wind, which had been 
 rising since sundown, blew in chilly gusts round the 
 buildings. Showers of sleet were beginning to wing 
 their way across the moorland, which lay to the 
 north, and to whiten the hill on which the castle
 
 76 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 stood. Meggie stood outside the back kitchen door, 
 her white pinafore blowing about in the wind. 
 
 "Viper! Viper! Viper!" she called, her clear 
 young voice trying to outshriek the rising gale. 
 
 " Hark ! " she said to Nick, after a pause for 
 listening had succeeded to the chorus of whistles 
 and calls. " I believe I heard her barkin' amang t' 
 ruins. Mebbe it's a cat." 
 
 " Ay, that may be sae," answered the boy. " A 
 strange cat might tempt her. I'll awa' and see." 
 
 " I'll come and arl," said Meggie, hastily. " Wait 
 on me while I get a plaid." 
 
 She seized on the first that came, and then the 
 boy and girl, holding each other's hands, went 
 round the corner of the house and passed into the 
 ruins. 
 
 " We'd better have brought t' lantern," remarked 
 Meggie, presently, as they stumbled along in the 
 dark. "It's pitch black in here. I diven't just 
 like 't, Nick," she went on, pressing more closely 
 to the boy's side. 
 
 " Hoots, lass ! " exclaimed her companion, rather 
 contemptuously ; "what's there to be flayed on ? If 
 Viper's here, she'll come tiv us, sure enough. Hey, 
 Viper, Viper ! Where are ye, lass ? " 
 
 A sharp bark sounded in reply round a corner of 
 the keep ; but the dog made no such haste to join 
 them as Nick had expected. 
 
 "Ay, it'll be a cat," he said, moving off in the 
 direction of the sound, closely accompanied by 
 Meggie. " She's good at cats, is Viper."
 
 BOGLES. 77 
 
 It was indeed dark inside the walls of the old 
 keep. The wind howled dismally through the loop- 
 holes and through the empty windows, swelling to a 
 hurricane, and then dying away for an instant into 
 a low moan, only to rise again and roar the louder. 
 
 The two young people knew their way too well 
 to stumble, otherwise they must certainly have 
 tripped among the heaps of fallen masonry which 
 littered the ground. For Bellister was not a show 
 ruin, and where, from time to time, parts of the 
 walls fell down, there, unless they interfered with the 
 farm-buildings, they were generally allowed to lie. 
 
 Presently Meggie came to a sudden stand, and 
 clutched her companion by the arm. 
 
 "Hark! What's that, Nick?" she said, in a 
 trembling voice. " I'm sure I heard a groan." 
 
 The boy laughed derisively. 
 
 " It's nobbut t' wind," he said. 
 
 " Nay, that wasn't the wind," was the awed reply. 
 " I'm certain I heard somebody groan. Hark ! 
 There it is again ! Oh, Nick, do stop I'm that 
 frightened ! " 
 
 " It's, mebbe, the captive," returned the boy, 
 trying to laugh his companion out of her fears. 
 " D'ye mind (remember) the captive, Meggie ? Ye 
 aye said he was chained up under this tower, ye 
 ken." 
 
 " Dinnot, Nick, dinnot ! " cried the girl, in a terri- 
 fied voice. "If it's it's him, let us cut and run. 
 Do come along back into t' hoose. I'm trem'ling 
 arl over !."
 
 7 8 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 This was true. Nick felt her shudders, as she 
 clung to his arm, and heard her teeth chattering in 
 the darkness. 
 
 " Well, you go in," he said shortly, with a boy's 
 want of sympathy with the fears of a girl. " I 
 maun see what it is, onyhow." 
 
 "Nay, I winnot go alone I durstn't!" was the 
 frightened answer. "Oh, Nick, why didn't we 
 bring a light ? " 
 
 " Whisht, lass ! " he cried hastily ; " there is some- 
 thing there, I dae believe ! It's, mebbe, the cat, 
 but she's makin' a queer-like noise, if it is. Here, 
 Viper ! Viper ! good dog ! " 
 
 But Viper only barked again. She evidently 
 wanted her friends to go to her instead of going 
 to them. 
 
 " She's close by now," whispered Nick in his 
 companion's ear. "Just by t' hole that leads down 
 to the dungeon." 
 
 "Then it's it's t' bogle (ghost) she's after!" 
 Meggie answered back, in a voice thick with terror. 
 " Oh, Nick, Nick, dinna gan ony nearer, for pity's 
 sake ! " 
 
 But Nick's curiosity was stronger than his fears, 
 though by now it cannot be denied that even his 
 heart was beating more quickly than was normal. He 
 moved forward in the direction of Viper's bark, and 
 Meggie, preferring to meet a spectre in company 
 than to fly from it alone, went with him,, holding 
 on by his arm. 
 
 When the two came close to the entrance to the
 
 BOGLES. 79 
 
 dungeon, there was a sound of something moving 
 about among the briars and nettles which grew 
 thickly around ; and presently the terrier came to 
 their feet, and began to whine and fawn upon them, 
 licking Nick's hand as though rejoiced that he had 
 come. 
 
 Nick spoke to and caressed the dog, then, follow- 
 ing her lead, he stooped down and felt with his 
 hand amongst the dead stalks of the nettles. 
 
 " I say, Meggie," he cried presently, " there's a 
 piece of wall fallen down here since this afternoon. 
 It's the wind that'll have done it. Stand back, 
 lass ! There'll, mebbe, be more to come. If 
 
 He broke off suddenly, as an unmistakable moan 
 came to his ears. 
 
 " Eh, Meggie," he said, after a hurried investiga- 
 tion, and this time his voice was hardly more steady 
 than the girl's, "there's a body here under t' stanes ! 
 Let's run for t' lantern ! " 
 
 Trembling with mingled awe and excitement, 
 the boy and girl took each other by the hand, and, 
 without another word, made the best of their way 
 out of the ruins. 
 
 " Let's go to the hoose for moodier and Teddy," 
 panted the girl, as she and her companion reached 
 the farmyard. " I wish father hadn't gone off to 
 Ca'lisle ! " 
 
 "No, we'll see what it is first," was Nick's 
 answer ; and instead of going to the kitchen door, 
 he made for the byre. Instinctively he sought to 
 escape observation, for a horrible fear had taken
 
 SO UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 possession of him, a fear much greater even than 
 that of his companion for "bogles." 
 
 With hands that trembled a good deal, he felt 
 for the matches which stood on a shelf by the 
 lantern, struck a light, and kindled the wick of the 
 candle inside. 
 
 The cows rattled their chains and turned their 
 heads to see what this unwonted visit, after they 
 had been shut up for the night, might mean. But 
 their milkers did not stop to inform them. 
 
 Shielding the light with the flap of his jacket from 
 the onslaughts of the wind, Nick hurried back to 
 the ruins, closely followed by Meg. She was not so 
 frightened now since she had heard that there was 
 a body in the case. For Meggie Ridley was afraid 
 of nobody, and could hold her own with any living 
 thing ; for " bogles," she would have told you, are 
 not bodies, neither, according to her, are they alive. 
 No, the boy and girl had changed places now, and 
 the former was the one who trembled and feared 
 far more than the latter. 
 
 Inside the ruined keep, they were in some mea- 
 sure sheltered from the force of the wind, and Nick 
 was able to let the light of his lantern shine more 
 freely. 
 
 Moving along the grass in front of them, it lit up 
 portions of the old grey walls, leaving the rest in 
 intense shade, and throwing strange shadows upon 
 the ground. All looked so eerie that Meggie began 
 to shudder again, and clung closer to her com- 
 panion's arm.
 
 BOGLES. 8 1 
 
 As the light came nearer, Viper ran out of the 
 shadow to meet her friends, uttering cries of delight 
 at seeing them again. Then she went back to the 
 corner of the keep furthest from where they were, 
 put her nose into the air, and howled dismally. 
 
 " Whisht, Viper ! " exclaimed Nick, impatiently ; 
 then, setting his teeth, he knelt down by the newly - 
 fallen stones, holding the lantern close to something 
 which lay partly beneath them. 
 
 "Ay, it's her, sure enough," he said, after what 
 seemed to Meggie a lengthy examination, turning 
 towards her a face which looked white in the 
 lantern-light. 
 
 " Whae (who) ? " asked Meggie, curiously. 
 
 " Why, whae but Trampin' Sal ! " 
 
 " My goodness ! " exclaimed the girl, in a tone 
 almost of disappointment ; " to think of its bein' 
 nobbut Sally, after all ! Eh, what a fright she 
 gave me ! " 
 
 "Nobbut Sally?" repeated the boy, bitterly; 
 "why, I'd rayther it had been any ither body in 
 the world than her ! " 
 
 " Ay, I was forgettin'," answered Meggie. " But, 
 Nick, however can she have got here ? " 
 
 " She's had a drap o'er much, I guess," said poor 
 Nick, looking into the drink-sodden face of the 
 wretched woman. " She's lost her way and got in 
 here, likely, and hasn't known how to get out again. 
 Then she's lain down, and the wall's fallen a-top of 
 her." 
 
 " Is she dead ? " asked the girl, in an awed voice. 
 
 G
 
 82 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "Nay, I diven't think 't," answered the boy. 
 " Here, haud t' light, Meggie, while I heave the 
 stones off her, and then we'll see." 
 
 He suited the action to the word, and had soon 
 freed the body of the woman, on whom, as it 
 chanced, not many stones had fallen, and these 
 not the largest. 
 
 Sally groaned several times during the process, 
 and, when she was free, she gave a long sigh of 
 relief. 
 
 " She's comin' to, I guess," said Nick, as he rolled 
 the last stone on to the grass. " Meggie, lass, ye 
 might look to her. I'd rayther she didn't see me 
 first." 
 
 He stepped aside with a shudder which he could 
 not repress, took the light from his companion's 
 hand, and left her to do what she could for the 
 tramp. 
 
 Meggie, for whom Tramping Sal had none of 
 the terrors which she possessed for Nick, raised 
 the woman's head upon her lap in a cool, matter- 
 of-fact sort of way, loosened her dress, took off 
 her battered bonnet, and let the cold wind blow 
 freely among her grizzled hair. For John Ridley's 
 daughter, young though she was, was a self-pos- 
 sessed little person and eminently practical. 
 
 Presently Sal's eyelids quivered, and then opened 
 slowly. She stared up into Meggie's face. 
 
 " Come, ye're better now, Sal, aren't ye ? " asked 
 the girl, cheerfully. "Ye'd better get up and gan 
 afore yere perished wi' cauld."
 
 BOGLES. 83 
 
 Thus adjured, the woman made an effort to rise, 
 but fell back again. 
 
 " I canna ! " she groaned. " My leg's brak', I 
 think, and my back's bad." 
 
 Meggie looked at Nick, and shook her head. 
 
 " Whativer's to be done ? " she asked. 
 
 Nick rumpled his red hair. 
 
 " I dinna ken," he said at last, in a helpless tone. 
 
 " Hoots, lad ! " exclaimed the girl, impatiently. It 
 was her turn now to be contemptuous, and she was 
 in no wise averse to paying off her companion for 
 scoffing at her earlier on in the evening. "Ye're 
 good for nowt when it comes to managing a busi- 
 ness like this menfolk niver are ! Now, dinna 
 stand starin' there like a simpleton ! Gan in and 
 fetch moother. Shell ken what to do." 
 
 " Nay ! " cried the boy, galvanized into life by 
 this suggestion, and vehemently opposed to it. 
 " Nay, we maunna tell ' Mistress Ridley. Shell 
 never let Sally inside her doors, ye ken that. And, 
 
 besides Oh, Meggie, cannot ye think o' some 
 
 way of gettin' her off before folks here find her 
 out ? I canna bide to have her thrown in my face. 
 Come, think how we can manage it, there's a good 
 lass." 
 
 He said this coaxingly, whispering the words 
 into her ear lest Sally should hear. 
 
 Scorn his fears as she might, the girl was touched. 
 She thought for a few minutes. 
 
 "Well," she said, presently, "we might try and 
 bear her into t' little calf-house it's nighest so
 
 84 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 as to be out o' t' cauld, while ye gan to t' Union 
 and tell them to fetch her." 
 
 "Ay, we might dae that," answered the boy, 
 approvingly. " I'll set down t' lantern on this 
 wa', then ye can try and lift her feet, while I lift 
 her head." 
 
 They did so. Sally was heavy, and groaned 
 deeply ; but, truth to tell, neither of those young 
 Samaritans was sufficiently tender-hearted towards 
 her to pay much attention. To get her out of the 
 way undiscovered was all that they cared for just 
 then. 
 
 " I diven't believe her leg's broke, after all," re- 
 marked Meggie, as they laid their burden down on 
 some straw in the corner of the warm calf-house ; 
 " she couldna kick like that if it was." 
 
 " Ay, she's broke my shin, I think ! " answered 
 Nick, with a quavering laugh. Not that the boy 
 was hard-hearted, but it was a relief to him just 
 then to be able to look at matters in a slightly less 
 tragical light. 
 
 " Now, Meggie," he added presently, " ye'd better 
 gan in, while I slip down to t' toon. The sooner 
 they tak' her away t' better." 
 
 But the removal was not to be so speedy as 
 Nick desired. The workhouse authorities refused 
 to send for Sally till next morning, and it was a 
 very wakeful bedfellow that lay beside Viper that 
 night in the " servant lad's " loft at Bellister farm. 
 
 Whenever he managed to fall asleep for a few 
 minutes, Nick dreamed of moaning winds and
 
 BOGLES. 85 
 
 groaning captives, who looked at him from out of 
 the ruins with faces sometimes ghostly, sometimes 
 mocking, while Teddy's jeering laugh kept sound- 
 ing in his ears, and Teddy's figure, which he could 
 never get at, played hide-and-seek with him among 
 the old walls. Once he fancied that Tramping Sal 
 had caught him in her arms and was carrying him 
 down to the dungeon, and he woke, bathed in per- 
 spiration, to find the grey dawn beginning to steal 
 through his uncurtained window, and Viper watch- 
 ing him with puzzled eyes from the foot of the bed. 
 
 He jumped up hastily, fearing that he was late, 
 and that the people from the Union might tap at 
 the kitchen-door before he could forestall them. 
 But no, Sally was still in the calf-house when he 
 went to see, lying on the straw in an uneasy sleep. 
 
 Nick stood beside her for some moments, look- 
 ing down at her by the light of his lantern. The 
 coarse face was of a purplish red. The blear eyes 
 were closed, and the loose lips were half open. She 
 looked a repulsive creature, indeed, as she lay there, 
 breathing heavily, and moaning at times, half- 
 drunken, half-delirious, as it seemed to Nick. 
 
 "She canna be my moother! She canna!" he 
 murmured, with a shudder of disgust. And then 
 the wish arose in his heart, wicked, maybe, but per- 
 fectly natural, that death might take from his path 
 the wretched woman who claimed him as her son. 
 
 Poor Nick ! Can we blame him for the wish, we 
 who have good parents of whom we are proud ? 
 I think not. And yet *it was an awful wish ; even
 
 86 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 the wisher was conscious of that while his young 
 heart rose in passionate revolt against the hard lot 
 which had poisoned life for him at its very source. 
 
 He was full of bitterness as he stood there, bitter 
 against men, bitter even against the God, Whom, 
 poor fellow, he hardly knew. If this woman were, 
 indeed, his mother, what could be expected of him ? 
 
 And then came another terrible reflection. "What 
 does it matter what I do ? I might as well give up 
 tryin' to keep straight if I'm her bairn ! But it 
 canna be ; it isn't possible, and I winnot believe 't ! " 
 concluded the boy, starting away from the bare 
 idea of kinship with this miserable outcast. " I 
 wish oh, I wish 
 
 But the wish went no further just then, for, at 
 that moment, the men arrived who were to take the 
 tramp to the workhouse. 
 
 It was later on in the morning, while the milking 
 was in process, that Nick revealed to Meggie the 
 thought which had been in his heart 
 
 " Meggie," he said suddenly, " ye asked me once 
 what I'd dae if I were rich ; I ken now. I'd give 
 onything she'd take to Trampin' Sal if she'd nobbut 
 go away and niver come nigh me again ! "
 
 ( 87 ) 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TREASURE-TROVE. 
 
 THAT same afternoon found Nick and Meggie 
 once more among the ruins, trying to put the stones 
 into some sort of order, which had fallen from the 
 wall on the previous night, for, small as seemed the 
 chance that the inhabitants of Bellister farmhouse 
 would fail to hear of the accident to Tramping Sal, 
 Nick was feverishly anxious to efface all traces of 
 her presence. 
 
 The weather was calm again by now. The wind 
 had sunk, and the sky was swept clear of clouds. 
 The sleety rain which had fallen the night before, 
 gave a hoary look to the grey ruins, and just 
 whitened the grass and the nettle-stalks which 
 grew rankly within the keep. 
 
 Now and then the sun, which was shining coldly, 
 caught one of these tiny crystals, causing it to 
 flash like silver, as the lazy breeze, which was all 
 that was left of the recent gale, waved the stalk 
 which held it to and fro. 
 
 Viper was sniffing suspiciously around, as though 
 she still remembered that some one had been on 
 the premises who had no business there, and were 
 not quite sure whether or not the coast was clear. 
 
 "Well, ye're nae great hand at mason-wark, 
 Nick!" exclaimed Meggie, presently, with a merry
 
 88 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 laugh, as, just when he thought that his task was 
 nearly completed, the stones, which her companion 
 had so carefully built up, suddenly slipped from 
 their places, and came rolling down again, carrying 
 another piece of the wall along with them. 
 
 Nick uttered an exclamation of impatience. 
 
 " What garred them dae that ? " he asked. " Ye 
 jogged them, Meggie, I dae believe ! " 
 
 " Nay, but I didn't," answered the girl. " Stand 
 back, lad, quick ! There's mair to come yet." 
 
 She caught the boy's jacket and pulled him back, 
 just as another rush of stones fell rumbling from 
 the walls into the enclosure. A cloud of dust rose 
 into the air, and the old walls of the keep echoed 
 and re-echoed with the sound. 
 
 " My goodness !" cried Meggie; "you've done it 
 now, lad." 
 
 Nick looked in dismay at the gap in the wall 
 and at the litter of stones which again strewed the 
 ground at its foot. 
 
 Viper, who had been disturbed by the noise, ran 
 backwards and forwards, barking loudly. 
 
 " Whisht ! " exclaimed Nick, impatiently. " We 
 shall be havin' all the countryside aboot us directly. 
 It's lucky there's naebody at heam, this afternoon, 
 but our twae sel's, Meggie." 
 
 " It is that," was the answer. " But moother's 
 nobbut slipped through to t' toon ; she'll be landin' 
 back directly, and Teddy'll be comin' in to his tea. 
 Come, lad, I'll help ye to side up a bit ; but it's 
 nae use tryin' to build."
 
 TREASURE-TROVE. 89 
 
 Nick, however, did not seem to hear. He was 
 attentively examining the hole in the wall left by 
 the fallen stones. The walls of the keep were very 
 thick, and, as a rule, perfectly solid. But the portion 
 which had fallen seemed to have been an exception. 
 Instead of the solid six feet of masonry which formed 
 the rest, this part of the wall appeared to have been 
 built in two leaves with a hollow space between. 
 The stones which had fallen had evidently composed 
 the inner leaf, for the outer was still standing, and 
 the hollow space which had been left in the thick- 
 ness was perfectly apparent. 
 
 Cautiously clambering over the fallen stones, 
 Nick went close up to the wall, and, using what 
 care he could to avoid loosening more of the old 
 building, he put his head into the cavity. 
 
 Meggie stood outside watching him closely. 
 Every now and then she uttered a word of 
 warning, but she was, evidently, as curious as he was 
 himself. 
 
 When Nick drew his head again out of the hole 
 his eyes were sparkling. 
 
 "I do believe it's a hidy-hole, or somethin' o' 
 that sort, Meggie," he said excitedly. "Run and 
 fetch t' lantern, and we'll look in." 
 
 The girl did as she was told, and soon returned 
 with the light. 
 
 When she came back, she saw that Nick had 
 drawn himself up, and was kneeling on the broken 
 wall with his body half in half out of the hole. 
 
 " Tak' care, lad ! " she cried ; " we shall be havin'
 
 90 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 ye buried next. How would it be if some mair on 
 t' wall rushed, and brought ye along wi't ? " 
 
 But Nick took no notice of this terrible possi- 
 bility, and Meggie, who was crimson with excite- 
 ment, clambered in her turn over the stones and 
 handed the lantern to the explorer. 
 
 " Mebbe, we'll find a skeleton" she said in a low 
 voice of mingled awe and delight. " Eh, lad, div 
 ye think we will ? " 
 
 A little tremor ran through her as she spoke, 
 and she looked nervously over her shoulder. But 
 the sun was still shining on the rimy grass where 
 Viper was sitting, wagging her rope of a tail, and 
 evidently using all her endeavours to repress the 
 barks to which her master had, objected. 
 
 Both Meggie and Viper had to endure what 
 seemed to them an eternity of waiting before the 
 explorer had finished his researches. When at 
 length he slowly backed out of the hole and handed 
 the lantern again to his assistant, Meggie could 
 see that he was trembling all over. 
 
 " What is't, lad ? " she asked impatiently ; " thoo's 
 found somethin', I can see that. Is it oh, is it 
 really a skeleton ? " 
 
 But still the boy was silent. Not till he had 
 withdrawn his body completely from the hole, and 
 was standing by her side on the heap of fallen 
 stones, did Meggie's eager eyes make the discovery 
 which her ears had in vain been opened for. 
 
 Yes, sure enough Nick had found something. He 
 was holding in his hand an object which looked
 
 TREASURE-TROVE. 91 
 
 like a small iron box, as red as rust could 
 make it. 
 
 But what was in it ? 
 
 Meggie thought of the skeleton, but decided, with 
 much disappointment, that it was too small for 
 such an enclosure. Something interesting, however, 
 she felt sure it must contain, and her fingers itched 
 to open the closed lid. 
 
 " Be sharp, lad, be sharp ! " she cried, springing 
 down from the heap of stones without any of the 
 caution she had used in ascending. " Let us see 
 what's in 't. Eh, what a time ye are ! Canna ye 
 brak 't open ? " 
 
 Nick, meanwhile, had seated himself on one of 
 the stones, and was trying to open the lid with 
 fingers whose trembling showed that he was in no 
 way less excited than his more demonstrative com- 
 panion. 
 
 But try as he might the lid would not open. It 
 was evident that the box was locked. Failing in 
 his endeavour, Nick at last took the stone which 
 his impatient little companion handed to him, and 
 set himself to break into what he could not open. 
 Meggie stood over him, her rosy face scarlet, her 
 body trembling all over with excitement, while 
 Viper sat in front of the pair wagging her ropy 
 tail and moving her prick ears, jealous of the atten- 
 tion given to such a trifle as a rusty box. 
 
 The sun sank lower and lower towards the western 
 hills, throwing its crimson glow on the grey ruins, 
 on the trio within, and on the iron box which had
 
 92 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 been hidden away from the light, who can say 
 how many hundred years. 
 
 Eastern stories tell how the opening of a chest, 
 a jar, a bottle, locked or sealed up for centuries, 
 has resulted in the letting loose of a terrible fate, 
 ready to swoop down upon the devoted head of the 
 opener. 
 
 Neither Nick nor Meggie Ridley had ever heard 
 these wonderful tales. And, yet, their hearts beat 
 during the opening of that mysterious box, as 
 heavily as though they fully expected a "djin," as 
 terrible as any in Eastern fable, to leap out upon 
 them when the lid should open. 
 
 It was long in doing so, very long, considering 
 the rusty condition of the box. But, at length, 
 though failing to break the lock, Nick succeeded 
 in loosening the hinges. The lid came up with a 
 sudden jerk, and out rolled, not a heap of moulder- 
 ing bones, as Meggie had fondly continued to hope, 
 in spite of her better judgment ; not a cloud of 
 smoke, which is the essence of bottled spirits (of 
 the Arabian sort, of course), but a ringing shower 
 of large gold pieces. 
 
 They lay in a shining confusion upon the rimy 
 grass, the sun finding them out one by one and 
 drawing the sparkles from their surface, as it had 
 done a few weeks before from Nick's florin. 
 Only, this time, the sparkles were gold and not 
 silver. 
 
 Viper jumped up and barked again, as she ran 
 after the rolling coins.
 
 TREASURE-TROVE. 93 
 
 Meggie uttered a long-drawn " Oh-h ! " of wonder 
 and admiration. 
 
 Nick said nothing, but his eyes sparkled as they 
 followed the golden shower, and his cheeks flushed 
 red as the setting sun. For full sixty seconds not a 
 word was spoken, nor did either of the discoverers 
 move. 
 
 Then Meggie suddenly threw herself on her knees 
 upon the grass and began hastily to gather up the 
 coins. 
 
 " Be sharp, lad," she said to her companion. " The 
 sun '11 be down directly, and then we'll not can find 
 them. Eh, what a heap of gold ! It would be a 
 sin to lose a single piece." 
 
 Nick apparently thought the same, for he 
 followed the girl's example, and soon, so far as they 
 could tell, not a coin remained among the grass. 
 Then they sat down and counted them over. There 
 were twenty in all. But of how much value they 
 were originally, or how much money they now re- 
 presented, neither of the discoverers could tell. For 
 none of the coins were sovereigns, and though each 
 one bore an effigy, it was not that of our gracious 
 Queen, as even Nick and Meggie could plainly 
 perceive. Hardly had they finished counting their 
 treasure-trove when the red ball of the sun went 
 down in the west, and the click of the gate, opening 
 into the high-road below, warned them that some- 
 body was coming. Nick jumped up hastily. 
 
 " Here, give us t' box," he said, taking it from 
 his companion's lap, where it had been during the
 
 94 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 counting over. "We'll put it back into t' hole for 
 the present. And, Meggie, dinna let on aboot it 
 till we've made up our minds what to dae." 
 
 He climbed hastily onto the stones, thrust the 
 precious box as far into the cavity as his arm would 
 reach, blocked up the entrance in a rough-and- 
 ready fashion, and, followed by Viper and Meggie, 
 made the best of his way round to the farm- 
 yard. 
 
 As the three rounded the corner of the keep 
 they came suddenly upon Teddy, coming, apparently, 
 from the other direction. He started as he saw 
 them, and so did Meggie and Nick. 
 
 "Hollo!" said Meggie; "sae it's you, Ted! I 
 thought it was moother comin' back. But there 
 she is and arl." 
 
 For Mrs. Ridley at that moment, panting with 
 her toil up the steep hill, weighted as she was 
 with a heavy basket, came into the farmyard. 
 
 " Goodness me ! " she cried in her harsh voice. 
 " Whatever have ye been after, lad ? Why, the kye's 
 niver been watered, sae far as I can mak' oot, and 
 t' sun already set ! It's easy to see t' maister-man's 
 awa', ye lazy rascal ye ! " 
 
 Nick flushed. He was quite conscious that the 
 reproof was deserved. For the first time since his 
 return to Bellister he had taken advantage of Rid- 
 ley's absence to neglect his duties. 
 
 Without a word he went to the byres, but still 
 he could hear Mrs. Ridley's loud voice, scolding 
 and storming, across the yard.
 
 TREASURE-TROVE. 95 
 
 She had reached the kitchen by this time, and 
 had discovered new food for her wrath. 
 
 " Well, I niver ! " she exclaimed, setting down her 
 basket on the table and throwing up her hands. " I 
 come back tewed (done up) and tired, wantin' my 
 tea that bad I cud hardlys clim' t' bank. And what 
 do I find ? T' fire black oot, and niver sae much 
 as t' cloth laid. Well, Meggie, I am ashamed o' 
 ye, I am that. Fowerteen year auld, and not to 
 be trusted yet ! Whativer have ye been doin', 
 bairn?" 
 
 Meggie hung the curly head on which all this 
 wrath had fallen like a pattering shower of hail. 
 She, too, was well aware that she was but getting 
 her due, for Mrs. Ridley always gave full measure, 
 and none of her household expected less. But it 
 was not so much the scolding that discomfited the 
 girl as the difficulty she found in answering her 
 mother's question. Nick's injunction to silence 
 fettered her usually outspoken tongue, and caused 
 her a very unaccustomed feeling of embarrassment. 
 
 Receiving no answer, Mrs. Ridley faced round 
 and fixed her daughter with a gimlet-like gaze, 
 such as only pale grey eyes can attain to. 
 
 " Ye've been in mischief, ye huzzy ye ! I can 
 see that," she said presently, as she looked at the 
 crimson face of her little daughter. "Ye've been 
 idlin' yer time wi' that good-for-nothing young 
 feller yer faither was sae set on bringin' in. I aye 
 telt him nae good would come on't, and I'm reet. 
 A lass like ye ought to ken better than to tak'
 
 96 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 up wi' a beggar's brat like yon. I'll not have it, 
 Meggie, and sae I tell ye ! " 
 
 "We were after nae harm, moother," answered 
 the girl, half-crying. 
 
 " Nae harm ! and what d'ye call nae harm ? " the 
 mother went on remorselessly. " Come, let me 
 hear yer notion, bairn ? Lakin', (playing) sez 
 t'a ? Ye're gettin' over-auld to lake, I tell ye that, 
 and ye'll just have to give over. When / was 
 fowerteen I'd hae been 'shamed to waste my time 
 like that. Why, I was my faither's housekeeper 
 when I was nobbut a year aulder nor that ! " 
 
 Mrs. Ridley tossed her head with conscious pride, 
 and Meggie hoped for a moment that the scolding 
 was over. But she was mistaken. 
 
 " And what were ye lakin' at ? " was the next 
 question. 
 
 " Oh, nowt partic'ler ! " answered the girl, feeling 
 as though she were being pinned into a corner, 
 and already beginning to wish that the iron box 
 had never been discovered. "Well, then," she 
 went on, finding that her answer was considered 
 insufficient, "we were just buildin' up a bit of t' 
 castle wall that was blown down, last neet." 
 
 This seemed to satisfy Mrs. Ridley for the 
 present; for, beyond a contemptuous, "Ye might 
 ha' found somethin' better to do ! " she said no 
 more, just then, and she and Meggie busied them- 
 selves in making the fire and getting the tea.
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " IS THY SERVANT A DOG ? " 
 
 IT was not till milking-time, that evening, that 
 Meggie and Nick were able to discuss the secret 
 which was already beginning to weigh so heavily 
 upon the mind of the former. Not a word had been 
 spoken during tea by any of the party. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley's severe countenance still lowered 
 ominously above her tea-cups, and the culprits 
 felt that the storm was not over, and refrained 
 from speaking lest it should again come down upon 
 them. 
 
 Teddy sat in his usual place, watching the faces 
 of his companions, when he thought he could do 
 so without catching their eyes in return, but im- 
 mediately looking away when he was caught in the 
 act. This, however, was not an unusual occupation 
 with Teddy, and attracted no particular attention. 
 Indeed, the two discoverers were too much absorbed 
 in the thought of the great discovery they had 
 made, that afternoon, to have leisure to notice the 
 researches of others. 
 
 No sooner were they in the byre, however, and 
 had begun to milk, than Meggie burst out. 
 
 "Nick," she said abruptly, "what are ye goin' to 
 dae wi' that money ? " 
 
 H
 
 98 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Hush ! " answered the boy. " Speak lower, lass 
 somebody might hear ye." 
 
 " There's nobbut Viper and the kye," retorted the 
 girl ; " and if there were, what would it matter ? " 
 
 Nick did not answer immediately, and the girl 
 renewed her first question in a more cautious tone. 
 
 "Weel," answered the boy at last, in a dubious 
 voice, "I dinna joost ken. When money's found 
 like that, whae does't belong to ? " 
 
 The question posed Meggie. 
 
 " I thowt," she said at last, in a voice as doubtful 
 as Nick's own " I thowt that w r hat folks found they 
 keept." 
 
 "Well, that's just what I'm not sae sure aboot," 
 said the boy, slowly. 
 
 There was a long pause. The milk poured into 
 the two pails in rhythmical streams. The cows 
 munched the hay in their stalls, rattling their chains 
 softly as they did so. 
 
 " Nick ! " exclaimed the girl at last, with sudden 
 excitement. " It's a reg'lar Jbrtun' ! It's enough 
 to mak' a body rich ! " 
 
 "Mebbe," answered the boy, slowly. "But the 
 question is, whae owns it by reet ? That's the 
 question, Meggie." 
 
 "If it's yours, ye could bribe Trampin' Sal to 
 go away for good and all if she disn't die of her 
 hurts," the girl said after another pause. She 
 had put her companion's unspoken thought into 
 words. 
 
 " Ay," answered the boy, " I could so. Eh, lass,
 
 "IS THY SERVANT A DOG?" 99 
 
 but I wish " He broke off, as though he could 
 
 not trust himself to express the desire that was in 
 his heart His voice was low and husky, and the 
 broken sentence ended in a long sigh. 
 
 "Well," said Meggie at last, "we maun just ask 
 faither." 
 
 There was a cheerful decision about the girl's 
 manner of saying this which contrasted with the 
 painful struggle that was evidently going on in the 
 boy's mind. 
 
 "Ay, we'll have to tell him, onyhow," she went 
 on, as he did not speak. "Moother's been at me 
 arlready aboot what we've been doin', and I was 
 sair put to what to say. I niver had a secret before. 
 Besides, the gold was found on faither's land." 
 
 " But it's not his own," put in Nick, quickly. " If 
 onybody, leavin' out us, has a claim, it'll be t' 
 landlord." 
 
 " I ken naethin' aboot that," was the decided 
 answer. " But whether or not, faither must be telt." 
 
 Nick made no rejoinder for some minutes, then 
 he said, with another sigh 
 
 " Ay, I suppose sae. Ye'd better tell him yersel', 
 Meggie." 
 
 "Ay, Nick, I will," answered the girl, heartily, 
 " as soon as iver he comes back." 
 
 That was the whole of the conversation which 
 passed during milking-time. But it quite satisfied 
 Meggie. Her feelings of discomfort fled away, 
 and her face was bright again and her manner 
 natural as she came in to supper.
 
 100 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 But Nick's countenance, as he followed her, was 
 still sombre. It seemed hard to him that he should 
 find the money he so much wanted, only to give it 
 up. After all, who was there that needed it more 
 than he ? Who would be the worse if he were to 
 take possession of his find and say nothing about 
 it ? Meggie of course should have her share, since 
 she was there at the finding. Surely that might 
 satisfy her sense of justice without telling Ridley. 
 Or suppose he took the half, and arranged with 
 Meggie that only her share should be men- 
 tioned ? 
 
 The idea was tempting. He thought over it for 
 a long time after he had finished his supper, as 
 he sat by the fire, looking fixedly into the red 
 caverns of the burning coals. 
 
 To tell the master, Nick said to himself, would 
 mean nothing more nor less than the loss of every- 
 thing, so far as he was concerned. Possibly, he 
 might be allowed to keep a solitary gold piece as 
 the finder ; but that, he felt assured, would be all. 
 The seeming injustice of the proceeding angered 
 him. If any one had a right to this money it ap- 
 peared to him that it was, surely, the finder. 
 
 Who else had a stronger claim ? Till a few 
 hours ago, no one had so much as known that the 
 iron box existed. It had probably lain for many 
 hundred years in the wall of the old castle. Some 
 old fellow of the moss-trooping days, whose bones, 
 maybe, were whitening in a peat bog on the Borders, 
 had, probably, put it there, forgetting to tell his heir
 
 "IS THY SERVANT A DOG?" IOI 
 
 before he rode away on the foray from which he 
 never returned. Who, then, would be the loser, 
 supposing nothing were now said ? Not the moss- 
 raider, for he was dead long ago, and his family, 
 the. ancient owners of the castle, had all died out. 
 Who, then ? 
 
 Ay, this was the question. And poor Nick, 
 sitting there over the fire, found it a very knotty 
 one. He knew nothing at all of the law relating 
 to such finds, and his natural instincts were those 
 of the dog who scratches up a bone, and then, 
 instantly appropriating his find, carries it off to 
 enjoy in private. No one had taken any trouble 
 to teach him better. No one seemed to expect 
 from him conduct befitting a higher code of honour. 
 And yet, argue the case as he might, he was con- 
 scious all the time that the course which Meggie had 
 suggested was the right one, and he would not recall 
 his approval. No, hard though the results might 
 be, Ridley must be told. 
 
 That night, however, whenever he slept, it was to 
 dream of the shower of the shining gold which had 
 fallen on the grass at his feet when he opened the 
 iron box. Each time he dreamed the fascination 
 grew stronger, and when he awoke with a start 
 between the dreams the temptation at least to look 
 once more on the treasure-trove had increased to a 
 more passionate desire. 
 
 Well, why not ? There could be no harm in 
 looking. John Ridley might return at any hour, 
 and then his chance of feasting his eyes once more
 
 102 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 on the golden hoard, with no one by to share it 
 with him, would be gone for ever. 
 
 Now, a carefully trained student of morality 
 would have known quite well that even to look 
 on what the heart lusts after is sin. It is to put 
 one's self into such a position as to strengthen the 
 temptation and give it opportunity to triumph over 
 weakness already sorely pressed. But poor Nick 
 was no student. He was but an ignorant lad with 
 unchecked natural tendencies, inherited, in all pro- 
 bability, from generations of evil-doers, which only 
 opportunity was wanting to bring into play. And 
 now the opportunity had come. And yet he 
 struggled. For there was good in the lad as well 
 as evil. Was he not a child of God ? And does 
 God allow His children, even the most ignorant, to 
 sin seriously for the first time without a struggle ? 
 
 It might have been about two o'clock in the 
 morning when Nick awoke, bathed in perspiration, 
 from a third dream of the gold. He had seen in 
 his vision some one mounting the heap of fallen 
 stones and taking the box from its hiding-place. 
 This was too much for his resolution. He jumped 
 out of bed, hastily slipped into his clothes, and 
 stole down the ladder from his loft, forbidding 
 Viper with a stern gesture to get off the foot of the 
 bed where she was lying. 
 
 The moon was shining brightly as he opened the 
 door of the stable and crept into the open air. 
 There were large fleecy clouds about, however, sail- 
 ing slowly across the dark blue sea of air overhead,
 
 "IS THY SERVANT A DOG?" 103 
 
 and bearing down towards the floating silver boat 
 of the waning moon, so that every now and then 
 it went under, as though swamped by the berg- 
 like clouds. During the earlier part of the night 
 there seemed to have been frost, for the air was 
 still keen, and there was thin ice over the puddles 
 in the yard. But the clouds showed that the frost 
 was less intense, and that a change of some sort 
 was coming probably snow, thought Nick, as he 
 looked up at the sky. 
 
 He shivered as he crossed the yard and passed 
 into the black shadows which lay among the ruins ; 
 but it was as much from excitement as from cold. 
 Here the grass felt stiff under his feet, and he could 
 hear the crisp rustle which it made as he passed. 
 
 He kept as much as possible under the shadow 
 of the walls, though he knew that the chances were 
 that nobody would see him, even if he crossed over 
 the very centre of the cloth of silver which the 
 moon and the frost had combined to lay upon the 
 more open reaches of the grass. 
 
 How still it was ! 
 
 He could hear his own heart thump and the 
 sound of the breath which came fast from between 
 his parted lips. The rustle of his steps among the 
 frozen grass sounded in his ears with an alarming 
 noise, and he looked behind him more than once, 
 believing that some one must be following him. 
 But no. When he stopped, the rustling stopped too, 
 and the silvery spaces were blank and tenantless. 
 
 AS Nick passed into the keep an owl hooted,
 
 IO4 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 and sailed away into the night from some window 
 overhead. It was all that the boy could do to 
 repress a cry. 
 
 What a fool he was, he said to himself nearly 
 as timid as Meggie. Superstitious fears had not 
 troubled him before when he had passed through 
 the ruins at night. Why, then, should they now ? 
 
 He could not tell, but he knew that he was afraid, 
 and the sensation was extremely disagreeable. As 
 he came to the corner where the wall had fallen, it 
 seemed to him that a silent shadow flitted round 
 the angle. He stopped stock still, his heart going 
 rapidly pit-a-pat. What could it be ? In another 
 moment he almost laughed out loud. It was only 
 one of those big white bergs in the blue ocean 
 overhead swamping the moon and throwing the 
 earth beneath into temporary shadow. Yes, that 
 was all. Nick drew a deep breath of relief and 
 felt his way in the dark to the corner of the wall. 
 There he waited a little till the moon-boat should 
 have righted herself again, and he could see his 
 way to the hiding-hole where the treasure lay. But 
 as he stood inactive, he experienced another terrible 
 shock of fear. What if his dream were true, and 
 some one had been there before him ! What if 
 the gold were gone ? Waves of alternate cold and 
 heat crept over his body during those few moments 
 that the moon was gone. It seemed ages before 
 the berg swept by and shadow once more gave 
 place to brilliant light. 
 
 Breathing hard with anxiety, Nick mounted
 
 "IS THY SERVANT A DOG?" 10$ 
 
 the fallen stones, raised himself to the edge of the 
 hole, and felt in its black profundity. His fingers 
 touched the box. He drew it out with another 
 long breath of relief, carefully clambered down again, 
 and carried it to the edge of the black border of 
 shadow beyond which lay the silver carpet of light. 
 
 Here, he thought, he might look at the golden 
 pieces, and count them over, ready to draw back 
 into the shadow should any one disturb him. This, 
 at least, it seemed to him just then, it was only 
 right to do ; for, with the impression of his dream 
 still strong upon him, he felt it necessary to assure 
 himself that the money was all there. He was its 
 keeper for the present, and was bound, as he told 
 himself, to answer for the safety of every piece. 
 
 He opened the box, and held it so that the 
 silver flood of moonlight fell full upon the contents. 
 
 How wonderfully they glittered ! Not with the 
 solid yellow glow which daylight had shown, but 
 with a white, mysterious, fairy-like sheen, which 
 gave them still stronger glamour in the eyes of 
 the penniless boy. 
 
 He had heard of men who had suddenly grown 
 rich. There had been accounts of such in the 
 papers, of which he sometimes got a sight men 
 who from paupers had been made millionaires at 
 a bound by a lucky lottery number. He had 
 hardly envied them before ; for to those who have 
 either never possessed it, or never specially needed 
 it, gold requires to be seen and its want experienced, 
 before its full fascination can be felt.
 
 106 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Meggie,too,had been accustomed to weave stories, 
 or to tell again those which she diligently studied 
 in a certain old fairy-tale book about goblin-gold 
 brought by gnomes out of caves and dens of the 
 earth. About measures of corn and peas which 
 had turned to golden showers when thrown to the 
 fowls by virtuous children. About geese which 
 laid golden eggs, and birds which carried precious 
 stones in their claws. 
 
 But though Nick had been pleased to listen as 
 he lay in the sun by her side under the castle wall 
 in summer, or among the hay in the barn in winter, 
 his imagination had not been sufficiently strong 
 to conjure up such a vision as to awaken his 
 desires. 
 
 Now, however, all was changed. The lottery of 
 fortune had turned up for him a golden prize, and 
 no goblins or fairies could have conjured up riches 
 from a more unexpected place. Here was gold 
 visible, palpable, real gold, which his eyes could see 
 and his fingers touch, and, already, it was working 
 its magical, dangerous spell upon the boy who had 
 never possessed such riches in all his life. 
 
 It was not only what gold could do, it was the 
 greed for the gold itself which shone in Nick's 
 eyes, reflected there from the sparkling, bewitching 
 beauty of the broad, moonlit pieces, as he counted 
 over his treasure-trove. Ay, it was all there in full 
 tale. He had satisfied himself on that point, at 
 any rate. But though this was so, Nick was not 
 yet satisfied. His eyes continued to gloat on the
 
 "IS THY SERVANT A DOG?" IO7 
 
 golden pieces again lying safely at the bottom of 
 the box. 
 
 The temptation to appropriate them had grown 
 to giant strength. With these what could he not 
 do ? Not only free himself from Tramping Sal, 
 but make himself into a rich man, rich enough to 
 have no questions asked concerning his birth. For 
 of world-lore Nick knew enough to be aware that 
 gold, like charity, covers a multitude of defects. 
 
 John Ridley was not yet back. Suppose he were 
 to take the box and go off with it at once, who 
 but Meggie would be the wiser ? He did not think 
 that she would betray him, and he would keep her 
 share, and give it her, doubled, trebled, when as a 
 rich man he could once more show himself again 
 at Bellister. 
 
 Oh ! dangerous glitter of gold ! Dangerous as 
 any evil spirit released from a thousand years' im- 
 prisonment, to wreck its honest finder, was this hoard 
 of money to poor ignorant Nick ! 
 
 " Put it away ; do not look at it again, or you 
 will lose all you have your honesty," whispered 
 his good angel. 
 
 "Take it run away at once. Do not miss the 
 one chance which may come to make you rich and 
 respected," whispered the evil spirit. 
 
 "Then, indeed, you would be as bad as they 
 think you dishonest, ungrateful, worthy to be the 
 son of Tramping Sal," came the voice at his right 
 ear again. 
 
 " If they think you bad and treat you like a cur,
 
 108 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 why should you try to be anything better ? " was 
 whispered on his left. 
 
 The soul of the boy seemed torn to pieces. The 
 moonlight vanished again, leaving him and his 
 hoard in darkness. 
 
 Then over the rimy grass there came the sound 
 of approaching footsteps. 
 
 Nick's heart beat heavily. He tried to rise, but 
 could not for very palsy of fear. Great drops 
 broke out upon his brow. 
 
 The rustle came nearer. He could hear something 
 breathing. In another moment whoever this was 
 would be close upon him. With a great effort he 
 sprang to his feet and retreated into the shadow, 
 still holding the iron box. 
 
 But the person, whoever it was, followed him. 
 It came quite close, rustling along the stiff grass 
 and nettle-stalks at his feet. 
 
 Nick's lips grew dry ; his eyes tried to pierce the 
 darkness, but could not. The next moment some- 
 thing jumped upon him, and touched his hand, and 
 then he knew that it was Viper. The dog leaped 
 upon him, licked his hand, and made every demon- 
 stration that an affectionate dog can make, and 
 Nick's heart was conscious of a great relief. 
 
 Then the moon came out and he saw the dog. 
 She drew him again into the light, pulling his 
 trousers with her teeth, as though to draw him 
 away from the scene of temptation. The moonlight 
 shone in her eyes the good, faithful, clear eyes of 
 a creature which has no need to conceal its heart.
 
 "IS THY SERVANT A DOG?" 1 09 
 
 Nick looked, and then dropped his own before 
 those of the beast. He felt ashamed before her. 
 
 " Is thy servant a dog that he should do this 
 thing ? " These words, probably, were unknown to 
 the boy ; but, nevertheless, their sense was borne 
 in upon him by the look in Viper's eyes. 
 
 He had been called a cur often enough in his 
 friendless life. Should he, by doing this thing, sink 
 himself below the level of a dog, who is faithful to 
 his trust ? Meggie had been his good comrade 
 always. Should he requite her kindness by wrong- 
 ing her and degrading himself in her eyes ? 
 
 The Ridleys, husband and wife, though they had 
 been less than kind, had, nevertheless, received him 
 when no one else would, and given him the only 
 home he had ever known. Should he, for this, do 
 as Mrs. Ridley had said, and bite the hand which 
 had fed him ? No, he would not. Even for the 
 sake of the gold and all that it could bring, he 
 would not. Stooping to caress Viper, he clambered 
 again up to the hole, replaced the box, and, followed 
 by the terrier, crept back again to bed. 
 
 It was pitch dark again as he returned through 
 the ruins, for the moon had set, but he no longer 
 felt afraid, nor was he ashamed before his dumb 
 friend now. For the temptation had been overcome. 
 His good angel had triumphed ; aided by one of 
 those things which the world calls mean, the mighty 
 spirit of darkness had been put to flight. And this 
 ally was nothing but a little dog.
 
 110 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GONE ! 
 
 THE next afternoon "the master-man," as he was 
 called at Bellister, returned home. But he came 
 back in such a temper that none of the members of 
 his household desired to break through the out- 
 works of gloomy and sullen silence with which 
 John Ridley was wont to surround his wrath. 
 
 They knew how hot was the passion of the man 
 when once it was allowed to break those bounds 
 which North-country prudence sets up, and no one 
 at Bellister desired to stir the smouldering fire. 
 The business which had taken him to Carlisle had 
 gone less well than was usual with him, and to make 
 matters worse, on the principle that when " the cat's 
 away the mice do play," the pitmen had taken the 
 opportunity to be insubordinate towards the man 
 who was temporarily in charge of the pit. 
 
 Ridley would have liked to visit their offences 
 with a very heavy hand, and his inability to strike 
 as hard as he desired, for fear of consequences, did 
 not improve his chafing temper. He spoke but 
 little, after his return, having much to see to at 
 the pit, and except to find fault, for a whole day, his 
 short answers to any question discouraged speech. 
 
 Thus it came to pass that Meggie's communi- 
 cation, which was to have been made directly 
 her father returned, was choked off, and finally
 
 GONE ! Ill 
 
 forgotten by her till after dinner on the third day 
 following Ridley's return. 
 
 Then, at last, having helped her mother to wash 
 the dishes, let down her sleeves over her plump 
 arms, and taken out her knitting, Meggie looked 
 towards her father with a question in her bright eyes. 
 
 John Ridley was having his afternoon pipe 
 over the fire, sitting in his armchair. His long 
 legs were stretched out to the blaze, his hands 
 rested on his knees. He puffed the blue wreathes 
 of smoke calmly towards the hams and flitches which 
 hung, dry and brown, from the rafters overhead. 
 
 If any man ever looked at his ease, both in body 
 and mind, it was John Ridley on that January 
 afternoon. 
 
 His daughter Meggie's silent question was an- 
 swered to her satisfaction. The evil spirit of temper 
 which had possessed him for nearly three days had 
 at length gone out. 
 
 Reassured, the child pulled out her three-legged 
 stool from under the table and seated herself at 
 her father's knee. 
 
 " Well, my lass," he said presently, when the two 
 had sat together for some minutes in silence, "hoo 
 is arl wi' thee ? " 
 
 She looked up brightly. 
 
 "Oh, gey weel, faither," she said, rubbing her 
 apple-blossom cheek against his rough hand. 
 " Blossom's had a quay calf while thoo was off at 
 Ca'lisle. Didst ken that ? " ' 
 
 " Nay, I didn't," answered the man. " Whae was
 
 112 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 to tell me if tJioo didn't, Meg ? Why didst tha 
 keep't sae dark, bairn ? " 
 
 The girl fidgeted a little. She did not know 
 what to say, for the real cause of her silence up 
 to this time could hardly be mentioned. 
 
 " And what else has been astir, hereawa', Meg ? " 
 asked Ridley, letting his former question pass, to 
 the girl's great relief. 
 
 "Not mickle, faither," she replied. "Let's see. 
 The tappit hen has begun to lay I found her egg 
 under the gig in the car'-shed, and Eh, but I 
 was clean forgettin' ! There's been somethin' mair 
 fund nor that somethin' a deal mair valabler. 
 Guess what it is, faither." 
 
 " Ma wood-axe ? I dropt it, this month back, 
 ahint the logs in the wood-shed." 
 
 " Nay, it isna that. Guess again." 
 
 " Yer moother's big darner that she made sich a 
 rout about, last week ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, faither. Somethin' a deal mair val- 
 abler than a darner, or a wood-axe owther." 
 
 " Teddy's purse, then ? His grandma in Halt- 
 whistle filled it for him at Kirsmas, and when I telt 
 him, next day, to put the money in the bank he said 
 he'd lost it." 
 
 The girl laughed. 
 
 "Teddy's brass niver bides wi'm," she said mean- 
 ingly. " Nor I niver heard of his findin' it again, 
 yance it was gone. .Ye're a bad guesser, faither. 
 But there ! If ye were to guess arl day, ye'd 
 hardlys hit on what it is. D'ye give't up ? "
 
 GONE! 113 
 
 "Ay. Ye'd better tell me at yance, since it's 
 somethin' sae mighty mysterious." 
 
 "Weel, then, Nick has fund a fortun'." 
 John Ridley took his pipe from his mouth, sat 
 up, and turning his little daughter's face towards 
 him looked into her eyes. 
 
 " Lass," he said, " thoo shouldna fule thy faither 
 that gate. Nick fund a fortun', indeed. Had awa 
 wi' ye ! " 
 
 He let the girl's head go, leaned back in his 
 chair again, and replaced his pipe. 
 
 " Ay, but he has, faither ; it's nobbut t' treuth 
 Fs tellin'." 
 
 "Believin's seem'," said Ridley, sententiously, 
 without moving his pipe from his thin lips. 
 
 " Thoo's vara unbelievin' to-day, faither ; 
 but never mind, Nick'll show thee when he 
 comes in." 
 
 "Where is he, then?" 
 
 " Waterin' the kye, likely. Shall I call of him, 
 faither?" 
 
 "Nay, nay, thoo's oot o' thy reckoning lass," 
 grumbled Ridley. " This is nobbut January. Keep 
 thy fulin' for the first of April." 
 
 Meggie lifted her head at this and looked into 
 her father's face. His voice warned her that the 
 evil spirit was not so far gone as she had thought, 
 and his expression showed that she was right. She 
 rose from her stool. 
 
 " Nay, faither," she said, dropping her jesting tone, 
 " I wadna mak' game o' thee, that gait ; it's sober 
 
 I
 
 114 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 earnest I'm in. Here comes Nick ; he'll tell thee 
 sae hissel'. Nick," she went on, addressing the lad, 
 who at that minute entered the kitchen, "faither 
 winnot believe me aboot thoo kens what. Tell 
 him what thoo's fund." 
 
 "Ay, speak up, lad, and nae fulin'," cried the 
 farmer, still nettled by the notion that his daughter 
 and " servant-lad " had conspired together to play 
 him a practical joke. " If thoo's fund aught, say 
 sae ; if not, mak' an end o' this nonsense, or I'll 
 ken t' reason why ! " 
 
 Ridley's cheek had reddened, and his cold eyes 
 were sparkling sure signs of rising anger. 
 
 Nick saw the signals, and felt provoked in his 
 turn. He was ready to tell his secret, but to be 
 goaded to it was quite another matter. 
 
 " I telt her she could tell ye," he said sullenly. 
 
 Ridley sprang to his feet. 
 
 " Nae insolence, ye young dog ye ! " he ex- 
 claimed angrily. " Hast forgettin' how t' stick 
 feels ? Stop this fulin', I say, or 
 
 He raised his hand, but Meggie caught it in 
 both of hers. 
 
 "Faither," she said softly, "Nick's not makin' 
 game ony mair nor me. There, he telt me to tell 
 ye, and mebbe I'd better hae done 't at yance. 
 Him and me fund a box in the cassel wall the 
 wind blew down a bit, and made a hole, ye 
 ken and, when we opened the lid, it was full o' 
 gold." 
 
 Ridley's eyes glistened.
 
 GONE! 11$ 
 
 " Say ye sae ? " he asked eagerly, the brief 
 account given by his little daughter sounding con- 
 vincing in his ears. " And when was this ? " 
 
 " The day afore ye cam' heam." 
 
 " And why wasn't I told sooner ? " 
 
 The temper was still in an unsettled state, and 
 ready to fire up at any moment. Meggie's sharp 
 wits told her this at once, and she hastened to turn 
 the attack. 
 
 "Ye mauna scold Nick, faither," she said sooth- 
 ingly. " It was my fault. He telt me to tell, and 
 I clean forgot. But now ye can see for yersel'. 
 Come along, lad, lead t' way." 
 
 Nick obeyed her, still sullenly, but without a 
 word. He was doubted, he was suspected, he 
 could see that, and he resented it. 
 
 "What's arl this aboot?" asked Mrs. Ridley, 
 who had come in while her daughter was speak- 
 ing. "A box o' gold in t' cassel wall ? A pack o' 
 lies, I'll wager onything ! " 
 
 But, nevertheless, she went with the party ; for 
 gold draws people after it in the everyday world 
 as well as in fairy-tales. 
 
 They went through the yard-gate into the ruins, 
 and passed within the four walls of the keep, Nick 
 going first, then John Ridley and his daughter, 
 followed by Mrs. Ridley and little Viper. Teddy 
 was not there. 
 
 The afternoon light was upon the grey walls. The 
 ivy waved its glossy leaves in the breeze. Over- 
 head was the pale, bluish-grey sky of winter, and
 
 Il6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 on the ground was a slight cover of snow, which had 
 fallen since Nick was there before. 
 
 But Nick was not looking at the snow-covered 
 ground, nor yet at the sky or the ivy. His eyes 
 were fixed on the hole in the wall, and in fancy 
 he was looking his last at what was hidden within. 
 This treasure-trove had been something to him 
 beyond all that he had known before in his poor, 
 bare life. It was like a bit of romance let into the 
 page of a dull history. He had lit on it by chance. 
 He had dreamed of it, had wondered about its past, 
 and had speculated as to its future. He had seen 
 it by sunlight, by moonlight, had fought a battle 
 over it which left him sore and tender. That iron 
 box was full of possibilities to him ; it seemed in 
 some way to contain his fate. Till now only he and 
 Meggie had looked at the gold which lay within, 
 and, somehow, he could not bear to think that now 
 it must be, as it were, common property. 
 
 Very slowly and reluctantly he clambered over 
 the heap of fallen stones and thrust an unwill- 
 ing hand into the hole to draw out his treasure 
 from its hiding-place into the pale, prosaic day- 
 light. 
 
 The Ridleys stood by, watching him. Surely, 
 thought Meggie, he was long in finding the box, 
 considering that he knew exactly where it was. 
 
 She was right ; he was very long. 
 
 She saw him creep into the hole till he nearly 
 disappeared. Then he went in altogether. What 
 could be the meaning of this ?
 
 "THE SACK." 117 
 
 Meggie beat her little foot upon the snow, and 
 her cheeks turned very red. 
 
 Her father and mother looked on grimly, main- 
 taining an awful silence. 
 
 At last Nick re-appeared, let himself down, and 
 turned towards the three spectators. His usually 
 brown face had turned very white. The marks left 
 in it by the small-pox stood out with ugly dis- 
 tinctness. His eyes had a scared expression. 
 
 " I canna find it," he said, in a thick, husky 
 voice ; " it's gone ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 "THE SACK.''' 
 
 To describe the storm which followed would 
 be no easy matter, neither would it be in any way 
 improving. 
 
 One does not count the hailstones in a thunder- 
 storm, or take notes of the scathing lightning. 
 Why, then, should we record the hard words of an 
 angry man, or the stinging taunts of a shrewish 
 woman, who feels that the bit is out of her mouth 
 at last, and that she may attack her victim with 
 impunity? 
 
 If Ridley allowed himself to swear at his " servant- 
 lad," his wife knew that she need no longer restrain 
 her feelings, and the storm of tongues which beat
 
 Il8 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 upon poor Nick can safely be left to the imagin- 
 ation. 
 
 As for the lad himself, the blow, which the dis- 
 covery had given him, seemed to have so far stunned 
 him as to prevent him feeling the full force of the 
 attack. 
 
 He stood before his master and mistress, hanging 
 his shock red head, and twisting his fingers. What 
 the exact nature of the blame they heaped upon 
 him was, he did not accurately gather. But the 
 indignant flush on Meggie's fair face (who, indeed, 
 was coming in herself for a share of the scolding) 
 showed that she, at least, perfectly understood. 
 
 " Ye've nae call to say sae," she said at intervals, 
 when it was possible to make herself heard. " We've 
 nowther on us made game on ye. It's as true as 
 the gospel that the box was here." 
 
 " Then what's got it ? Tell me that ! " asked her 
 father, sharply. 
 
 And the question silenced her each time, and 
 made her look sorrowfully towards Nick, with 
 another question in her pretty childish eyes. 
 
 Now, Ridley hated ridicule, as a vain man always 
 does, and to have been duped so far as to come 
 out to see a treasure which did not exist, galled 
 him sorely. Moreover, he was disappointed. For, 
 though he said to himself that he had never be- 
 lieved the report, he had certainly allowed his greed 
 for gold to be sufficiently awakened to feel himself 
 cheated when there was nothing to be found. 
 
 Disappointment and hurt vanity had, therefore,
 
 "THE SACK." 119 
 
 combined to knock down all those barriers with 
 which the man's prudence generally fenced his wrath. 
 He had quite forgotten the convenience of having 
 an unpaid servant, and that the vent he was now 
 giving to his temper might deprive him of it. He 
 remembered nothing but that he had been grievously 
 offended, and that the offender was at his mercy. 
 
 While the word-storm was at its height, the sun 
 suddenly broke out of the light, misty haze which 
 had veiled it most part of the day. A long slant- 
 ing beam shot down like a golden dart from the 
 brightening west, falling athwart the ruins and 
 lighting up the snow-covered ground at the place 
 where the wall had fallen. 
 
 Meggie, whose eyes, just then, were fixed sorrow- 
 fully and wonderingly upon this very spot, suddenly 
 darted forward, stooped, and picked up some small 
 object from among the stones. 
 
 " Faither ! " she cried breathlessly, handing it to 
 John Ridley, "will ye believe us now? Here's 
 yan o' t' gold pieces ! " 
 
 Ridley took the coin into his hands, his hard 
 words suddenly silenced. His wife, also, ceased her 
 abuse of Nick, and came to look over his shoulder. 
 
 In silence the man turned the gold piece round 
 and round, held it up to the light, rang it upon 
 a stone, bit its edge, and then said slowly 
 
 "Ay, it's gold." 
 
 "Well, if that's sae," remarked the wife, shortly, 
 " what's come on t' rest ? " 
 
 Her husband looked up, the momentary shame he
 
 I2O UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 had experienced from feeling himself in the wrong 
 swamped this tapping of a fresh grievance. 
 
 " Ay," he said sharply, addressing Nick, who had 
 raised his head and was eagerly looking towards the 
 solitary relic of his treasure " ay, where's t' rest ? 
 Tell me that ! " 
 
 " That's joost what I canna tell," answered Nick, 
 speaking for the first time since he had made that 
 announcement which had brought down on his head 
 the storm of abuse. 
 
 " Whae kent aboot it exceptin' thee ? " asked Mrs. 
 Ridley in her sharp voice. 
 
 " Naebody but her" The boy pointed to Meg. 
 
 " And thoo kens naething what's got it, lass ? " 
 This from John Ridley. 
 
 "Naething. I hanna seen t' box sin' we put it 
 back t' first day." 
 
 " Nor ye owther ? " asked Ridley, looking doubt- 
 fully at Nick. 
 
 The red mounted to the boy's brow. He was 
 silent. 
 
 "Speak oot, Nick," said Meggie, entreatingly. 
 " Tell them thoo kens naething." 
 
 What should he answer truth or falsehood ? 
 
 Poor lad, for such as he was, can we wonder if 
 the choice were hard ? That visit to the box. The 
 temptation, resisted indeed, but there, nevertheless, 
 to take the gold which had so mysteriously disap- 
 peared. These things were difficulties in the way 
 of speaking out. Yet he spoke in spite of them 
 spoke with slow, shamefaced reluctance.
 
 "THE SACK." 121 
 
 " It was there when I looked the night afore last." 
 
 " Ye confess to lookin', eh ? " asked his master, 
 sarcastically. 
 
 "Ay." 
 
 "And, now I come to think on't, ye were not 
 over-keen to fetch us here at arl ? If it hadn't 
 been for oor Meggie, ye'd ha' held yer tongue, and 
 we sud niver have heard ought aboot it." 
 
 " It's plain to see whae's got it," put in Mrs. 
 Ridley, disagreeably. "Like moother, like bairn. 
 Trampin' Sal's been in prison afore now." 
 
 " And sae shall ye be, ye young dog ye ! " ex- 
 claimed the farmer, taking the lad roughly by the 
 shoulder and shaking him to and fro. "Ye maun 
 give 't up directly, or tak' the consequences." 
 
 "But I havena got it. I wish to goodness I 
 hed ! " cried the lad, passionately. " Meggie, can ye 
 stand there," he went on, turning a pair of appeal- 
 ing eyes on the girl "can ye stand there and let 
 sich a thing as that be kest up again' me, without 
 a word ? " 
 
 But the girl said nothing. She did not know 
 what to say, for she remembered Nick's reluctance 
 to give up the gold, and, sad at heart though it 
 made her, she felt that his defence was beyond her 
 powers. So she only threw him a wistful glance, 
 which cut him to the heart, and kept silence. 
 
 For a moment no one spoke. Even Mrs. Ridley, 
 though her face said a great deal, waited for her 
 husband to give her the lead. The kitchen clock 
 in the house round the corner struck four.
 
 122 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley's housewifely instincts awoke im- 
 mediately. 
 
 " Dear sakes ! " she cried, " it's gone four, and I 
 hevna sae much as put on t' kettle ! " 
 
 Without another word she bustled off; tea, for 
 the time, looming larger than hidden treasure in 
 her frugal mind. 
 
 "Well," said Ridley, presently, "ye've naething 
 to say for yersel', my lad, that's plain ; but this 
 I'll tell ye : owther ye'll hand over that brass to 
 me afore another hour's up, or to prison ye'll gan. 
 I've nae mind to get into trouble wi' my landlord 
 along o' a pack o' rubbish like you. If t' story 
 comes to his ears, it's me that'll be blamed for con- 
 cealing what's found. D'ye ken that ? " 
 
 Nick raised his head with a flash of defiance. 
 
 " I ken nowt aboot it," he said, " but that I didna 
 tak' t' brass. I wish I had, now that it's kesten' (cast) 
 up again' me ! But ye canna send me to prison," 
 he added doggedly, "for what I haven't done." 
 
 Perhaps Ridley felt that this was unanswerable, 
 for he said nothing in return. 
 
 For another moment there was silence, and master 
 and man eyed each other doubtfully ; then the 
 former turned on his heel with a growl. 
 
 "I give ye till after tea," he said roughly 
 "nae langer. I'll harbour nae thieves under ma 
 roof." 
 
 He followed his wife into the house, and the girl 
 and boy were left together. 
 
 They stood, looking each on the ground, neither
 
 "THE SACK." 123 
 
 knowing what to say to the other. Meggie was 
 crying. 
 
 Presently she raised her head, as though struck 
 by a sudden thought, threw back her curly hair, 
 and said, her childish voice trembling, and the tears 
 still wet upon her cheeks 
 
 "Mebbe Sal's ta'en it?" 
 
 "Nay," answered the boy, with a sullen setting 
 of the features, which may have been caused by a 
 strong attempt to keep back his own tears "how 
 could she, when she's a-bed in the Union ? " 
 
 "Ay, I'd forgettin' that," answered Meggie; and 
 she began to cry again. 
 
 " Canna ye give over ? " exclaimed the boy, with 
 an impatient movement. " If ye think it's me, as 
 I ken ye do, I want none o' yer tears." 
 
 " I dinna want to think 't, Nick," she said, almost 
 humbly ; " but as naebody else kent but you and 
 me, I dinna ken what to think ! Eh, but I wish 
 it had niver been fund at arl ! " 
 
 The sobs burst out again, and she covered her 
 face with her pinafore. 
 
 In spite of his resentment at her distrust, Nick's 
 heart was touched by his companion's grief. 
 
 "Dinna greet, lass," he said awkwardly. "The 
 goold's gone and canna be got back ; sae what's 
 t' use o' cryin' ? Gan and get yer tea." 
 
 Meggie went slowly, with her pinafore still at 
 her eyes. 
 
 There seemed no more to be said, and tea must 
 be ready by now.
 
 124 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Meggie never thought of doing without her tea, 
 unhappy though she was. It takes a very crushing 
 grief indeed to affect a healthy appetite. 
 
 But Nick did not follow her. It was not that 
 his tea-time feelings were absent either, in spite of 
 his calamity. But he shrank from going into the 
 kitchen under the circumstances. Pride and pru- 
 dence alike forbade it. 
 
 He looked behind him. Viper had lingered, and 
 was looking up at him, wagging her tail inquiringly. 
 For Viper, also, knew that it was tea-time, and won- 
 dered what her master could mean by lingering. 
 Nick raised his hand, and motioned towards the 
 house. 
 
 " Had awa', lass ! " he cried, in a commanding 
 voice, which, nevertheless, was too husky to carry 
 far. " Had awa' in, it's tea-time ! " 
 
 Viper hesitated to obey the first order, unwilling 
 to go without her master ; but at the second she 
 dropped her tail and slunk away. 
 
 Nick waited till she was out of sight. Then he 
 sat down on a stone and covered his face with his 
 hands. 
 
 Poor fellow, he would not give way as long as 
 even the dog was there ; but now that he was quite 
 alone, the fancied manhood of his sixteen years and 
 six months (to give him the benefit of the whole 
 tale) was utterly unable to bear him up under the 
 crushing load of trouble which had so suddenly 
 fallen upon him. It seemed so hard, so very hard 
 that having tried his utmost to do his duty according
 
 'THE SACK. 125 
 
 to his lights, he should have to suffer exactly 
 as though he had not done it. Nay, if he had in- 
 sisted on keeping silence, Meg might have consented, 
 and then he might at the same time have enjoyed 
 the money and escaped all blame. For Nick only 
 thought of the blame of his fellows, the condem- 
 nation of his own conscience, which might have 
 ensued, being altogether left out of the reckoning 
 just then. 
 
 He had done well and had suffered for it. It 
 seemed to him that, under the circumstances, he 
 might just as well, nay better, have done ill. This- 
 of course was short-sighted. But the stinging sense 
 of injustice often causes this mental defect, espe- 
 cially in the inexperienced and the ignorant. 
 
 The lad's spirit was for the time utterly broken. 
 It seemed to him useless to struggle against what 
 he took for this new buffet of an adverse fate. He 
 had lost his home once, and now he was to lose it 
 again. For Nick, though he had questioned his 
 master's ability to imprison him, had but little doubt 
 that he could do so if he wished. At best, he 
 would be hunted out of Bellister with more hard 
 words. Of what use, then, to await his doom ? 
 
 No one believed in him. He was a dog with a 
 bad name not of his own earning, indeed, but 
 what of that ? He was sure to be " hanged " in any 
 case, whatever he did. Better take his fate into his 
 own hands and go at once. 
 
 And yet he hesitated. 
 
 Poor, wounded, homeless lad ! He had already
 
 126 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 sought his fortune in the wide world, and failed to 
 find it. He had proved the world's unkindness to 
 those who possess no key of riches, honour, or wit 
 wherewith to open its fast-closed door ; and he 
 shrank from again leaving the only haven which 
 had ever given him shelter. 
 
 No wonder he lost heart, sitting there, as it were, 
 on the threshold of home, knowing all the time that 
 he had no choice but to leave it. 
 
 The sun was sinking low in the west. Its rays 
 still fell on the grey ruins among which he sat ; 
 but already the trooping of colours, which attends 
 the departure of the king of day, had begun. 
 
 Weary with misery, the boy sat with his elbows 
 on his knees and his chin on his hands, vacantly 
 watching the pageant. 
 
 Of its beauty he had no thought. It was simply 
 sunset to him, and he knew that at sunset, at that 
 particular season of the year, John Ridley generally 
 rose from the tea-table and went out. 
 
 " I'll gie ye till after tea nae langer," he had 
 said ; and Nick knew that the master .would keep 
 his word. 
 
 The setting of the sun, therefore, must be the 
 signal for him to turn his back on Bellister. 
 
 The golden ball was touching the brown moors 
 now, which rolled away to the west. The withered 
 heather was turning to rich russet under his beams. 
 The sky, immediately above, was like a luminous 
 lake of yellowish green, flecked with little wavelets 
 of scarlet. Over that was a broad margin of deep
 
 "THE SACK." 127 
 
 purplish grey, shading off into the neutral tints 
 which the sky had worn for the greater part of 
 the day. 
 
 The jackdaws were coming home to roost over- 
 head in the crevices of the ruined walls. They 
 made dark spots of inky blackness, as they winged 
 their way against the delicate clearness of the 
 sunset. 
 
 " A -lack ! Poor Jack! A -lack!" they seemed 
 to cry out to the boy, who sat, more homeless than 
 they, among the ruins where they lived. Their 
 voices, always querulous and complaining, sounded 
 more so than ever, that evening, or so it appeared 
 to Nick. What were they saying ? 
 
 "A-lack! The sack! The sack!" Was it in pity 
 or derision ? 
 
 The boy, all his nerves on edge, could bear the 
 sound no longer. It was all too true that he had 
 " got the sack," as he told himself ; but he did not 
 want the jackdaws to tell him so. He would go 
 without waiting for the sun to set. After all, what 
 was the use of waiting ? Better go and have done 
 with it. 
 
 So, turning his back on the old castle, on the 
 jackdaws which inhabited the ruins, and the people 
 who lived in the house, he ran down the green hill, 
 along the loaning, and into the road. 
 
 He did not once look back, for his eyes were 
 blinded with tears and a lump was in his throat. 
 That, however, did not hinder him hearing the 
 querulous voices calling after him.
 
 128 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Poor Jack ! A-lack ! The sack ! Come back ! 
 Come back ! " 
 
 But for all the jackdaws' calling Nick did not 
 come back. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HIS ONLY FRIEND. 
 
 To the north of the little town of Haltwhistle, 
 following a straight course over hill and dale, over 
 dark moors, and green hollows, through which clear 
 brown burns slide babbling to the Tyne, you may 
 see a broken wall. It draws a black, jagged line 
 against the sky, here clear and well-definedj there 
 full of interruptions and patchings of modern farm- 
 fences, breaking off, beginning again, but leaving its 
 traces straight across the narrow neck of our island 
 between Tyne and Solway. 
 
 This is the great Roman wall of Hadrian, the 
 second barrier which our mighty conquerors built to 
 keep the unvanquished " barbarians " of the North 
 from overrunning the vanquished South.* 
 
 It was towards this wall that Nick was making his 
 way, when the sun set, that evening, over Bellister. 
 
 He had not got very far by then, it is true, not 
 even quite so far as the river Tyne, which, as we 
 already know, flows between the old castle and the 
 
 * The first was Agricola's line of forts between the Firths of 
 Forth and Clyde.
 
 HIS ONLY FRIEND. 1 29 
 
 little town of Haltwhistle. The lights in the shops 
 and houses, which edge the one long street, looked 
 cheerful and inviting as Nick trudged past. But he 
 had no more intention of stopping at any of them 
 than he had on that other evening when we first 
 made his acquaintance. 
 
 Shops and houses may be very inviting to those 
 who have money in their pockets and friends by the 
 fireside to welcome them. But when a man has 
 neither, there is no one to ask him in, or to bid 
 him welcome when he gets there. And so Nick, 
 who was penniless and friendless, went by without 
 a pause. 
 
 He glanced at the Union as he passed, that last 
 harbour of refuge for the poor, the homeless, and 
 the worn-out ; but neither at its unattractive door 
 had he the least intention of stopping. There was 
 an inmate there already who kept him out more 
 effectually than bars or bolts. 
 
 Tramping Sal was inside the Union, and that was 
 enough for Nick. 
 
 A mother's presence, which makes the humblest 
 place home for most lads, had the contrary effect 
 on this poor wanderer. 
 
 So the workhouse was left behind as well as the 
 more homelike houses, and, turning his back on the 
 town, Nick crossed the bridge spanning the burn, 
 which forms its north-eastern boundary, and took 
 his way upward to the hills. 
 
 He had no distinct plan in his mind as to his 
 future. All he could think of, just then, was to get 
 
 K
 
 130 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 as far as possible from Bellister, and then find a 
 corner into which to creep for the night. 
 
 There was a shelter for sheep, built up against 
 the ancient wall, some miles north of Haltwhistle, 
 which the homeless lad seemed to see before his 
 minds' eye as he tramped up the stony road. He 
 had been there several times already, for his master 
 had sheep grazing in that direction during the 
 summer ; and more than once Nick had taken 
 shelter within the turf-roofed corner, designed to 
 accommodate the shepherd attending the sheep 
 should a storm break during his stay. This rough 
 shed would, he thought, do for him to hide his 
 head in on this first night of homeless wandering. 
 
 The darkness of a January night fell upon the 
 wild moorland a good while before the goal was 
 reached. Only a little light lingered here and there, 
 eked out by the patches of snow blown beneath the 
 heather bushes, and where the last remains of the 
 sunset was focussed by some peat-moss pool, looking 
 like a little bit of clear, yellow, transparent glass let 
 into a big dark frame. These pools looked up at 
 Nick, like winking eyes, as he followed the windings 
 of the road, now opening upon, now shutting them- 
 selves away from his sight. But he needed no light 
 to show him his way, nor yet a track, for, presently, 
 he left the stony hill-road and struck across the 
 heather, trudging steadily on with the directness of 
 those who have known the moors from infancy. 
 
 After a while, as he knew, the moon would rise ; 
 but he was in no hurry for its appearance. The
 
 HIS ONLY FRIEND. 131 
 
 twilight, which wrapped him about as with a cloak, 
 and hid from him shame and unkindness, was 
 more congenial to his sore heart just then. 
 
 Presently he began to take notice, in spite of his 
 sad thoughts, of something more material. This 
 was a solitary track of footsteps going on in front 
 of him towards the wall. At times, where the 
 snow had escaped the dispersing breath of the wind, 
 these were plainly to be seen, even in the uncertain 
 light. Then again, where the heather was blown 
 bare, the track was interrupted. But it always 
 began again with the patches of snow. 
 
 Why Nick should take notice of these footsteps 
 he hardly knew ; but presently it struck him that he 
 was connecting them with a memory of similar 
 prints seen at some particular time. 
 
 When could this have been, and where were 
 they ? He puzzled over this question for a time in 
 a half-interested manner ; then it suddenly flashed 
 on him that, on the afternoon of that very same 
 day, he had seen just such a track, without noticing 
 it, when he was leading John Ridley to the hiding- 
 place of the treasure which had so mysteriously 
 disappeared. These steps, he now felt convinced, 
 might have given the clue to the mystery. If only 
 he had noticed them at the time, the true thief 
 might have been tracked out. For Nick remembered 
 that there had been no snow upon the ground when 
 he had paid his nocturnal visit to the ruins, two 
 nights previously, consequently the footprints which 
 he had seen could not have been his own.
 
 132 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The blood rushed to his face as he thought of 
 the clue which he had missed, and with it the 
 chance of clearing himself. 
 
 He stopped dead for a minute upon his way, half 
 turned as though to go back, and then checked 
 himself. For another thought straightway followed 
 the first, as the cloud follows the flash of sunlight 
 along a hillside, chilling his hot blood with its 
 cold shadow. His chance was gone. The clue, 
 which might have been followed up two or three 
 hours earlier, was gone now. That single track of 
 footprints must have been completely obliterated 
 by those of the Ridley family, led by himself, when 
 they visited the ruined keep during the afternoon. 
 
 Nick looked sadly at the faint traces of the 
 footsteps which were before him where the snow 
 lay, lightly drifted in thin white patches, at the 
 roots of the heather bushes upon the moor. 
 
 He could hardly see them at all now, for the 
 darkness was growing thicker, and even the snow 
 was not enough to make more than a feeble glimmer 
 in the gathering gloom. He was glad that he 
 could not see them ; they reminded him so pain- 
 fully of those other footprints which might have 
 meant so much to him if, in his blind, blundering 
 folly, he had not helped to trample them out. 
 
 Well, it was too late now. The chance was gone 
 for good and all. There was no use in thinking 
 of it 
 
 Yet, it need hardly be said to those who know 
 anything of human nature, that, in spite of his
 
 HIS ONLY FRIEND. 133 
 
 philosophy, Nick went on thinking. Who could have 
 made those footprints leading so directly to the 
 hiding-hole of the treasure at Bellister Castle ? The 
 question was certainly one of absorbing interest, 
 just then, especially to poor Nick. He felt no 
 doubt at all that the maker of them was the thief ; 
 and he felt that even if he could prove the point to 
 his own satisfaction only, it would be some slight 
 consolation. 
 
 He would know whom to blame then, and that 
 has always been a satisfaction in even the worst 
 troubles ever since the days when Adam was turned 
 out of Eden, and relieved his feelings by blaming 
 Eve. 
 
 Bit by bit the boy's mind began to go over the 
 ground of the last few days. He remembered the 
 shadow he fancied he had seen among the ruins 
 on the night in question, and which he had hastily 
 decided was but the effect of a cloud covering the 
 moon. That, possibly, was the thief who had gone 
 before him after the treasure, been frightened away 
 by his coming, and had afterwards returned to take 
 it away. 
 
 But who was this thief ? 
 
 Memory led him a little further in another direc- 
 tion. He went back to the afternoon when Meggie 
 and he had made the discovery. Only he and the 
 girl had shared the secret. Could the culprit be 
 Meggie herself? 
 
 But the boy's heart and understanding alike 
 rejected the idea.
 
 134 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 It was evident that Meggie knew nothing about 
 the matter. 
 
 Who then ? 
 
 Surely some one had almost run against them 
 as they left the ruins. Who was it ? 
 
 Nick taxed his memory to recollect. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley had come home just then, but it was 
 not she. The boy remembered quite well to have 
 seen her toiling up the hill with her market-basket. 
 It was Ha, he had it at last ! It was Teddy ; 
 and Teddy had started and looked uncomfortable. 
 
 Could it be that the son of the house had been 
 loitering among the ruins, had seen them find the 
 box and count over the gold, and had ended by 
 appropriating it ? 
 
 Again a wave of heat rushed over Nick as the 
 thought came, and, this time, it remained with him, 
 and his blood continued to boil. Teddy had been 
 absent since before breakfast. He had been sent 
 by his father on an errand to a place not far from 
 where Nick now was. The message had been 
 given to him overnight, and he had not returned 
 when the loss was discovered. Though the evidence 
 was but slight, the more he thought of it the more 
 convinced did Nick feel that, at length, he had hit 
 on the culprit. 
 
 Again he stopped, the impulse strong upon him 
 to return and accuse Teddy to the Ridleys. But 
 he soon went on again. Who would believe him, 
 supposing he did ? Who would take his word 
 against Teddy's, especially the lad's own father?
 
 HIS ONLY FRIEND. 135 
 
 Teddy belonged to a respectable family, while he, 
 Nick, was a nameless nobody. 
 
 No, John Ridley's son might be to blame a 
 hundred times over, but the guilt would never be 
 brought to his door. 
 
 Grinding his teeth with impotent rage, the boy 
 stumbled forward among the tussocks of grass and 
 heather, heedless, in his resentment and pain, where 
 he was going, goaded by the feeling that all the 
 world was against him, and he alone against the 
 world. 
 
 The cold night breeze rustled among the stiff 
 rushes and the faded heather, and swept away with 
 a moan as of a being in pain. It rudely ruffled the 
 lad's shock head as it passed, and made a clutch 
 at his rusty cap. Well, why not ? He was an 
 outcast from society, and there was nobody in the 
 world to care what happened to him. 
 
 " Let's hit him, he's down." This is what, as it 
 seemed to poor Nick, all creation was saying. 
 
 But, suddenly, another and a different sort oi 
 rustling came to his ears. A quick, panting sound 
 came nearer and nearer. The ice-pools and snow- 
 patches crackled as though under little scrampling 
 feet, and out of the gloom rushed something fren- 
 zied, . uttering short, quick barks and funny little 
 squeaks as it leaped about him. 
 
 " Why, Viper, lass, is't thoo ? Thoo's niver 
 followed me arl this way, hast tha' ? What garr'd 
 thee leave them arl at Bellister, where thoo's plenty 
 to eat and a warm bed, to come after pier Nick,
 
 136 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 who's naught to gie thee at arl ? Eh, Viper, Viper, 
 thoo's a little fool, but 
 
 Here the boy stopped, for a choking feeling had 
 come in his throat. 
 
 Kneeling down in the damp heather he took the 
 dog in his arms, and, as he felt her tongue upon 
 his cheeks, the tears, which even in that first agony 
 of grief and shame and rage he had not shed, fell 
 fast and thick upon her coat 
 
 It was as though something had thawed his heart 
 and was relieving the terrible weight of trouble 
 which oppressed it. Nor were they tears of anger 
 and bitterness. The knowledge that one heart beat 
 for him, that one creature cared for him and was 
 willing to follow him into banishment, had opened 
 a well-spring of tenderness within the boy which 
 had seldom been touched before. 
 
 After all, he was not utterly alone. He had 
 one friend in the hard, cold world. What mattered 
 it to him, just then, that his friend was only a dog ? 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 UNDER THE ROMAN WALL. 
 
 BY the time that Nick had finished sobbing his 
 heart out over Viper, and she had relieved her 
 feelings at finding him again, by all those affec- 
 tionate demonstrations common to dogs of an 
 unreserved nature, the moon was beginning to rise.
 
 UNDER THE ROMAN WALL. 137 
 
 She came up over the dark rim of the eastern 
 horizon, flooding the moors with light. She sought 
 out the moss-pools which had looked their last at 
 the setting day, and turned them into silver mirrors 
 for the night. She touched the shallow cupfuls of 
 water in the hollows of the rocks over which the 
 frost had had power to spin a coating of thin ice, and 
 made them look like mother-o'-pearl. And as for 
 the ice-drops on rushes and heather, the wind- 
 drifted snow and the unthawed rime, I know not 
 what charm she wrought on them all, by which to 
 turn the lonely moor into an enchanted land, 
 glistening with gems and silver. Even the tears 
 on poor Nick's face and his friend's rough coat 
 were changed to sparkling diamonds. 
 
 But a rough Northumbrian lad like Nick is not 
 of the sort to be deceived by any such sorcery. 
 The diamonds were no diamonds to him, but tears, 
 of which, now that the darkness under whose cover 
 he had shed them was gone, he began to feel 
 heartily ashamed. Dashing them away in scorn, 
 he rose from the ground, and, followed by Viper, 
 who dropped into her place of humble attendant 
 again as naturally as though nothing had happened, 
 he went on his way. 
 
 He was quite close to the wall by now. He could 
 see its broken line dark against the sky. 
 
 Grim and inhospitable, indeed, it looked, and 
 not in the least as though any one better than a 
 sheep or fox could find there a lodging for the 
 night,
 
 138 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 But Nick knew what he was about, and, presently, 
 found the shielding he was in search of. This had 
 been made in an angle of the wall, where formerly 
 there had, evidently, been a turret or gateway. The 
 turf which roofed in this rude shelter had kept the 
 interior fairly dry, and the wall above, which was 
 here tolerably perfect, was a fair protection from the 
 keen north wind. Once inside the hut, therefore, 
 Nick was not altogether uncomfortable. He shook 
 up and turned the bed of heather which he had made 
 last time he was there, and, with Viper nestled close 
 beside him, he lay down to sleep. 
 
 It may be thought that sleep, which is often coy, 
 even with those who woo her on beds of down, 
 would refuse to come to this homeless lad on his 
 rough couch of heather. But this was not the case 
 with Nick that night Miserable outcast though he 
 was, without prospects of any kind, without money, 
 or food, or a friend in the world, excepting a mon- 
 grel dog, he had no sooner lain down than sleep 
 came to him without even waiting to be asked. 
 
 How long he slept he could not have told you, 
 but he was suddenly awakened by a low growl 
 from his little companion. By a special telegraphic 
 message, such as had often passed between them 
 before, the boy made the dog understand that he 
 wished her to be quiet. 
 
 She obeyed at once, as well-trained creatures will, 
 only showing her excitement by quivering all over 
 her wiry little body, as she crouched on the heather 
 beside him, encircled by his arm.
 
 UNDER THE ROMAN WALL. 139 
 
 Feeling sure that something or somebody was 
 in the neighbourhood, Nick raised himself on his 
 elbow and looked out. He had no difficulty in 
 doing this, for there was no door to the hut, if so 
 the little shelter might be called, and, by moving 
 his head a very little way, he could distinctly see 
 the long, broken line of the ancient wall stretching 
 away from him, dark in the flood of moonlight 
 which lay in front. 
 
 Yes, some one was there, sure enough. It was 
 some one, not something, for Nick could see the 
 dark, upright figure of a human being coming 
 nearer across the field of light. 
 
 What could anybody want here at night? won- 
 dered Nick. He was here himself, certainly ; 
 but it was hardly probable that a second homeless 
 wanderer should be making for the rough bedroom 
 where he was lodged. 
 
 Restraining his quivering little companion by the 
 warning pressure of his arm, the boy watched the 
 approaching figure, much as Robinson Crusoe on his 
 desert island might have watched the approach of 
 Man Friday, when he had believed himself to be 
 the only inhabitant of his solitude. 
 
 He was not afraid. He was only intensely 
 curious. 
 
 The figure came nearer. He could see now that 
 it was a lad of about his own age, though not so 
 tall. The face, however, was turned from the light, 
 and he failed to distinguish whether or not it be- 
 longed to a stranger.
 
 140 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 When the lad came to within a few yards of the 
 hut he stopped short, looked about for a minute 
 or two, as though to make sure of some landmarks, 
 and then stooped down under the shadow of the 
 wall. 
 
 Nick could not see him so distinctly now ; in 
 fact he could hardly see him at all, for the moon 
 by this time had passed the zenith, and shone from 
 such a point as to throw this part of the wall into 
 deep shade. It seemed, however, from his move- 
 ments that the new-comer was in search of some- 
 thing. And, presently, it appeared that he had found 
 what he wanted, for he came out into the moon- 
 light again holding some object in his hand. 
 
 The light shone upon his face this time, and 
 Nick felt the angry blood rush from his heart to 
 his brain as he recognized Teddy Ridley. Viper 
 seemed to have made this discovery as well ; but 
 it had not the effect on her which it had on Nick. 
 For she saw in him only one of the familiar in- 
 mates of her home circle no personal friend, indeed, 
 of her own, but still a creature to be tolerated 
 because he belonged to Bellister. To the terrier he 
 was not a hated enemy who had taken from him 
 his all, as he was to the boy. For dogs, wise and 
 sympathetic though they are, can only judge of 
 men as they themselves have proved them. And 
 Viper, though she had never loved Teddy, had not 
 yet learnt to hate him. 
 
 It was, consequently, the boy now who required 
 restraining rather than the dog.
 
 UNDER THE ROMAN WALL. 141 
 
 The blind, passionate impulse to fly at his enemy's 
 throat and have it out with him there and then, 
 which swayed Nick in that moment of recognition, 
 was only held back by the pressing need of finding 
 out what Teddy was about. Nick's intuition con- 
 nected the presence of the other lad in such a 
 place and at such an hour with the disappearance 
 of the treasure, and his common sense told him 
 that, if possible, conviction should precede accusa- 
 tion and punishment. 
 
 It did not take him long to find out, however, 
 what Teddy held in his hand. 
 
 It was nothing more nor less than the rusty iron 
 box which had contained the gold. 
 
 That it contained none of it now Nick discovered 
 almost in the same moment. For Teddy, apparently, 
 had taken the box from the place where he had 
 hid it for the express purpose of making sure that 
 no stray coin was left at the bottom. He held it 
 lid downwards as he stood there in the moonlight, 
 shook it, and struck it with his hand, and was just 
 about to replace it in its nook in the wall when, 
 swift as an avenging flash, some one sprang out 
 upon him, struck him a violent blow, and dragged 
 him to the ground. 
 
 You, readers, know, of course, that this was Nick, 
 but Teddy was less well-informed. He had been 
 utterly unaware of the presence there of the lad 
 whom he had wronged, and the sudden attack 
 paralyzed him. 
 
 The moon, too, at that moment went under a
 
 142 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 passing cloud, so that he could only feel without 
 being able to see. 
 
 One shrill cry pealed over the lonely moor, and 
 then, but for the sound of hard breathing and the 
 growling of the terrier as she sprang bewildered 
 around the combatants, all was still. 
 
 Then the moon came out again, and Teddy, who 
 was struggling feebly to free himself, as he lay on 
 his back upon the heather, saw above him the face 
 of Nick, his father's servant-lad. He had never 
 seen him look so before. 
 
 The usually good-natured, inoffensive expression 
 of the boy who had been the drudge and butt of 
 the Bellister family, had changed to a look of fierce, 
 determined resentment. Strong passion had utterly 
 transformed the features, -and brought out such an 
 expression as may be seen on the face of criminals 
 in the moment of committing some awful crime. 
 No wonder that Teddy quailed before the face 
 of the lad whom he had wronged, and that his 
 own dark-complexioned face appeared livid in the 
 moonlight, as it looked up, wide-eyed with a great 
 fear, from the withered heather. 
 
 "For pity's sake, Nick," he gasped at length, 
 hardly able to get out the words for the pressure 
 on throat and chest, "dinna murder me right off! 
 What have I done to 
 
 "What ha' ye done, ye villain ye ? " growled Nick, 
 his voice thick with passion. "Ye needn't try to 
 deceive me. Ye've ruined me, that's what ye've 
 done. Gi'e me back what ye took, and let them
 
 UNDER THE ROMAN WALL. 143 
 
 arl ken at Bellister who t' real thief is, and then, 
 mebbe, I might think aboot sparin' ye. If not, 
 I swear to " 
 
 But Nick got no further. 
 
 During the above parley he had, presumedly, to 
 some extent relaxed his hold on Teddy. At all 
 events, a sudden supreme effort on the part of the 
 latter allowed him to throw off his assailant and 
 spring to his feet. 
 
 This time it was Nick who was taken by sur- 
 prise, and he had just time to rise in his turn before 
 the other lad turned the tables by assuming the 
 offensive. 
 
 It was terrible in the moonlight to see the two 
 lads, one of them almost mad with the thirst for 
 revenge, the other desperate with the desire to 
 overcome an adversary from whom he knew he had 
 nothing to hope, clasped together in a death-like 
 
 grip- 
 
 They strained, they struggled, they swayed back- 
 wards and forwards with parted lips and breath 
 coming hot and fast in each other's faces, while 
 the terrier leaped round them, not yet understand- 
 ing this strife between house-mates, yet instinctively 
 siding with the one she loved best. 
 
 More than once Teddy felt her sharp little teeth 
 meet in his legs, as Viper tried her small best to 
 pull him off her friend, and he growled a curse under 
 his breath, as a lion might growl at a gnat which 
 he cannot reach. 
 
 Nick was the taller and more wiry of the two,
 
 144 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 but Teddy was both strong and active ; and the 
 easy victory which the former had been able to 
 obtain over the latter in the old days when they 
 were both small boys, was no longer possible. 
 Though Nick had recovered his health and strength 
 to a great degree, his illness, together with the 
 half year of wandering, during which he had often 
 had hardly enough food to keep soul and body 
 together, had deprived him of some of the vigour 
 which should have been his. 
 
 He breathed hard, and, cold though the night was, 
 the perspiration rained down his face. But, pre- 
 sently, he felt Teddy's efforts slacken ; he pushed 
 him nearer and nearer towards the wall, with the 
 mad desire to dash him against it, if possible a 
 desire which Teddy seemed to be aware of, and to 
 resist with all his remaining powers. Just so, with 
 passion and mutual hatred no less, might Roman 
 and barbarian have striven for the mastery under 
 that very wall in the days of long ago. 
 
 The combatants were within a few yards of the 
 wall, and already its shadow lay dark upon their 
 struggling figures, when something happened which 
 put a sudden end to the conflict. 
 
 Viper, who, as we have seen, had enrolled herself 
 as the ally of her friend, though much in the dark 
 as to the cause of the fray, as loving creatures 
 of her sex are very apt to do, made, just then, a 
 specially furious onslaught upon Teddy. She got 
 her teeth well into the trouser and stocking and 
 flesh of his left ankle, planted her own feet firmly
 
 UNDER THE ROMAN WALL. 145 
 
 upon the ground, and tugged with all her might. 
 The result was that Teddy, already hard put to to 
 keep his feet, had one of them pulled from under 
 him, and went down upon his back, as though he 
 had been felled, dragging Nick after him. 
 
 Nick eagerly set his knee on the breast of his 
 fallen enemy so as to prevent his rising again. But 
 he was not long in finding out that Teddy made 
 no effort whatever to do so. He lay, still and limp, 
 as though he had been stunned, and though Nick 
 could not see his face for the shadow of the wall, 
 he had no difficulty in discovering that the lad 
 was quite unconscious. 
 
 After waiting for a few minutes to see whether 
 he would revive, he took hold of his vanquished 
 enemy under the arms, and dragged him out into 
 the moonlight. 
 
 Sure enough the face was that of an unconscious 
 being. It was ghastly white. The eyes were open, 
 indeed, but there was no speculation in them, as 
 they stared up at the night sky, where the moon- 
 boat was riding triumphantly in the blue. A 
 thin trickle of blood came from the parted lips, 
 which were still drawn back from the white 
 teeth, as they had been in the struggle of a minute 
 before. 
 
 Nick felt his hot blood run suddenly cold. The 
 joy of victory ceased to make his heart leap. A 
 great fear took possession of him, as the silence of 
 the night, broken a while by the struggle, settled 
 down again over the solitary rnoor. To Nick it 
 
 L
 
 146 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 was a silence tingling with one great question, "Is 
 he dead ? " 
 
 He turned the lad over. There was a bloody 
 place at the back of his head, and the dark hair 
 was sticky with the oozing drops. 
 
 Nick looked at his own hand and shuddered 
 to see it red in the moonlight. 
 
 "Viper," he whispered, as the dog came whining 
 to him, after sniffing at the fallen Teddy "Viper, 
 lass, I doot I doot we've kilt him ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 
 
 WHAT was to be done now ? 
 
 A panic took hold of John Ridley's servant-lad, 
 as he realized what that wild fit of passion which 
 had possessed him had resulted in. 
 
 He had had a bad name before through no fault 
 of his own. It had come down to him, ready-made 
 and at second-hand, derived from his unknown 
 parents. 
 
 But he had inherited something besides wild, 
 untamed passions, which, given way to, had caused 
 him to earn for himself that bad name of which 
 before he had been the innocent legatee. 
 
 He deserved it now. He was a criminal on his 
 own account, and he felt it, as he stood there,
 
 " VIl'ER, LASS, I DOOT : DOOT \VE*VE KILT HIM !" 
 
 146.
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 147 
 
 trembling all over, looking down, in a half-fascinated 
 sort of way, on that white face and those wide eyes, 
 which again stared up at him in the wintry moon- 
 light from the dark heather at his feet. 
 
 What would people call him now, if the terrible 
 thing which he feared were really a fact ? No 
 wonder the lad shivered as he looked at what he 
 had done, and heard the answer to that question 
 booming in his ears. 
 
 And then there was no one to witness that he 
 had not intended it. In fact, he hardly knew 
 himself whether he had intended it or not, so 
 fiercely had passion swayed him, so blind and 
 deaf and unconscious of everything else had he 
 been, save how best to punish Teddy for the injury 
 he had received. 
 
 And what was to be done now ? 
 
 If that thing upon the heather were really a 
 dead body, Nick knew well enough what would be 
 done to him should the deed be traced to his hand. 
 He already felt a tightening of the throat, as he 
 thought upon the awful punishment for crimes 
 such as this. 
 
 He dared not go and seek for help, for that would 
 be to tempt the fate he dreaded. He must hide 
 away his victim, he thought, as quickly as possible, 
 and then put all the space he could between himself 
 and what was now to him as an accursed spot. 
 
 Ay, the thing at his feet must be hidden ; that 
 was the first thing to do. If it were really dead, 
 then the longer it was in being found, the better
 
 148 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 for him. If, on the other hand, there were still 
 life, it was still more important that it should 
 not be left to lie there exposed to the cold night 
 air, but be placed under shelter to come to itself 
 at leisure. 
 
 Shuddering all the time, Nick did his little best 
 to convince himself that the latter view was the 
 correct one, but failed miserably. He had never 
 come near a dead body in all his life, and his 
 young flesh shrank from the examination, causing 
 it to be but imperfect. He got a little water in 
 his hand and moistened the lips and forehead ; he 
 felt the heart, but could distinguish no signs of life. 
 Then, shuddering still more strongly, he lifted the 
 body by the shoulders, and, dragging it inside the 
 turfed shelter in the corner of the shielding, he 
 laid it upon the bed of heather where he himself 
 had lain so shortly before. 
 
 As he was in the act of finishing this task, a 
 loud noise outside brought his heart into his mouth. 
 
 Something was snorting and blowing close by 
 the entrance, and Viper was barking violently. 
 
 Nick thought that his fate was upon him. But, 
 an instant after, he saw what it was. 
 
 Two rough-coated hillside ponies, which are often 
 left to run out on these upland pastures during 
 the whole of the winter, had had their curiosity 
 aroused on the subject of Viper, and had come to 
 make observations, as horses and cattle are fond 
 of doing, concerning the natural history of dogs. 
 
 But Viper's barking had interrupted their studies,
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 149 
 
 and now, with heads in the air and manes and tails 
 streaming beneath them, the timid observers were 
 off over the moorland, their hoofs thundering on 
 the frozen ground, and Viper in full cry behind 
 them. 
 
 But the incident had not only shaken still more 
 Nick's already quivering nerves, but the noise 
 suggested betrayal. It was just possible that some 
 shepherd might be out on the moors, who, hearing 
 a dog, might come to see that it was about no 
 unlawful business, such as sheep-hunting. 
 
 Viper must be called off at once, and the two of 
 them must make what haste they could to escape 
 from a dangerous neighbourhood. 
 
 Whistling to the terrier, who instantly returned, 
 having, indeed, only been employing her time, while 
 her master was busy, in what she considered a little 
 harmless by-play, Nick crossed the wall at one of 
 its countless gaps, and, sometimes running, some- 
 times walking, made the best of his way north- 
 ward. 
 
 While the moonlight lasted he made good pro- 
 gress, but, soon after leaving the wall behind him, 
 the moon touched the western horizon, and slowly 
 slid behind it, leaving the moor, except for the 
 glimmering shimmer of the thinly sprinkled snow, 
 in darkness. Yet the boy and dog plodded on, 
 now falling into a peat bog, now stumbling over 
 tussocks of moor-grass or bushes of heather, but 
 always getting up again and pressing forward as 
 determinately as ever, till the wintry dawn began
 
 150 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 to whiten the sky behind them away to the south- 
 east. By this time both were so weary that the 
 sight of a partly cut haystack in a field near the 
 edge of the moor was too much for them to resist. 
 Nick and his little comrade crept into the gap 
 made by the hay-spade, covered themselves with 
 the hay, and, despite all that had happened, were 
 soon fast asleep again. 
 
 They slept on till the sun was high in the frosty 
 blue dome which over-arched the sparkling world, 
 and might have slept till sunset came round again 
 had it not been for hunger. But, however it may 
 be with other pangs, those of an empty stomach 
 speak loudly enough to chase away the deepest 
 and sweetest sleep. And, by the time that noon 
 was past, both Viper and her master were acutely 
 conscious that neither tea nor supper had been 
 tasted the evening before, and that breakfast for 
 them was not. 
 
 Nick sat up, struggled out from his nest of hay, 
 shook the seeds and stalks from his hair and clothes, 
 and, calling to his bedfellow, set outonthetrampagain. 
 
 The terrors of first awakening from sleep after a 
 calamity have been often described, and are very 
 real and awful. Yet even these mental horrors are 
 apt to be obscured by physical suffering of a clam- 
 orous nature. This explanation may be accepted 
 as the reason why Nick thought less of what had 
 happened the night before than he might otherwise 
 have done by reason of the hunger-pangs which 
 were tormenting him.
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 15! 
 
 To get food had become a more pressing need 
 even than to get away from the neighbourhood of 
 the Roman wall. But food in January among the 
 hills and moors of the Borders is not very easy to 
 get. 
 
 In spite of that haystack the pair had to walk 
 a long time before seeing any farmstead to which 
 it might belong, and when, at length, the farmstead 
 was sighted, the accompanying sight of a crowd 
 before the door and a cattle-sale in progress warned 
 Nick to keep his distance. 
 
 A policeman was on duty about the premises, 
 and of policemen poor Nick now felt that he must 
 henceforth be afraid. 
 
 Accordingly, he and his companion gave the 
 farmstead a wide berth, and, turning into a rough 
 road which crossed another wild piece of country, 
 they told themselves that as breakfast had been 
 done without, so must dinner also. 
 
 But though a man may tell himself these sort 
 of things, his body is not always obedient to his 
 mind. Fasting for twenty-four hours at a stretch, 
 when on active exercise in the open air, is more 
 than can be reasonably required from anybody, 
 especially when that body belongs to a boy who has 
 not done growing. Therefore, before he had gone 
 more than a mile or two from the farm where he 
 had been disappointed of his dinner, Nick's body, 
 long-suffering and serviceable though it was, began 
 to rebel against the hardness with which it was 
 treated. Walking became more and more difficult.
 
 152 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The view began to look misty in spite of the frosty 
 sunshine. The hills and rocks and heather appeared 
 to be moving further and further towards a more 
 and more distant horizon, till, at last, all the world 
 took to spinning round, and Nick, so as to go in 
 safety with it, was fain to sit down on the first 
 best stone by the roadside. 
 
 Viper looked at him, with her ears cocked up 
 and her shrewish little nose in the air, as much as 
 to say, " What's the use of sitting down here ? 
 Neither man nor dog can make a meal off last 
 year's heather." But, finding that her master not 
 only took no notice of the remonstrance in her eyes, 
 but had even hidden his face in his hands so that 
 he could not see at all, she gave in to his fancy 
 sufficiently to sit down by his side. 
 
 Here she disconsolately viewed the empty road 
 for a good quarter of an hour, which is, you will 
 allow, an unsatisfactory prospect for a hungry dog. 
 
 At the end of that time, however, she started up, 
 all alertness, got herself into the middle of the 
 road and crouched low, with her sharp little nose 
 turned in the direction from which she and her 
 master had come. 
 
 All this time Nick took no notice, and Viper 
 was left to perform the duties of scout entirely on 
 her own account. 
 
 After she had crouched like this for three or 
 four minutes, she sprang briskly forward, like an 
 arrow let loose from a bow, to meet another of her 
 species which was coming up the road.
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 1 53 
 
 Now, if you had not known that both belonged 
 to the dog tribe, you would hardly have classed the 
 little fussy, wiry-haired terrier with the elegant- 
 figured, long-legged creature who, with an overcoat 
 of checked flannel, bound with red, buttoned closely 
 round him, was walking sedately along. 
 
 The new-comer had an undercoat of glossy black, 
 which looked like satin, a snaky tail, gracefully 
 tip-tilted, small, well-turned head, and a long, 
 slim nose. He held his head high, and trod the 
 road on tiptoe as daintily as a dancing-master. 
 He was evidently a gentleman of high distinction 
 and breeding, in spite of the rather disreputable 
 companion who was holding him in a leash.^ 
 
 Now, one does not expect to find gentlemen of 
 distinction and breeding in the company of the 
 disreputable. Yet, nevertheless, this is sometimes 
 the case, and you must not think, therefore, that 
 the pedigree of this canine aristocrat was an inch 
 less long than it appeared to be, notwithstanding 
 his associate. If you doubt this, you have only to 
 look in the red-book of the greyhound family, and 
 you will find the descent of this very member in- 
 scribed, with grandsires and grandams as many 
 as belong to the bluest blood in the three 
 kingdoms. 
 
 " The Laird o' Cockpen," indeed, for this was 
 the gentleman's title, was a very distinguished per- 
 sonage, and known in the most prominent sporting 
 circles on both sides of the Border. 
 
 So was his companion, for that matter ; yet he
 
 154 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 was neither distinguished, nor well-bred, no, nor 
 even respectable, to judge by appearances. 
 
 He was a tall man of, apparently, about fifty-five 
 or sixty, with a slouch in his shoulders and a halt 
 in his walk. He wore clothes which very long ago 
 had been made in a flash, sporting style, but which 
 now were dirty, threadbare, and weather-worn. A 
 wide-awake hat, evidently not belonging to the rest 
 of the costume, for it was of a decidedly clerical 
 shape, though quite as much the worse for wear as 
 the clothes, gave the crowning touch to the whole. 
 From under this looked a face which reminded you, 
 somehow, of a fox, for it had the same crafty ex- 
 pression, alert eyes, and long, thin nose. Once 
 upon a time the likeness was, probably, still more 
 striking, for there was a tint still remaining in the 
 shaggy hair, beard, and whiskers which might be 
 called a faded russet, if you were minded to express 
 it politely. 
 
 There were a good many lines and wrinkles on 
 this individual's face, considerably more than should 
 come at that time of life, unless the man has lived 
 at a more rapid rate than is quite in accordance 
 with respectability. Many of those were the hand- 
 writing of craft, but there were others which spoke 
 of good nature, if they spoke the truth, and some 
 again which revealed a caustic wit and a reckless, 
 dare-devil lightheartedness. 
 
 This man was smoking a short clay pipe, as he 
 came within sight of Nick and Viper, drumming 
 the while with his fingers upon his corduroy breeches,
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 155 
 
 as though a tune were running in his head, which, 
 but for the pipe, would have come to his lips. 
 
 At the sight of Viper he ceased this drumming 
 and threw her a quick glance. His own dog saw 
 her too, looked once in her direction, and then 
 stuck his aristocratic nose in the air with marked 
 contempt. But, as the terrier continued yelping, 
 wriggling, and snuffing around him, he gave a short 
 low growl, as though to say, "Keep your distance, 
 can't you ! " 
 
 When the man in the wide-awake saw Nick, he 
 came to a standstill, looked at him, and whistled 
 softly. Then he stooped over him, and shook him 
 by the shoulder. 
 
 " Wake up ! " he cried sharply though not un- 
 kindly. " Sleepin' by t' roadside when t' frost's astir 
 means deein', young man." 
 
 Nick looked up vacantly into the face above him. 
 Then a scared expression broke out of the mere 
 vacancy, and he tried to rise. 
 
 " Wo-a, thin ! Come, my lad, ye needna be 
 flayed, whativer cause ye've got. I'm nae bobby. 
 Bobby, indeed ! Ha ! ha ! The force wadn't enlist 
 Greyhound Geordie, even if he had a fancy to try 
 that sitivation, which he hasn't. Come, what ails 
 ye that ye canna stand staight ? Drink, eh ? " 
 
 He sank his voice, winked disagreeably with his 
 foxy eyes, and poked the boy in the ribs. 
 
 "Nay, it's meat, I think or, rayther, the want 
 on't," answered Nick, feebly, with a faint smile. He 
 did not resent the imputation as a more respectably
 
 156 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 brought-up lad would have done ; though, indeed, 
 to give poor Nick his due, he had never yet tasted 
 spirits in all his life, and that for a very good 
 reason, though one quite without merit to himself. 
 
 " Starvin' ? Pier bairn ! " was the compassionate 
 rejoinder. "Well, I haven't mickle wi' me nob- 
 but a bit bottle o' whusky and a crust o' bread, 
 but ye're welcome to a share. I was just thinkin' 
 o' havin' a bite and a sup mysel', for it's past 
 dinner-time. Here" he divided a piece of bread 
 and handed half to Nick, by whose side he had seated 
 himself, together with a battered flask, " here, put 
 yersel' outside this, and ye'll feel a deal better." 
 
 The famished boy took a pull at the flask. It 
 seemed to him like drinking in warmth and com- 
 fort, as the strong spirit ran like fire through his 
 veins. Then he took a few ravenous mouthfuls of 
 the bread. 
 
 But, as he ate, there came a low whine at his 
 side, a cold nose was inserted under his arm, and 
 a pair of supplicating, bright eyes looked into 
 his. 
 
 Nick broke off the half of his own share and 
 gave it to his faithful little companion, who lay 
 down with it between her paws, and began to gnaw 
 at it quite as greedily as her master. 
 
 The Laird o' Cockpen, who had sat down on his 
 haunches, looked on disdainfully. 
 
 " Yer dorg's empty and arl, eh ? " remarked the 
 man by Nick's side, who had, meanwhile, emptied 
 the flask, which the latter had returned to him.
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE 157 
 
 " Ay, she's had time to be," answered Nick, with 
 his mouth full. 
 
 " How long ? " asked the Laird's master. 
 
 "We've eaten nowt since twelve o'clock yester- 
 day." 
 
 " Midnight ? " 
 
 " No, noon. 
 
 " Whew-w-w ! " whistled the other. " That's a gey 
 bit to fast. Nae wonder t' clock's run doon." 
 
 Nick looked at the speaker, wondering what he 
 meant. 
 
 " T' clock's run doon ; she canna gan unless ye 
 wind her up. Meat, drink, and sleep keep the 
 wheels o' life gannin', my lad. Eh ? " 
 
 Nick saw the meaning now, and smiled. 
 
 The man dusted the crumbs from his knees and 
 handed the remains of his bread to his companion. 
 
 " I've had enough to keep me gannin' till supper- 
 time," he said. 
 
 " Yer dorg '11, mebbe, want it ? " inquired Nick, 
 looking wistfully at the offered piece. 
 
 " Nay," was the answer. " Cockpen winna eat 
 dry bread. He's over sarcy for that. Ye can see 
 for yersel', if ye like." 
 
 He broke off a corner and offered it to the grey- 
 hound, who got up slowly, smelt at it, and then 
 moved off again, with his aristocratic nose in the 
 air. 
 
 Nick laughed. The meat and drink were doing 
 their work for him. A little colour had come 
 back into his cheeks.
 
 158 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "Viper's not sae prood," he said, as the terrier 
 snapped up the rejected morsel. 
 
 " Nay, but then she's yan o' t' commonality, like 
 ye and me, lad," answered the greyhound's master, 
 with a smile at his dog, betraying pride of another 
 kind. " He's a real swell, is the Laird." 
 
 But, apparently, the contemptuous aristocrat, 
 though he might refuse on his own account, 
 objected to see the rejected morsel accepted by 
 some one else. He looked angrily Viper-wards, 
 and uttered another low growl. 
 
 " Mebbe, they'll fight ? " asked Nick, made uneasy 
 in the midst of the enjoyment of his extra share 
 of bread by the danger of his dog. 
 
 " Fight ? Nay, Cockpen niver attacks li'le tykes 
 like yon, least of arl t' womenfolk. He's over weel 
 bred for that. See him wi' yan o' his own size 
 and sex now eh, but he disn't giv them mickle 
 chance ! " 
 
 And again he looked at his dog with the pride 
 of possession, and chuckled delightedly, as though 
 at some rare recollection. 
 
 "Nay," he went on, presently, still looking at 
 the dogs, who were striking up a distant acquaint- 
 ance at the point of the nose, " the Laird niver's 
 aught but ceevil wi' femmels. He's better nor 
 maist men that way. Why, I mysel' haven't arl- 
 ways been able to keep my hands off them when 
 impidence has been offered, but I've niver seen 
 Cockpen sae mickle as put a tooth into yan o' the 
 sex, however impident she might be. And, eh,
 
 GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 159 
 
 man, but of all impidence there's nane to even 
 that o' a femmel when she's given that way ! Ay, 
 them that's had experience kens." 
 
 Another recollection, and a less pleasant one, 
 curled the speaker's lips as he said this. 
 
 " But, come, we'd better be movin' on," he re- 
 sumed presently, after watching the dogs a while 
 longer. " It's over cauld to sit lang, and my lodgin's 
 movin' while I sit still. I've nae time to lose if I want 
 to be up wi' the roof-tree afore neet. Where are 
 ye bound for, lad ? " 
 
 The man had risen, as he spoke, and taken the 
 leash of his dog, which he had dropped during the 
 rest, again into his hand. 
 
 " I diven't ken," answered Nick, drearily. 
 
 " Eh, but that's queer ! It's a waste o' time, is 
 the trampin', unless it's to tak' ye somewhere 
 unless ye're anxious just to get over the ground ? " 
 said Geordie, with a queer look at Nick, who, also, 
 was now on his feet. " But there, naebody kens 
 better nor folk like me, that questions isn't always 
 agreeable. Ye were gannin' this way afore. We'd 
 joost as weel gan in company sae lang's our way's t' 
 same. Eh ? " 
 
 He did not wait for an answer, and, indeed, no 
 words were necessary ; for Nick, whose walking 
 powers were again available, was already trudging 
 along by the side of his new companion.
 
 160 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 POT-LUCK. 
 
 THE afternoon was waning by now, and, as the 
 quartette reached the edge of the moor and entered 
 upon lower lands where grew the rowan, the birch, 
 and the plane-tree, the sun set. 
 
 After walking on for another half-hour through 
 the deepening red of the winter's evening, they 
 reached a place where the lane which they were 
 following crossed a broad high-road. 
 
 A sign-post stood just at the corner of the rough 
 dry dyke, or wall of stones put together without 
 mortar, which fenced off the latter from the neigh- 
 bouring fields. At the foot of this Greyhound 
 Geordie came to a stop, pausing to read the names 
 on the crossbars by the dying light of the sunset. 
 Its sombre red fell on this upturned face, brighten- 
 ing the faded russet of the rugged beard and un- 
 kempt hair, and lending a fresher tint to the 
 wrinkled skin than it naturally possessed. It 
 showed out the profile against the shades which 
 were gathering below, giving it the distinctness of 
 a silhouette, emphasizing every line. 
 
 Nick stood watching him, wondering who this 
 strange man could be, and what was the business 
 he followed. 
 
 "The letterin's none sae clear, and the light's
 
 POT-LUCK. l6l 
 
 bad," said Geordie, presently, after a longish study 
 of the finger-post. " Come here, my lad, thy een 
 sud be better nor mine. Which is t' road to Bel- 
 lingham ? " 
 
 " That," answered Nick, promptly, pointing north- 
 east along the highway. "Are ye goin' that way, 
 maister ? " 
 
 The man turned on him with a queer expression 
 on his good-natured, foxy face. 
 
 " Tisn't always because folk want to walk alang 
 a road that they ask where it leads to, lad," he 
 answered. " I fancied ye kent as mickle. Na, na, 
 nae Bellinghams for me. I'm bound t' other 
 way along here." He pointed to a by-road 
 opposite to that by which they had come. "It 
 says, ' To Langburn,' disn't it ? " 
 
 " Ay. But ye canna reach Langburn to-neet ; 
 it says ' fifteen mile.' " 
 
 " Nor I diven't want to, my lad. My lodgin's not 
 sae far to seek as yon, unless the Miller's gone a 
 deal quicker than ordiner," he added, with a twinkle 
 in his sly eyes. " I reckon he'll have come to a 
 halt aboot a mile doon there." He pointed again 
 to the lane. " Come, my Laird, thoo canst tak' 
 a bit supper by now, I fancy. Eh ? " 
 
 The high-bred greyhound acknowledged the 
 imputation by a slight wave of the tail, and a lick 
 of his clean-cut jaws. 
 
 Nick and Viper stood at the cross-roads, watch- 
 ing the movements of the others. 
 
 " Our roads part here, eh ? " asked Geordie, 
 
 M
 
 1 62 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 observing that Nick did not show any signs of follow- 
 ing. " Ye're gannin' to Bellingham, mebbe, yersel' ? " 
 
 " I diven't ken," answered the lad, for the second 
 time that day, and he looked rather wistfully 
 towards his travelling companion. 
 
 "Ay, I forgot," was the answer, and the man 
 paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder at 
 the wistful face of the lad. " Mebbe we needn't 
 part yet, eh ? " he asked presently. " Ye've, mebbe, 
 nae mair prospect o' a roof for yer head than of a 
 bite and a sup for yer stomick, eh, young man ? 
 Well, well, if sae it be, shall we say share and 
 share aboot, yance mair ? " 
 
 The tears came into Nick's eyes. The good- 
 natured offer touched him, for he was loth to be 
 left alone again to pass the night, which promised 
 to be a very cold one, shelterless and supperless. 
 
 "Ay, I'll come along wi' ye, and thank ye kindly, 
 maister," he said. 
 
 The other nodded, and the man and boy, with 
 the two dogs following at their heels, entered the 
 lane, which was overhung with trees, and, already, 
 nearly dark. 
 
 When they had gone about a mile, or, perhaps, 
 a mile and a half, a light appeared in front of 
 them a red, wavering light, like that of a fire, 
 accompanied by the smell of green wood burning. 
 
 " Didn't I say it would be nobbut a mile ? " asked 
 the Laird's master, of his companion. 
 
 It was the first word he had uttered since they 
 had entered the lane, for the short black pipe was
 
 POT-LUCK. 163 
 
 back in his mouth, and its red glow had, up to 
 now, been the only point of light to be seen in the 
 darkness. 
 
 "T Miller's gettin' auld, and I ken his pace. 
 Ye see oor neet's lodgin's, lad ? " 
 
 He pointed with his pipe to what lay in front, 
 clearly discernible now in the red light of a fire 
 of sticks and dry bracken, which burnt by the side 
 of the road. Its leaping flames lit up the scene 
 the wreathes of mounting smoke, the leafless trees 
 by the wayside, the tawny hues of the bracken 
 which hid their feet. It cast strong lights and 
 shadows across the lane, on the dark bulk of a 
 tinker's van, on the white form of a horse tethered 
 behind it, and the figures of two men and a woman, 
 who were moving about between the van and the 
 fire. 
 
 Over this a black pot was hanging, from which 
 the woman lifted the lid, as Geordie spoke, releas- 
 ing a savoury steam. 
 
 Both dogs, even the lordly greyhound, sniffed the 
 delicious odour ; and little Viper, whose birth did 
 not oblige her to conceal her feelings, licked her 
 lips vigorously. 
 
 As for her master, he felt that it would require 
 all his self-control not to fly upon the food before 
 it was served out. 
 
 " Weel, Geordie," called out a man's gruff voice 
 from the circle of firelight, "so ye've landed up, 
 min ? Hoo's arl wi' ye this evenin' ? " 
 
 "Geyly, Matt," answered the Laird's master.
 
 1 64 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "We've got through our business, has Cockpen 
 and me, and 
 
 " So the lad turned up after arl ? It's mair nor 
 I expected," went on the man by the fire, who was 
 throwing on more sticks, and had not yet noticed 
 Nick's presence. "And did he bring 
 
 " Whisht ! " said Greyhound Geordie, hastily. 
 " Will ye niver learn yer manners, man ? Diven't 
 ye see I've brought company ? Where's yer welcome, 
 eh ? " 
 
 The man by the fire turned round, showing a 
 face redder even than the firelight quite accounted 
 for, framed in a bush of brown hair. 
 
 " So ye've brought him along wi' ye ? " he said, 
 staring straight at Nick. " Weel, I ax yer pardon, 
 my lad, if I've offended ye. I haven't the pleasure 
 o' yer acquaintance, ye ken, as folks say in genteel 
 circles. Anyhow, nae harm's done, I'm thinkin', 
 and ye're welcome to pot-luck. There's plenty for 
 arl, I reckon. Eh, Libbie ? " 
 
 The woman, who was stirring the pot, threw a 
 short "Ay" over her shoulder. She seemed too 
 much occupied with what she was doing to give 
 any of her attention to other things. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie went up to the man he had 
 called Matt, and dealt him what Nick took for a 
 playful cuff, though the language he employed at 
 the same time did not exactly match. 
 
 "Ye're a real haufthick, Matt," he said, in a 
 voice which betrayed vexation. "Will ye niver 
 larn to consider first and speak after ? A stranger
 
 POT-LUCK. 165 
 
 laddie, like this yan, micht well think ye daft, if I 
 wasn't here to assure him that appearances is not 
 to be trusted. A man's not arlways what ye tak' 
 him for, 't fust sect, ye ken. Eh, laddie ? " 
 
 He turned to Nick as he spoke, who had been 
 listening attentively, his face betraying that the 
 double meaning of his companion's words was better 
 understood than the speaker, probably, had expected. 
 " Weel, we maun just excuse him, pier feller ! " 
 said Geordie, with a short laugh, as his keen eyes 
 took in the above fact. "But there, it'll mak' 
 matters a bit clearer, mebbe, if I introduce you. 
 This is Matt the Tinker, and the lady's Mistress 
 Matt, his wife, and yon" he pointed to a sturdy 
 young man, a few years older than Nick, who was 
 slouching near, with his hands in his pockets 
 " yen's the young hopeful, Pete Fitztinker, ha ! ha ! 
 Gentlemen and leddy" he waved his hands and 
 made a mock bow "alloo me to introduce into 
 yer honourable society this distinguished traveller, 
 Maister Hoots, lad ! " he cried, turning sud- 
 denly to his protege, "ye've niver telt me what 
 they carl ye ? " 
 
 "Nick," said the boy, shortly, for somehow, 
 though he would have preferred not to give his 
 name, no other would come to his tongue when he 
 was so suddenly asked for it. 
 
 " A younger son o' the Auld Gentleman, eh ? " 
 suggested Pete, with a sneer. 
 
 But Greyhound Geordie quenched him with a 
 frown.
 
 1 66 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Nane o' yer sauce, ye varmint ye ! " he said 
 severely. "I'll let ye arl ken that this young 
 chap is under my protection, as my guest for the 
 neet, and ye maun treat him according or 
 He made a significant movement with his right 
 hand, which seemed to be well understood, for even 
 the insolent ragamuffin, who had been introduced 
 as the son of the van, ventured on no further 
 pleasantry just then. 
 
 "Yer meat's ready," said the woman who pre- 
 sided over the pot, turning a haggard, spiritless face 
 towards the company. " Here, lend's a hand off 
 wi' t' pot, Pete, and then reach to and help your- 
 sel's." 
 
 Seeing that her son made no movement to obey, 
 Nick started forward and gave a hand, and the 
 woman and he between them lifted the cauldron, 
 and placed it, as Mrs. Matt directed, between the 
 van and the fire. 
 
 She thanked him with a look, then handed 
 round spoons and tin basins, and, putting a huge 
 iron ladle into the pot, motioned to the company 
 to seat themselves on some logs under the lee of 
 the van. 
 
 As seemed to be expected, each of the company 
 in turn filled their basins for themselves with the 
 savoury mixture call it soup, or stew, as you like 
 which, so far as Nick could tell, when he had 
 satisfied his hunger sufficiently to discriminate, was 
 concocted of rabbits, onions, potatoes, and scraps 
 of bread, well flavoured with pepper and salt.
 
 POT-LUCK. 167 
 
 The dogs were served with their masters ; nay, so 
 far as the Laird was concerned, before them, for 
 Greyhound Geordie would not taste a morsel him- 
 self till the aristocratic gentleman whom he attended 
 had been duly satisfied. 
 
 Nor did he allow Viper to be left out in the 
 cold. 
 
 "That tyke o' yours hasn't t' vally o' mine," he 
 said, as he placed a basin of stew before the grey- 
 hound, "but that's nae reason she should hunger. 
 See she gets her fill, lad." 
 
 It was wonderful how quickly the contents of 
 the cauldron disappeared. In a quarter of an hour 
 it was utterly empty. Then Greyhound Geordie, 
 who seemed to act as host and commander-in-chief 
 to the whole party, called for spirits. A kettle, 
 which had taken the place of the pot, was called 
 into requisition, more sticks were heaped on to the 
 fire, and the growing cold of the January night was 
 defied by the quartette of men and lads, who sat 
 on the logs with their backs to the van and their 
 feet stretched out to the ruddy blaze. The woman 
 alone took no part in the revel. As soon as the 
 supper things were collected she carried them off 
 to the inside of the van, and appeared no more. 
 But the occasional cry of a child inside told Nick 
 how she was most probably occupied. 
 
 Not that he troubled himself much with specu- 
 lations concerning her, or, indeed, anything else. 
 The sensation of rest and comfort, after the fatigue 
 and privations of the last twenty-four hours, soothed
 
 168 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 body and mind alike, dulling even the terrible 
 memory, which, from time to time during the day, 
 had risen before him, of that ghastly face on the 
 moonlit moor. The fumes of the hot spirits were a 
 powerful aid to this pleasant oblivion. The warmth 
 of the fire and the lulling sound of the flames 
 added their help. And, from watching the play of 
 the red light on the road and the dark trees which 
 shut it in, Nick's eyes, presently, ceased to watch 
 at all. The consciousness of everything past, 
 present, and future slipped from him. His head 
 fell back, and he slept profoundly. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. 
 
 WHEN one awakes in the morning in a strange 
 place, it often takes quite a long time to realize 
 where one is and how one got there. This was Nick's 
 experience, next morning. But it took a longer 
 time for him even than for most people, for the 
 hot spirits which he had swallowed the night before 
 had gone to his unaccustomed brain, and his head 
 was not yet by any means clear. He was lying 
 upon a heap of sacks he realized this first, and 
 over him was spread a woman's shawl in red and 
 black check, with the edges a good deal tattered. 
 Over his head were some arching boards. By the
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. 169 
 
 light which came in from a little window not far 
 from his head he could see that they were painted 
 buff. The floor was strewn with what looked like 
 makeshift bedding of various sorts, but there was 
 no one else lying asleep there but one little pale- 
 faced child. 
 
 He could see nothing of Viper, and, somehow, 
 just then, he did not feel sufficient energy to seek 
 for her. 
 
 It was a queer-looking little room, certainly, in 
 which he found himself. But it was not only the 
 look that was queer ; for, presently, to Nick's great 
 bewilderment and alarm, it began to move. 
 
 Two or three very big jolts made him feel as 
 though he and the world were going to be upset 
 in company. Then, before he knew what was really 
 happening, a whip cracked, there was a creaking 
 sound, and then a continuous swaying motion, which 
 set sundry pots, pans, and kettles, which were 
 suspended by crooks from the roof, in a rapid see- 
 saw. Out of the little window Nick could now see 
 a strip of blue sky, some black tree-tops, which 
 seemed to be walking along it, and a pair of 
 pointed white ears going up and down. And then 
 at last he realized that his bedroom was on wheels, 
 and that there was a horse harnessed to it which 
 was pulling it along. That brought back memory, 
 and so far as he could know, Nick knew all about it. 
 
 He sat up, rubbed his eyes, shook the shawl from 
 off him, as he had shaken the hay the morning 
 before, and, stepping over the child which still lay
 
 I/O UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 sleeping beside him, he opened the door at the 
 further end of the van and let himself drop to the 
 ground. 
 
 He had no toilet to make, for he had gone to 
 sleep in his clothes. But this did not discompose 
 our friend, as it might have done had he been a 
 respectable hero. For, indeed, sleeping fully dressed 
 was no new experience to Nick. He had done so 
 many a time before, in the days when he was 
 tramping before he returned to Bellister. 
 
 It was a fine morning. The ground felt frozen 
 under his feet, and there was rime upon the branches 
 of the trees, upon the hanging fronds of the dead 
 bracken, and, indeed, everywhere where snow was 
 not. 
 
 But it was neither the fineness of the day nor 
 the beauty of the frost-world which first attracted 
 Nick's attention ; it was the Laird o' Cockpen and 
 little Viper, who were trotting along, side by side, 
 at the tail of the van. 
 
 The greyhound took no notice of him, but the 
 terrier's greeting was so demonstrative that it told 
 all the rest of the company that the guest of the 
 van was awake, and brought the Laird's master, 
 who had been walking by Matt the Tinker at the 
 horse's head, round to the back of the van. 
 
 " So ye've returned to a knowledge o' the cares o' 
 this weary world, have ye, my lad ? " he said, with 
 a queer smile. "Whisky-land's a braw country, 
 but a bit strange to you, eh ? Hoo did ye like 
 yer trip ? Ye've been awa' a langish time."
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. - I/ 1 
 
 Nick looked at the speaker, and grew red, partly 
 with shame, partly with the tingling sense of ridi- 
 cule which he could not wholly understand. The 
 thought of Tramping Sal and the difficulties into 
 which her fondness for spirits was always bringing 
 her, came up before him, filling him with disgust 
 and fear. Was it to be, as Mrs. Ridley was wont 
 to say, " like mother, like bairn," after all ? 
 
 " Ye diven't mean to say that I was " he 
 began ; but Greyhound Geordie interrupted him. 
 
 " Nay, nay, my lad," he said, observing that 
 Nick hesitated over the word ; " not quite sae 
 far as that. But there, niver heed ! We're used 
 to sick travelling and think nowt on't. Ye'll tak' 
 a bit o' breakfast ? " 
 
 But Nick's healthy appetite of the day before 
 had deserted him for the time, and he declined. 
 
 "Thank ye kindly, maister," he said. "Ye've 
 done overmuch for me arlready, since I canna get 
 out o' yer debt. Me and the dog'll be gannin'." 
 
 " Where ? Nay, ye telt me nobbut yesterday 
 ye didn't ken where ye wanted to be. We're 
 movin' on, aren't we ? Why not gan wi' us ? " Then 
 noticing that Nick hesitated, he went on : " Ye say 
 ye're wantin' to be oot o' my debt ? Well, if ye'll 
 bide till to-morrow, onyhow, I've a bit business on 
 hand ye might help me with. Pete's, whiles, on- 
 reliable. Now will ye bide ? " 
 
 Only one answer seemed possible to this pro- 
 posal, and, in no wise loth, Nick gave it. He 
 spent the day travelling slowly along with his new
 
 1/2 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 companions at the chosen pace of " Miller," the 
 old white horse. They camped by the roadside at 
 dinner-time, took a nap by turns inside the van 
 in the afternoon, and, by sunset, found themselves 
 well across the Border, and within sight of a large 
 village Langburn. 
 
 Mrs. Matt, who had been much occupied during 
 the day with the pale-faced child, who had caught 
 a chill and was heavy and feverish, came timidly 
 up to Nick as the van was brought to a standstill 
 within the shelter of an old quarry by the road- 
 side. 
 
 " Lad," she said hurriedly, looking all the while 
 not at Nick but towards her husband and son, who, 
 under the directions of Greyhound Geordie, were 
 unloosing the Miller and preparing the night's en- 
 campment, "ye've a natur'ly face, and ye did me 
 a good turn last neet, sae I think I can ask ye. 
 Wad ye slip through to yonder village and bring 
 me a bottle o' doctor's stuff for the bairn ? It's 
 shiverin' and chookin' wi' t' cauld, and I canna 
 leave 't, let alone the supper." 
 
 Nick undertook the errand at once, though he 
 wondered a little why he, the stranger, should be 
 employed instead of the father or brother of the 
 sick child. 
 
 " Slip off roond here and cut across t' fields," 
 the woman went on, as she handed him the money 
 for the medicine. " Be as sharp as ye can ; and, 
 mebbe, ye winna be missed. If they ask for ye, 
 I'll say ye're gatherin' sticks for t' fire. Be sure ye
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. 1/3 
 
 get back before supper's ready, or there'll be the 
 mischief to pay ; and it'll be me that'll have to pay 
 for it, I reckon," she added under her breath. 
 
 Nick turned away, wondering a good deal more 
 respecting the need of so much caution and secresy ; 
 but, hardly had he turned the corner of the quarry, 
 and was hidden from the van by a clump of tall 
 Scotch firs, than he felt the hand of the tinker's 
 wife upon his arm. 
 
 "Lad," she whispered, "ye needna be tellin' 
 folks whae t' bottle's for. Just ask at t' shop for 
 some stuff for a badly bairn, and bring it reet 
 back here." 
 
 It was on the tip of the lad's tongue to ask 
 " Why ? " but before he could put the question 
 Mrs. Matt had glided away as noiselessly as she 
 had come. 
 
 " Mebbe it's nobbut that man o' hers she's flayed 
 on," said the lad to himself, after a few minutes 
 spent in wondering. " He has the look o' an ugly 
 customer, and his son, and arl. If it wasn't for t' 
 auld chap I wadn't bide ; but he's kind baith to 
 man and beast. I wish she had't sent me to the 
 village, though. If she did but ken, /'se the yan 
 whae has cause to lie close. But it's gettin' dark, 
 and, mebbe, I'll not be notished. Viper, my lass, 
 thoo maun bide here till I come back." 
 
 He made a sign to the terrier, who had followed 
 him, to stay inside the gate leading from the fields 
 which he had crossed into the high-road. The dog 
 obeyed, but with reluctance. She sat down on the
 
 174 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 frozen grass, shivering, as much with vexation as 
 with cold, her brown eyes anxiously following her 
 master, as he opened and shut the gate, and walked 
 rapidly away towards the village. 
 
 Nick was not long in reaching this. It was a 
 fair-sized place, and contained more than one shop 
 where the miscellanies of daily life could be 
 bought. 
 
 He stood for some time outside the one in whose 
 window various bottles of coloured glass gave 
 promise of medicines to be found within. Now 
 that he was again in the haunts of men, the fear of 
 what he had done and what it might bring on him, 
 which he had managed to keep at bay, came 
 strongly over him, and he felt afraid to show 
 himself in the lighted shop. He looked over his 
 shoulder, saw several loungers in front of the op- 
 posite public-house eying him curiously, and for a 
 moment was strongly tempted to run. But, second 
 thoughts showing him the folly of such a course, 
 he entered the shop and asked for the medicine. 
 
 The old man who was serving was very deaf, 
 and had many questions to put concerning the ail- 
 ments of the child for whom he was to prescribe ; 
 and Nick, to his dismay, found himself obliged to 
 shout his answers into the old man's ears so loudly 
 that they reached perforce many other pairs for 
 whom they were not intended. 
 
 Moreover, as it unluckily happened, the answers 
 were of such a nature as to arouse both attention 
 and amusement in the idle listeners both inside
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. 1 75 
 
 and out. For Nick had neglected to inform him- 
 self particularly as to the child's symptoms, and 
 the scanty information which its mother had given, 
 had, as has often happened to boys before, gone in 
 at one ear and out at another, leaving but a faint 
 impression behind it. 
 
 " Hoo can I be expected to supply pheesic for a 
 body when I dinna ken either their yage or their 
 badness ? " asked the old chemist testily, speaking 
 with the Scottish accent, which, like the pattern of 
 a Paisley shawl, is nowhere more strongly marked 
 than on the Border. " It's an auld body, I think 
 ye said ? " 
 
 " Nay," answered Nick, in the equally broad 
 accent of his own side, " it's a bairn." 
 
 " A bairn ? What for couldna ye no say sae 
 suner, laddie ? " was the querulous remark. " And 
 what yage micht the bairn be ? " 
 
 " I canna say," answered Nick, feebly. 
 
 " Hum ! And is it a laddie or a lassie ? " 
 
 Nick shook his head still more feebly, for on 
 this point he was in the darkest ignorance. 
 
 " Heard ye iver sich a thing ! " muttered the old 
 chemist, turning to the two or three customers who 
 had been getting served aj; the opposite counter, 
 which was devoted to journalism, stationery, and 
 postage stamps, and who now stood listening to 
 the altercation. " Here's a laddie wantin' pheesic 
 for a bairn he kens naethin' aboot ! I'd wager a 
 baubie he d isn't even ken what ails it ! Eh, my 
 lad ? " he went on, turning again to his embarrassed
 
 176 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 customer. " Can ye tell me, mebbe, what's the 
 nature o' the seckness ? " 
 
 " I think I think," faltered Nick, " it's well, I 
 diven't just ken the reet name, but it's what bairns 
 uiaistly hez. Ye ought to ken better nor me." 
 
 " Better ? Hear till the laddie ? Hae I seen the 
 bairn in question, if I may speer o' ye ? (Mebbe 
 he'll no ken sae mickle as that ! ") This later was 
 meant as an aside to the audience. But, un- 
 fortunately, actors as well as audience hear the 
 asides. 
 
 Nick turned red ; his temper was rising. 
 
 " I'm nowther a chemist nor a doctor. But if I 
 were, I'd mak' it my business to ken what's best 
 for bairns when they're bad, without seein' them," 
 he answered loftily. 
 
 The other customers laughed. 
 
 " There's ane for ye, Maister Scott ! " said one of 
 them. " See here, laddie," he went on, addressing 
 himself to Nick. " Has the bairn a reed rash ? " 
 
 " I diven't think't," answered Nick, feeling as 
 though his schooldays had returned, and he were 
 again in the clutches of the inspector. " It's white- 
 like, onyhoo." 
 
 " Then it's neither the measles nor the scarlet- 
 fever," answered his new interrogator. " Dis it 
 crow like a cock, or bray like a cuddy (donkey) ? " 
 
 " Nay, nowther the t' yan or the t' ither." 
 
 " Then it isna the croop nor the king-cough. Has 
 it ony host (cough) at a' ? Dis it wheeze like a bit 
 chicken wi' the roup ? "
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. 1 77 
 
 " Ay, I think that's it ! " answered Nick, brighten- 
 ing up. 
 
 The catechist did not exactly say, "Go to the 
 top of the class, my lad," but he did what came to 
 the same thing. He slapped Nick on the back, 
 and chuckled gleefully. 
 
 "Then the bairn's caulded, that's what it is. 
 Trust a fayther o' aucht to ken. A bottle o' stuff 
 for a bairn wi' a cauld, Maister Scott," he went on, 
 bawling the last words into the old chemist's ear in 
 such a voice that the information was heard right 
 across the street, and a voice called out from the 
 opposite public-house, "Whilk o' yer farmily is it 
 this time, Wattie Wilson ? They'll be the ruin o' 
 ye, at this rate ! " 
 
 " It's nane o' mine ; they're a' brawly ! " shouted 
 the big-voiced man in return. "And as for ruin it 
 isna always bairns that's wanted to bring that, Rob 
 Richieson. The whusky's a deal mair expensive to 
 keep, and sae I tell ye." 
 
 There was a loud laugh in return, and when it 
 had subsided Nick spoke. 
 
 He had observed that the chemist was looking 
 first at a bottle and then at him, and the obser- 
 vation made him uneasy. 
 
 " I'll thank ye to gie me t' bottle and let me 
 gan," he said. 
 
 " What priced bottle did ye say ? " asked the old 
 man, putting his hand to his ear. 
 
 For answer Nick took out the sixpence which 
 Mrs. Matt had given him, and laid it on the counter. 
 
 N
 
 i;8 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The chemist's blank face lighted up, his eyes 
 twinkled. Tearing off a piece of newspaper he 
 rapidly folded it round a bottle, and handed it 
 across to his customer. 
 
 " Laddie," he said, in quite a different voice, 
 "gin ye'd let me see that saxpence a wee bittie 
 sooner, I'd hae kent what ye wanted at once, wi'out 
 sae mickle explanation. Gin ye've been keepit 
 waitin', the blame's no mine'' 
 
 "'Deed, but we micht hae kent that if we'd 
 thought on ! " laughed the big-voiced family-man. 
 " There's a deal o' information lies in a bit o' siller 
 to a clever mon like ye, Maister Scott. Weel, 
 guid e'en to ye, my callant, and guid betterment 
 to the wee'n ! " 
 
 The latter sentence was bawled out after Nick, 
 who, utterly out of patience, and full of uneasiness 
 at the observation which he had so unwillingly 
 attracted, had snatched at his bottle and hurried 
 out of the shop. 
 
 Many eyes were upon him as he passed the 
 village public and went down the street. He felt 
 them even in his back. It was most unfortunate 
 to have become such a centre of observation, and 
 Nick did anything but bless Mrs. Matt, her sick 
 child, and the medicine-bottle for the unwelcome 
 notoriety they had brought him. 
 
 Suppose the news of what he had done should 
 have already reached this out-of-the-way village ? 
 If Teddy were dead it might easily have done so, 
 for the news of man-slaying (Nick refused to give
 
 MEDICAL ADVICE. 1/9 
 
 it a worse name) quickly spreads, and the slayer is 
 always "wanted." For all he knew, a full descrip- 
 tion of his person might be already in every paper. 
 What if these village folk should recognize and 
 follow him ? The mere idea was enough to lend 
 wings to Nick's feet, as he sped down the road 
 towards the gate where he had left Viper ; nor did 
 the thought of the trouble into which he might get 
 if he were missed at the van make the state of his 
 mind the easier. 
 
 As he stopped to open the gate, which was a high 
 one and spiked at the top, he heard Viper's welcom- 
 ing note and the rapping of her tail against the 
 ground on the other side. But these were not the 
 only sounds which he heard. Distinctly upon his 
 ears there came the thid-thud of feet coming rapidly 
 down the frozen road. 
 
 Neither the height of the gate nor the spikes 
 a-top were obstacles to Nick after that. Finding 
 it did not open easily he ceased to try, and scram- 
 bling over he hardly knew how, found himself, a 
 minute later, crouching, with Viper between his 
 knees, under the hedge inside. 
 
 His heart beat so loudly that it seemed to him 
 that its pit-a-pat must, surely, betray him, and he 
 listened to the approaching steps in an agony of 
 fear lest they should stop at the gate. 
 
 But no, a moment later they went by, and, in the 
 clear frosty starlight, Nick could see, as he peered 
 through a chink in the hedge, the village postman 
 trudging along with the night-mail upon his back.
 
 I So UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Truly, conscience makes cowards of us all ! 
 
 Reassured and greatly relieved, Nick scrambled 
 to his feet, and, followed by his faithful friend, made 
 the best of his way back to the van. 
 
 When he got there Mrs. Matt was in the act of 
 trying to lift the big black cauldron from off the 
 fire. None of the men were offering to help her. 
 Indeed, only her husband and Greyhound Geordie 
 were there. The former was sitting on a stone by 
 the fire, smoking. The latter was at the back of 
 the van, rubbing down the Laird, who had, evidently, 
 been out hunting, and was covered with snow. Pete 
 was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 Nick went up at once to the fire, and gave his 
 help with the heavy pot, as he had done the night 
 before. 
 
 " Well, hast a getten 't ? " asked the woman in a 
 whisper, as together they set down the big cauldron 
 at some distance from her husband. 
 
 " Ay," answered the lad, " I have 't in my pooch." 
 
 " Give it here," said the woman, quickly ; and it 
 was transferred from Nick's pocket to her own. 
 
 " Ye've been lang," she went on, still in the same 
 cautious whisper, as he helped her to get out the 
 basins and spoon from within the van. " I've had 
 to mak' a fine stowry aboot ye to keep 'em quiet. 
 Ye saw some fine big branches a bit further down 
 t' road we cam' by, I telt them, and ye're gone 
 back to fetch them. I've put ye some ahint that 
 tree there. Ye'd better fetch them out." 
 
 " But, mistress, what for cannot I speak t' treuth ? "
 
 THE LAIRD O' COCKPEN. l8l 
 
 asked Nick. " Surely there's nae blame in fetching 
 a bottle for the bairn ? I've nae cracter to keep 
 up, I ken that, but I've niver been used to leein'." 
 
 " Then ye'll hev to get used, if ye bide vvi' us," 
 answered the woman, shortly, but as she said it she 
 sighed. "If ye tak' my advice, lad, ye'll not bide 
 over lang." 
 
 Nick would have liked to ask her what she 
 meant ; but, at this moment, Greyhound Geordie's 
 voice was heard calling for his supper, and, leaving 
 Nick to fetch his branches, Mrs. Matt hurried to 
 the fire with the spoons and basins. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE LAIRD O* COCKPEX. 
 
 " LAD," said Mrs. Matt to Nick, who, having re- 
 fused a share of the spirits the night before, was 
 early astir, and was helping his hostess to light 
 the fire and prepare breakfast "Lad, have ye 
 hed ony schoolin' ? " 
 
 "Ay," he answered, feeling surprised, as he 
 usually did, when Mrs. Matt said anything to him. 
 " Why ? " 
 
 She drew a piece of crumpled paper from her 
 pocket, smoothed out the creases upon her knee, 
 and, after a careful glance at the van, handed it to 
 Nick. 
 
 The pair were alone, for the other three men
 
 1 82 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 were all inside, and fast asleep. Pete, who had 
 not returned till late, the evening before, was snor- 
 ing loudly. 
 
 Nick looked at the paper. It had, evidently, been 
 torn from some weekly journal ; he could see as 
 much as that from the printing in large letters at 
 the top of the page. 
 
 " Well ? " he asked, and looked at Mrs. Matt. 
 
 Her face showed nervousness, but her voice was 
 pretty well under control as she said 
 
 " I heven't seen a paper this lang while, and 
 I'm wishin' to hear if there's ony news. This was 
 wrapped round the bottle ye brought last neet. 
 I canna mak' oot mair nor a word or twae, for I've 
 hed little larnin'. Will ye read it to me ? This is 
 the bit I've been tryin' to spell oot, but I can mak' 
 but little on't. Ye might begin here." 
 
 She laid her finger upon an advertisement, and 
 Nick observed that it shook. 
 
 " Ye're cauld, missus," he said ; " let's set a light 
 to t' fire, and then 
 
 " Nay," she said imperiously ; " read first." 
 
 And Nick obeyed. 
 
 The side of the paper which was turned upwards 
 was covered with advertisements. The one indicated 
 ran as follows : 
 
 "Wanted a traveller for the Cart, Carriage, and 
 Van trade. Must not be more than fifty years of 
 age. Character and experience required. Apply 
 to Elliott, Grant, & Co., Cart and Carriage-Builders, 
 Hexham."
 
 THE LAIRD O' COCKPEN. 183 
 
 Having read this out in slow, laboured fashion, 
 for Nick had forgotten a good deal of the schooling 
 he had got with Teddy and Meg, he looked up at 
 Mrs. Matt and asked with a smile 
 
 " Did ye think that wad suit ye, mistress ? " He 
 kept his eyes on her face after he had spoken, for 
 something in her expression struck him. Some 
 load seemed removed from her mind. 
 
 "Nay," she answered, with the first smile he 
 had seen on her face. "But, mebbe, it might do 
 for Matt. Are ye sure that's arl it says, lad ? " 
 The anxiety was back in her eyes for a moment. 
 
 " Ay," answered Nick ; " that's arl." 
 
 "It was the van caught my eye," explained Mrs. 
 Matt "that and the names. Elliott and Grant 
 will be the men who make the vans and things, 
 likely ? " 
 
 "Ay," answered Nick again, wondering why she 
 should care to know. 
 
 " And there's nothin' else aboot them, is there ? " 
 asked the woman again, " nor nothin' mair about 
 about vans ? Both Matt and Pete has experience 
 in driviri them, onyhow," she added, with a queer 
 little attempt at a laugh. 
 
 Nick looked down the page. 
 
 "Nay, missus," he said promptly, "there's nowt 
 forbye that. Here's somebody wantin' a smith and 
 another a ploughman ; and ever sae mony want 
 servant-lasses. But that's the only advertisement 
 aboot vans." 
 
 " Look if there's ony mair, t' other side," said
 
 1 84 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Mrs. Matt again. "I diven't think't. But I'm 
 nae scholar, as I tell ye, and I'd like to feel 
 sure." 
 
 " There's news, this side," answered Nick, turning 
 the paper, "and ye said at first it was news ye 
 wanted. Shall I read it tiv ye, mistress ? I'm 
 sorry I canna gan quicker." 
 
 " Nay," she said hastily ; " I've nae time for the 
 news at present. It can keep. There's t' break- 
 fast to see to now. Put t' paper in yer pocket, 
 and we'll look at it later. There's enough for t' 
 fire here." 
 
 She began to stuff some whitey-brown paper 
 under the sticks which she had built up where the 
 fire had been the night before, and, kneeling down 
 before the pile, set a light to it, and cautiously 
 blew the mounting flame. 
 
 "Ye might seek a few more sticks, laddie," 
 she said, without lifting her head between the 
 puffs. 
 
 But Nick did not stir. Glancing over the paper 
 he held, he had come upon a paragraph which 
 riveted his attention, so that he did not so much 
 as hear what Mrs. Matt said. 
 
 BRUTAL ASSAULT NEAR THE ROMAN WALL (this is what 
 he was reading, the blood throbbing so heavily in his heart 
 and brain as to set the letters dancing before him). " On 
 the morning of the soth inst., as James Graham, shepherd, 
 was out on the moors to the north of Haltwhistle, his atten- 
 tion was attracted to a shielding near the Wall by the strange 
 behaviour of his dog. Thinking some sheep might have
 
 THE LAIRD O' COCKPEN. lS$ 
 
 strayed in and be in need of assistance, Mr. Graham made 
 his way into the enclosure, and was shocked to find a youth 
 lying there, bleeding profusely, and quite insensible. There 
 were marks of a struggle on the ground in the neighbourhood, 
 and the unfortunate youth had, evidently, received a blow 
 on the head from some heavy weapon. Help was procured, 
 and the young man, who it transpires is a son of Mr. John 
 Ridley of Bellister, was conveyed to his home. Drs. Shield 
 and Billow are in attendance, but it is greatly feared that 
 the poor young fellow will succumb to his injuries, which 
 are of the gravest character. He has not yet recovered 
 consciousness, and, consequently, has not been in a condition 
 to give any information as to the assault. But there is reason 
 to believe that the abandoned author of this most dastardly 
 outrage is none other than a farm-servant, lately in Mr. 
 Ridley's employ, whom he was obliged to dismiss summarily 
 for stealing. Should this prove to be the case, the fact that 
 this abandoned young criminal was taken by Mr. Ridley 
 into his family at a very early age, and treated as one of 
 his own children, adds the ingredient of the most heartless 
 ingratitude to a crime already sufficiently atrocious, and 
 which, if traced home to this youth, will undoubtedly bring 
 upon him the utmost rigour of the law. The lad in question 
 has not been seen since his dismissal, which occurred on 
 the day previous to the finding of his young master in the 
 condition previously stated ; but the police are making in- 
 quiries which, it is hoped, will speedily lead to " 
 
 Here the paper was torn off, and Nick could 
 read no further. 
 
 Even had there been more, however, it is doubt- 
 ful whether he would have been able to read it, 
 just then. To get even as far as this had been a 
 matter of difficulty, not only on account of the 
 long newspaper words, many of which he had had 
 to "skip and go on," according to the well-worn
 
 1 86 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 recipe, but from a hindrance which could not be 
 so easily got over. 
 
 This was the state of overmastering fear into 
 which the account had thrown him. His whole 
 being was in a ferment ; and, as he sat there, staring 
 at the paper which he had ceased to read, he was 
 utterly unconscious of his surroundings. The quarry, 
 the van, "the Miller," nay, even the crackling fire, 
 which, under Mrs. Matt's improvised bellows, was 
 blazing up right in front of him, had vanished away. 
 In their place he saw only a stretch of rolling moor- 
 land, a broken wall, and a face white in the moon- 
 light. 
 
 " Come, lad, hast gone to sleep again ? Where 
 are them sticks ? " said Mrs. Matt's voice, and she 
 laid a grimy hand upon his shoulder and shook 
 him gently. 
 
 Nick started, and stared at her. 
 
 " Ay, the sticks the sticks I say, lad ! Diven't 
 ye hear me ? I thought ye'd gone lang since. T' 
 fire '11 be doon again directly if ye dinna look sharp, 
 and I hear oor folks stirrin' arlready. They diven't 
 like to be keept waitin' on their breakfas'." 
 
 Mrs. Matt spoke in an unusually sharp tone, and 
 this brought Nick to his senses, as gentler treat- 
 ment might have failed to do. Thrusting the paper 
 into his pocket, he went off in the direction pointed 
 out by the tinker's wife, in search of the fuel re- 
 quired. The active employment and the quiet 
 around him served to steady his nerves and bring 
 him into a condition of mind and body less likely
 
 THE LAIRD O* COCKPEN. l8/ 
 
 to betray his fears to those in whose company he 
 was travelling. 
 
 He reflected that he was more likely to escape 
 the notice of the police with his present companions 
 than if he were travelling alone ; and the cautious 
 manner in which the party avoided large towns and 
 encamped in lonely places could not have suited him 
 better. 
 
 If only he could get the opportunity of changing 
 his clothes for another suit, he thought he might 
 remain undiscovered. 
 
 One fact he had learned which gave him the 
 greatest relief. Teddy had not been killed outright. 
 Youth is proverbially hopeful, and as, according 
 to the paper, the boy was still alive, Nick made 
 sure that he would live, and his sense of guilt was 
 proportionately lessened. 
 
 His first care at present was to control himself 
 sufficiently to avoid self-betrayal ; and this, notwith- 
 standing a white face and a shaking hand, he 
 contrived to do when he returned to the encamp- 
 ment with his sticks. 
 
 The men of the party had, by this time, made 
 their appearance, and were performing such toilet 
 as each felt to be necessary, in front of the fire. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie, indeed, had smartened himself 
 up considerably. Instead of the shabby suit in 
 which Nick had first seen him, he had donned some 
 spick-and-span clothes of checked tweed, and a 
 Tam-o'-Shanter with a red tassel and a tartan band. 
 He looked more "sporting" than ever, as he stood
 
 1 88 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 there, combing out his whiskers with a pocket-comb, 
 while " the Laird," also clad in a new jacket, and 
 brushed till his glossy black coat shone like new 
 satin, sat at his feet, blinking at the fire. 
 
 " Nick, my lad," said the greyhound's master, ad- 
 dressing the boy as he came up with his arms full 
 of fuel, " get yer porridge, and then fettle yersel' up 
 a bit. You and I are goin' off for the day." 
 
 Nick felt considerably dismayed by this announce- 
 ment, and would much have liked to ask " where ? " 
 before giving his consent. But this seemed taken 
 for granted, and, remembering that he had rashly 
 promised his help to Geordie the day before, he 
 thought it safest to make no objection. 
 
 Accordingly, when the porridge and milk had 
 been swallowed, Nick went to the neighbouring 
 stream to wash his hands and face, and then 
 made use of the "reddin'-keam," which, as in 
 Bellister back kitchen, hung behind the door of 
 the van. 
 
 The white-faced child was lying on its shake- 
 down on the floor, staring up at the roof with 
 watery blue eyes, and, as Nick's friend of the 
 evening before had described it, "wheezing like a 
 chicken wi' the roup." 
 
 "But she's a deal better, is the bairn, thanks to 
 ye," whispered Mrs. Matt, who was preparing to 
 administer a spoonful of "the bottle," and the poor 
 woman's grateful look went to Nick's heart, full 
 though it was of his own troubles. 
 
 "Ye might as weel leave yon tyke o' yours
 
 THE LAIRD O* COCKPEX. 189 
 
 \vi' me while ye're awa'," said Pete, as our friend 
 came out of the van. " Moother wants a few 
 rabbits for the pot, and she'll, mebbe, help me to 
 get them." 
 
 Nick was about to object, but Greyhound Geordie 
 cut him short. 
 
 " Ay, she'd best be left," he said ; " she'd nobbut 
 be in t' way. I want ye to help me with the Laird. 
 Come, it's time we were off. Ye ken the spot we're 
 to meet at, Matt, eh ? " 
 
 The brown-bearded man nodded, and Geordie and 
 his companion moved off, with the Laird stalking 
 behind them. 
 
 Little Viper looked appealingly at her master, 
 who had made her a sign to remain. She quivered 
 all over with eagerness to follow, and her brown 
 eyes grew sad and wistful as she watched him dis- 
 appear. But her obedience was stronger than her 
 desires ; and, though her tail dropped lower and 
 lower, she remained heroically at her post. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie seemed in a good humour. 
 He whistled a few bars of an air he was specially 
 fond of, and in honour of which the Laird o' Cock- 
 pen had received his name. He was still whistling 
 the same bars over and over again, for somehow 
 he never seemed able to compass the whole, when 
 he and his companion left the lane along which 
 they had been walking and entered the high- 
 road. 
 
 Nick had a moment's anxiety lest their destina- 
 tion should be the village where he had been on
 
 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 the evening before. But Geordie soon set this at 
 rest by turning in the opposite direction. 
 
 Tiring at length of "The Laird o" Cockpen" 
 not the dog, of course, but the song so called 
 the greyhound's master seemed to recollect 
 that he had a human companion, and began to 
 speak. 
 
 " Now then, laddie," he said, just as though he 
 had been speaking all the time, " ye'll mind what I 
 say, and be vara exact ? The Laird's over-precious 
 to be trifled with, and he's vara sensitive to the 
 cauld. Ye understand ? " 
 
 Nick certainly did not ; his face said as much. 
 But whether it was really his companion's fault, or 
 that of his own preoccupied mind, he could not 
 
 tell. 
 
 " There ye gan ! " exclaimed the man, half 
 testily, half whimsically. "Ye're arl alike, ye 
 lads niver can listen to what a body says ! I 
 micht hearlings as weel ha' ta'en Pete. What 
 is't yer sayin' ? Never telt ye ? Come now, ye 
 winnot catch Greyhound Geordie nappin'. He's 
 arlways wide awake over-wide for some folks, 
 mebbe. Eh?" 
 
 He chuckled, and the thought he was chuckling 
 over seemed to sweep away the little mist of ill- 
 humour. 
 
 " Well, niver mind, my lad, just attend now, and 
 it'll be arl reet. This is oor programme. Aboot 
 a mile from here we'll come to a pit-village, where 
 the Laird and me hez a few calls to pay. You'll
 
 THE LAIRD O* COCKPEN. IQI 
 
 wait outside, in a cattle-shed I'll show you, till we 
 come back. When we do, I'll be bringin' a young 
 dog along wi' me. He's a son o' the Laird's, and 
 a promising chip o' t' auld block, too. Me and his 
 faither hez a lesson to gie him i' t' coursin' line, 
 ye ken for his owner wants him entered for the 
 spring meetin's. Weel, we'll gie him a bit run, 
 and then his maister'll tak' him heame. After that 
 I've an errand to do in a toon over there" he 
 pointed to where, over a line of hills, a little mist 
 of smoke rose into the frosty air. " I'll gan mesel', 
 and ye can follow wi' t' Laird, keepin' movin' sae 
 as not to let him ketch a chill. Ye'll come as far 
 as the toll-gate, and then, if ye see nowt on me 
 there, skirt the toon to the gate, t' other side, and 
 ask the mistress whae keeps it to let ye and t' 
 Laird sit by her fire till I come. Ye understand ? 
 Mind I canna hae mistakes ; sae if ye're not clear, 
 I'll say it ower again." 
 
 But Nick had no need of that, and the first 
 part of the programme was carried out without a 
 hitch.
 
 192 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 AN ANGEL AND A STAR. 
 
 IT was about five o'clock, so far as Nick could 
 judge ; at any rate the sun had set, and twilight 
 was beginning to fall when he and his charge 
 reached the first gate-house of the town to which 
 Greyhound Geordie had directed him. 
 
 What the town was called he did not know, for 
 his employer had omitted to add this little item 
 of information, and Nick had been too indifferent 
 to ask him. His mind was still busy with his own 
 concerns, and it required an effort to give his atten- 
 tion to anything else. 
 
 There were some posters on the walls near the 
 toll-gate, and he felt his heart beating again with 
 unaccustomed rapidity as he scanned them closely 
 in the gathering twilight. But there was nothing 
 to alarm him in their blus-and-white and black- 
 and-yellow announcements, and he soon ceased to 
 trouble about them. 
 
 It grew darker, and as nothing could be seen of 
 Geordie, and the greyhound was beginning to shiver 
 through all his delicate limbs, Nick set about 
 carrying out the remainder of the directions which 
 he had received. 
 
 In the dark, however, he took a wrong turning,
 
 AN ANGEL AND A STAR. 193 
 
 which, instead of leading him round the town, took 
 him into one of the inferior streets of the out- 
 skirts. 
 
 Here a second-hand clothes-shop, with rows of 
 half-worn garments of all sorts hanging outside 
 the lighted window, attracted his attention. 
 
 So far as he could see, many of them seemed no 
 better than his own. Suppose he were to go in 
 and try to effect an exchange ? 
 
 The opportunity seemed too good to be lost. 
 Summoning up his courage Nick went in, taking 
 the Laird with him. 
 
 The shopkeeper was an elderly Jew, as old 
 clothesmen usually are, and he eyed the lad sharply 
 as he entered. 
 
 " Well, young gent," he said sarcastically, " how 
 can I serve you ? " 
 
 Nick asked to look at some second-hand suits 
 from among those he had noticed as likely to serve 
 his purpose, and selected a set of velveteens, which 
 had apparently belonged to some gamekeeper in 
 happier days and had seen hard service. 
 
 " Will ye give me these in exchange for my own ? " 
 he asked. "They're not that bad, but they're a 
 bit tight for me." 
 
 The lad reddened as he gave the reason, feeling 
 that though true in one sense it was not so in 
 another. 
 
 The Jew's disagreeable mouth screwed itself up 
 in a smile still more disagreeable than its usual 
 expression. 
 
 O
 
 194 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Tight for ye ? " he said. " Ye'rc in a tight 
 place, ye mean. Eh ? " 
 
 Nick felt himself wishing that he had stayed 
 outside this place, at any rate. But, meantime, the 
 Jew's eyes, sharp at a bargain, were noting the 
 merits of Teddy's old suit. 
 
 " How much is there of it ? " he asked in a more 
 business-like tone. 
 
 " How much ? " repeated Nick, failing to under- 
 stand. 
 
 "Ay. How many pieces? Jacket and trousers 
 only, or waistcoat as well ? " 
 
 " Ay, there's a waistcut." 
 
 Nick took off the jacket that the tradesman 
 might see. 
 
 The Jew examined it closely, then he made the 
 boy turn round that he might inspect the other 
 articles also. 
 
 "Throw half a crown in, and it's a bargain," he 
 said presently. 
 
 "But I have nae money. Besides, that suit of 
 yours wants the waistcoat, and I'm ready to throw 
 mine in." 
 
 "Can't be done." 
 
 Nick's heart sank ; but, as there seemed no help 
 for it, he was putting on his jacket again, when the 
 old clothesman said, looking at the Laird 
 
 " That's a fine dog. Yours ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " If it had been, your pockets would have been 
 better lined, eh ? Well, I don't want to be hard
 
 AN ANGEL AND A STAR. 195 
 
 on ye, my lad. If my suit 'ill fit ye better, ye can 
 leave yours. I shall lose by the exhange, I doubt ; 
 but there's a blessing on him that considereth the 
 poor and needy. Now then ! " 
 
 He helped Nick to doff his tweeds and don his 
 velveteens, and, when the exchange was effected, 
 though the fit was better, it was easy to see who 
 was the gainer by the transaction, so far as appear- 
 ances went. 
 
 The gamekeeper, it seemed, had had a thrifty 
 wife, for the patches were many and the good 
 portions of the garments but few. However, Nick 
 felt his heart easier, as he left the shop and Teddy's 
 cast-offs behind him, and walked down the street 
 with a view to striking the road which skirted the 
 town. 
 
 He was passing what looked like a money- 
 changer's and pawnbroker's, when the Laird sud- 
 denly put his elegant nose in the air, sniffed, and 
 tugged at his leash to go towards the door. 
 
 Nick pulled him back, but the dog's movements 
 had brought him close to the window of the shop, 
 and, being anxious to know what the Laird's attrac- 
 tion could be, he looked in. 
 
 What he saw, while explaining the greyhound's 
 conduct, awakened the curiosity of the boy still 
 further. 
 
 A man was standing at the counter with a wash- 
 leather bag in his hand, of the sort used to contain 
 money. The string which bound the neck was 
 undone, and the man was in the act of taking out
 
 196 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 a broad piece of gold and handing it across the 
 counter to the money-changer. 
 
 Though the man's back was towards the window, 
 Nick could not for a moment mistake him. It 
 was Greyhound Geordie himself. But it was the 
 piece of gold now in the money-changer's hand 
 which riveted Nick's attention most of all. 
 
 The man who held it was examining it closely, 
 turning it first to one side, then to the other, rub- 
 bing it, trying the edge. A jet of gas burnt over 
 his head, and close to this he was holding the coin, 
 to get all the light on the subject he could. 
 
 The examination was long, and the watcher out- 
 side the window was able to study the coin as well, 
 if less closely at least as attentively, as the money- 
 changer. 
 
 It was a handsome piece of gold, bearing on one 
 side the figure of an angel treading on a dragon, 
 and Nick saw with amazement that it was, if not 
 one of the same, at any rate exactly similar to the 
 coins he and Meggie had found in Bellister Castle. 
 
 The blood tingled in his veins and throbbed in 
 his brain as he looked, and the question rose in his 
 mind : How did it come into Greyhound Geordie's 
 possession ? 
 
 But he had no time even to think of the answer, 
 for, at that moment, the master of the Laird o' 
 Cockpen turned suddenly round, and fearing to be 
 caught spying, Nick dragged the dog away, and 
 plunged down a narrow alley, which, as he judged, 
 would lead him out of the town.
 
 AN ANGEL AND A STAR. IQ/ 
 
 The Laird was very unwilling to leave the place 
 where he had seen his master, and Nick's progress 
 was, consequently, slow. But, by dint of coaxing 
 and dragging, he managed to get the beast along, 
 and he was just leaving the alley for the road which 
 skirted the town when Greyhound Geordie overtook 
 him. 
 
 " Hullo ! " he exclaimed, recognizing Nick imme- 
 diately by the dog, in spite of his change of clothes, 
 which, probably, he did not observe in the dim light. 
 " How come ye here, ye young vagabond ? Didn't 
 I tell ye to keep outside the toon ? " 
 
 "Ay, but I missed my road," answered Nick, 
 somewhat sulkily ; for, though he had been called 
 a vagabond many a time before, he resented the 
 term at the mouth of Greyhound Geordie, who, as 
 it seemed to him, was here in the same boat as 
 himself. 
 
 " Then yer a fool for yer pains if ye didn't miss 
 it a' purpose, that is," the man went on roughly, 
 for he was evidently put out of his usual easy good- 
 humour. " Hey, what's this ? " he continued, taking 
 Nick by his shoulder as they passed a gas-lamp. 
 " Another rig out, eh ? Then ye did miss it a' 
 purpose. Ye'd better ha' said sae at yance. Lees 
 is nae good when they're sure to be found out, and 
 sae I tell ye, young feller ! " 
 
 " Ye may say what ye like, and carl me what ye 
 please ; I'm used to 't," answered the lad, his pas- 
 sionate temper rising. " But leein's not my way, 
 onyhow. I did miss t' road ; and if my clothes
 
 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 were not suitable and I saw a chance to change 
 them in comin' along, there's nae harm done, sae far 
 as I can see, and ye've nae cause to find fault." 
 
 " Eh ? Hear till t' young cock ! He craws loud 
 for yan o' his feather. Eh, Laird ? " was the sar- 
 castic retort ; and then the old man went into one 
 of his chuckles. 
 
 " Weel, weel, lad," he presently resumed, in a 
 more kindly tone, "ye, mebbe, had yer reasons, 
 and we'll say nae mair. Put yer best foot fore- 
 most ; for if Daren't wantin' yer supper, /am, and 
 sae's the Laird, I fancy. Eh, Cockpen ? " 
 
 He patted the dog's head, which the creature was 
 rubbing against his knee as a silent reminder of 
 its presence, and then the three moved on together 
 at a swinging pace. 
 
 The stars had come out and were shining brightly 
 overhead in a frosty sky. The trees showed a 
 network of black branches against a glimmering 
 background of greenish amber, which was fast 
 paling to grey. A great silence was upon the 
 land, and, once they were out of the town, no sound 
 was heard but the beat of their own footsteps upon 
 the frozen road. 
 
 For some time both Greyhound Geordie and 
 Nick walked on in silence. Each was speculating 
 about the other with an uncomfortable feeling of 
 suspicion. 
 
 How came the old man by that coin ? wondered 
 the boy ; and were there others like it in that 
 leather bag he had seen in his possession ? Could
 
 AN ANGEL AND A STAR. 199 
 
 it be that this man, by whose side he was walking 
 and whose meat he had eaten, was, after all, the 
 thief? If so, how great was the wrong which had 
 been done to Teddy ! 
 
 This last thought came before Nick had argued 
 out the questions which preceded it, and with it 
 a sudden rush of anger against his present com- 
 panion. As is often the case with a person whose 
 conscience smites him for a mistake or a sin, he 
 was ready to visit his discomfort on another rather 
 than bear all the weight of it himself. 
 
 After a while, however, with cooler and calmer 
 consideration, he began to see how unlikely was 
 the conclusion he had so hastily jumped to. How 
 could Greyhound Geordie, an utter stranger, have 
 discovered the treasure ? And, even supposing he 
 had done so, how did this account for the iron 
 box which had contained it being found in Teddy 
 Ridley's possession ? 
 
 The whole business was, indeed, a puzzle beyond 
 his power to disentangle ; and at last he wearied of 
 trying. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie, on his side, was wondering 
 what secret Nick possessed that he was so carefully 
 hiding from him. That there was a secret he felt 
 sure. He was too acute and experienced an old 
 stager not to have guessed this at once. That the 
 exchange of clothes had to do with it he knew as 
 well as if Nick had told him, and the heat with 
 which the lad had repelled his imputations only 
 confirmed him in his opinion. In one thing he
 
 20O UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 wronged the lad, as we know ; for, in spite of Nick's 
 denial, he clung to the belief that he had disobeyed 
 his injunctions on purpose by entering the town. 
 
 What he most wanted to know at that moment, 
 however, was whether Nick had tracked him to the 
 money-changer's and had spied upon the private 
 transaction which had taken place there. For 
 reasons of his own he wished that transaction to 
 remain unknown to the rest of his party ; and to 
 think that his plan of escaping the curiosity of 
 Matt and his son by taking a stranger with him, 
 that day, instead of either of them, had, after all, 
 been defeated, would have vexed him more than a 
 little. 
 
 It was with a view to obtaining intelligence on 
 this point that crafty old Geordie began the follow- 
 ing conversation. 
 
 "Hoo did the Laird treat ye when ye were 
 alane wi'm ? " he asked, after covertly observing 
 his companion for some time. 
 
 Nick started. He had been too much absorbed 
 in his own speculations to be aware of the scrutiny 
 he had been undergoing. 
 
 " Oh, weel enough ! " he answered carelessly, when 
 the question had been repeated. 
 
 " Niver saw onybody he kent, eh ? " 
 
 " We met naebody but strangers," answered Nick, 
 only saving himself from the trap his companion 
 had laid for him through unconsciousness of the 
 drift of this question. 
 
 " He's nowther to bind nor to hold when he
 
 AN ANGEL AND A STAR. 2OI 
 
 scents me," remarked Geordie, and watched his 
 companion narrowly the while. 
 
 But Nick was again absorbed in his own specu- 
 lations, and said nothing. 
 
 " D'ye see yon star ? " asked the greyhound's 
 master, presently, after a disappointed shake of 
 the head, pointing to a bright star in one of the 
 constellations, glittering overhead. 
 
 Again the lad looked up. 
 
 " Ay," he said half-absently. 
 
 " D'ye ken what it's called, young chap ? " 
 
 "Nay," was the uninterested answer. 
 
 "Then ye ought to ken, my lad," said the man, 
 in a decided voice. " Now listen to me and I'll 
 tell ye. Ye're not listening, now ! " he went on 
 sharply. 
 
 Nick tried to attend. 
 
 " VVeel," he asked, " what is't ? " 
 
 "It's the Dog-star, that's what it's called," an- 
 swered Geordie. "An auld chap that kent aboot 
 them things, or thongJit he did, telt me yance, that, 
 if a body was born when that star was shinin', he'd 
 have the life of a dog and the death of yan too. 
 I dinna ken if it's true ; but if my moother thought 
 on reetly, and that auld chap telt me correct, / 
 was born under yon star. I've hed a queer sort 
 o' life, and I've always been more partial to dogs 
 than to human bein's," he added meditatively, " sae, 
 mebbe, he's reet." 
 
 He looked attentively at his companion, and 
 then spoke again :
 
 202 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Ye're partial to dogs and arl, as I observe, 
 young chap. Mebbe, ye were born under yon star 
 as weel's me ? " 
 
 Nick reddened. The speaker had touched upon 
 a sensitive point. 
 
 " I dinna ken when or where I was born," he 
 answered with bitterness. "But there! What dis 
 it matter? Naebody wants to keep the birthday 
 o' such as I ! " 
 
 The old man observed him with fresh interest. 
 
 " It matters naething when ye look at it yan way, 
 but a deal if ye tak' 't from anither point o' view," 
 he went on sagely. " There's some folk born under 
 a lucky star unbeknown to theirsel's. These mak' 
 their way in the warld wi'out needin' to fash their 
 heeds aboot their beginnin's. The warld marks the 
 birthdays o' these and writes them wi' reed letters, 
 even if it hez to invent the dates. For sich as these 
 it disn't matter. But ther're ithers, sich as you 
 and me, lad, mebbe, born to an evil inheritance 
 from the cradle upward. Naebody credits us wi' 
 ought that's guid unless we can force them to 
 recognize us as sons o' worthy folk. If ye canna 
 mak' a name for yersel, it's as well to ken yer 
 faither's, and to gar (make) folk remember it. 
 ' Give a dog a bad name and hang it,' ye ken, as 
 the auld saw says. A guid name's a useful badge, 
 whiles. But there ! that's philosophy, young feller, 
 and a bit above yer head, mebbe. I was only 
 thinkin' if ye could trust me wi' yer story we might 
 mak' some useful discoveries. There's a deal in
 
 TWO STRINGS TO THEIR BOW. 203 
 
 the stars that folks who hasn't studied them canna 
 read. Now, / can read them a bit. I've observed 
 them shinfn' mony a neet, and that auld chap I 
 telt ye of put me up to mony a secret. Come, 
 lad, we're all to oursel's, for the Laird disn't count, 
 being no revealer o' secrets. Ye're sore burdened 
 wi' a secret, I can see. Out wi't ! " 
 
 But the crafty old heathen's starry bait was not 
 swallowed as he had expected. 
 
 Neither astrology nor its revelation could " draw " 
 our hero. It was not that he disbelieved in the 
 stars, having learnt no better lore, but he distrusted 
 their expounder. That glimpse through the window 
 of the money-changer's shop had grievously shaken 
 his faith in the integrity of Greyhound Geordie. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 TWO STRINGS TO THEIR BOW. 
 
 IF it had not been for the consciousness of having 
 made for himself an evil reputation, and his fear 
 of the punishment which discovery would bring 
 down upon him, it is probable that Nick would 
 now have been ready to take the advice of Mrs. 
 Matt, and to part with his present company. 
 
 But, as things were, he did not know how to 
 better his position ; and when, on the principle, 
 perhaps, that those who know too much are better
 
 204 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 not lost sight of, Greyhound Geordie offered him 
 his keep in return for such services as he might be 
 able to render, Nick decided to accept. 
 
 What these services were to be the lad did not 
 quite understand. 
 
 " Ye can help Matt wi' the tinkering when there's 
 nowt better to dae," Geordie had said, when he 
 had made the offer ; but, so far as had yet appeared, 
 the old pots and kettles suspended both inside and 
 outside the van, and the soldering-iron and ladle, 
 thrown into a corner, were the only signs of the 
 business professed by the travellers which Nick 
 could discover. 
 
 Had it not been for the rabbit-snaring and hare- 
 hunting which went on whenever it could be done 
 without risk of discovery, it was hard to see how 
 the party earned their living. The pot had to 
 thank the Laird o' Cockpen for more than one 
 savoury hare ; and Pete's snares and Viper's more 
 open exertions provided ,a good store of daily 
 rabbits. 
 
 But the latter would hunt for no one but herself 
 and her master. Nick had found the terrier in 
 dire disgrace with Pete, on the evening of his ex- 
 cursion with Greyhound Geordie. For Viper had 
 absolutely refused to leave the van while her master 
 was away, and no amount of coaxing or beating 
 would induce her to follow the tinker's son. 
 
 Pete, accordingly, had taken a violent dislike to 
 her and she to him. He never missed the oppor- 
 tunity of abusing her, and she retorted with snarls
 
 TWO STRINGS TO THEIR BOW. 205 
 
 and such displays of her sharp white teeth as Nick 
 had never before seen. Viper, indeed, had won for 
 herself a bad name, that day, by her persistent ill- 
 humour, and was looked on henceforth by Pete and 
 his father as an ill-conditioned brute whose presence 
 was only suffered because Greyhound Geordie 
 desired it. 
 
 But kidnapped hares and rabbits which cannot 
 be sold with safety do not account for an unlimited 
 supply of bread, oatmeal, tea, coffee, and cheese, to 
 say nothing of tobacco and whisky, and where the 
 money came from to buy these articles was a puzzle 
 which Nick was long in solving. That the money 
 was there was a fact beyond all doubt. He had 
 himself seen gold in Greyhound Geordie's posses- 
 sion, and more than once he had been sent into 
 the villages after dark with silver in his hand to 
 buy provisions. 
 
 But no one can live an idle life, with plenty to 
 eat and drink, without an income of some kind, 
 and a regular income is not usually possessed by 
 travelling tinkers, whose trade is a matter of no 
 importance, as appeared to be the case with Nick's 
 new friends. 
 
 The only other source of profit of which Nick 
 could think was the Laird o' Cockpen. He knew 
 that dogs like this often bring a fair amount of 
 grist to the mill, and that various of the Bellister 
 pitmen had won more by their dogs' prowess at a 
 coursing-match than by months of their own labour 
 below ground.
 
 206 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 This might account for a good deal, but it did 
 not satisfy him altogether. Nevertheless, in spite 
 of his doubts, the lad felt that he was not in a posi- 
 tion to quarrel with his bread and butter, or even 
 to inquire too closely where it came from. And, 
 moreover, the daily " nightcap " of hot whisky and 
 water which Geordie forced on his protege, " to keep 
 out the cold and drown dull care," as he said, was 
 having its effects. Under its insidious influence the 
 lad ceased to feel ashamed, even when, as often 
 happens with one young and unaccustomed, he 
 forgot what happened for many hours after the 
 glass was emptied. Since this potent spirit could 
 lay the vision of that white face among the heather, 
 which still often haunted his sober hours ; since it 
 served to banish the remembrance of the past and 
 give him courage, even if this were only of the 
 sort called " Dutch," to face the future, what cared 
 he that this spirit was a fiend which, under the 
 guise of friendship, was luring him to ruin ? 
 
 Ruin ! Was he not ruined already ; branded as 
 an outcast, and looked on with scorn by those who 
 called themselves " respectable " ? 
 
 Never since he could remember had he been 
 credited with anything that was good. What 
 mattered it then what he did ? 
 
 Poor Nick ! he had been pushed over the slope 
 of the hill by those who should have known better. 
 Can we blame him altogether if he were fast be- 
 coming reckless as to where he rolled ? But, un- 
 kind as the world is to such unfortunate beings as
 
 TWO STRINGS TO THEIR BOW. 2O/ 
 
 poor Nick, there is One above the world who never 
 allows one of His creatures "to go to the dogs," as 
 the saying is, without giving him a chance to turn 
 round. And this chance was now to be offered 
 to our ragamuffin hero. 
 
 The van usually travelled for a short distance 
 every day when the roads allowed of progress ; 
 but there came a day, when Nick had been with 
 the party for about a week, when a longer halt was 
 made than usual. 
 
 The place chosen was a piece of waste ground 
 covered with whin-bushes, and well riddled with 
 rabbit-holes. A small wood of red-boled Scotch 
 firs sheltered this on two sides. On the third rose 
 a steep hill, and a country road, bordered by high 
 banks topped by thorns and holly-bushes, skirted 
 it on the remaining side. 
 
 A gate from this road led into the little enclosure, 
 and, when the van was driven through this, and 
 drawn up under the shelter of the wood, it could 
 not be seen by any one passing by. In this cosy 
 nook it remained for two nights without moving, 
 nor did Nick see any signs of a change of position 
 when the third evening came. 
 
 It was now February. Milder weather had set 
 in, but there was no rain to make the roads heavy, 
 nor any apparent reason against travelling. The 
 Miller seemed very well satisfied with the arrange- 
 ment. He spent the interval in cropping such 
 blades of fresh grass as had managed to spring up 
 under the snow and were now uncovered by the
 
 208 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 thaw, and in resting his old bones by standing at 
 ease with legs all anyhow and head bent. 
 
 His masters were but little at the encampment 
 during the day. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie and his charge were off on 
 some expedition, as were also Matt and Pete. So 
 far as Nick could make out, it was not in the same 
 direction ; but no official information had been 
 vouchsafed to him as to the movements of his 
 companions. 
 
 " We've arl a bit business to attend to, my lad," 
 the old man said, as he finished his greyhound's 
 toilet, a matter he attended to, as a rule, much more 
 scrupulously than his own. " We diven't need your 
 help to-day ; that'll come later, mebbe ; sae ye and 
 yer tyke can get a few rabbits for the pot." 
 
 Nick had quickly perceived that questions were 
 received with scant favour by his hosts and bore 
 fruit too scanty by way of answers to make them 
 worth putting. So he refrained from inquiries and 
 did as he was bid. 
 
 Of Mrs. Matt he saw but little, that first day. Her 
 sickly child, though it had to some extent recovered 
 from the first attack, was ailing again, and she 
 spent most of her time with it inside the van. 
 
 The second day of the halt passed much as the 
 first had done. Nick was away rabbiting with 
 Viper most of the time, and in this solitary spot 
 there seemed no one to interfere with their sport, 
 neither keeper nor watcher coming near them. 
 When he came back to the van he thought Mrs.
 
 TWO STRINGS TO THEIR BOW. 209 
 
 Matt looked even more haggard and anxious than 
 usual. He fancied once that she was about to say 
 something to him ; but, just at that moment, her 
 husband and son returned, and nothing came of it. 
 
 Nick was very tired that night, and went to bed 
 sooner than usual. Whether the whisky was less 
 strong than usual, or whether he were growing 
 more used to it, the lad did not know ; but certain 
 it is that he went to bed more sober than had 
 lately been his wont. 
 
 He lay awake for some time after entering the 
 van, listening drowsily to the talk going on amongst 
 those he had left round the fire, which was chiefly 
 about the exploits of the Laird o' Cockpen. The 
 dog's master was fond of flavouring his whisky with 
 this favourite topic, and the other men rarely in- 
 terrupted him. Presently, however, when Mrs. Matt 
 had retired to her part of the van, which was 
 curtained off at night for herself and her child, the 
 conversation became more general. Matt, and 
 even Pete, contributed to it ; but it was sustained 
 in such low voices that but very little reached the 
 interior of the van. 
 
 After a while, however, this cautious tone was 
 less carefully kept up. For, just as Nick was drop- 
 ping off to sleep, he was roused by hearing Pete 
 say, in a raised voice 
 
 " Ye'd better leave him out on't, I tell ye." 
 
 " Who asked your opinion, young spark ? " struck 
 in Greyhound Geordie's voice, in very decided 
 tones. " I tell ye his innicent face will be sure to 
 
 P
 
 2IO UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 take them in. We'll send him round to t' back 
 o' the house to ask for kettles and pans to mend, 
 and a story aboot the sick bairn, while we 
 
 " Whisht ! " exclaimed Matt, hurriedly. " What's 
 that ? " 
 
 " What's wJiat, my wiseacre ? " asked Geordie, 
 sarcastically. "Ye diven't mean to say ye canna 
 recognize the snore o' yer ain missus ? It's a 
 trumpet-note indeed, but it needna gie us the 
 alarm." 
 
 "Just squint inside and see if she and the lad 
 are sound, Pete," said Matt, without noticing the 
 thrust. His mental skin, indeed, was sufficiently 
 thick to cause many of his leader's shafts to glance 
 harmlessly off. 
 
 Pete yawned and stretched himself. 
 
 " Nay, faither," he said, " there's nae occasion to 
 fash. That lump o' a lad is niver good for aught 
 after the whisky ; and as for moother, as the maister 
 man says, she speaks for hersel'." 
 
 Greyhound Geordie laughed. 
 
 " I didna ken I said joost that" he returned ; 
 " but ye're aboot reet, my young spark. Folks 
 disn't trumpet like that when they're on the alert. 
 Well then, as I was sayin', we'll mak' arl ready for 
 an early start, yance this job's over. There ought 
 to be money in it worth the risk. It's a good 
 while since we had such a chance." 
 
 "Ay, and sma' risk," put in Matt. " Nobbut yan 
 auld lady and a servant-lass and a man outside, 
 d'ye say? Well, that's a pity! but never mind
 
 TWO STRINGS TO THEIR BOW. 211 
 
 sae lang as there's nae alarm, he'll bide in his 
 cottage, and if he dis hear well, we're plenty to 
 tackle him." 
 
 "And ye think ye'll get the lad in there to do 
 the job, maister ? " asked Pete's voice. 
 
 " Ay. Why not ? He'll suspect nothin' ? " 
 
 " Nivertheless, if ye'll tak' my advice, ye'll leave 
 him oot, as I said before," remarked Pete, stolidly. 
 
 " And do away wi' a well-laid plan, eh, lad ? " 
 asked Geordie, scornfully. " But there, ye've nae 
 head for a stratagem ! Ye diven't see where the 
 wisdom o' my plan lies. Ye're a bit sharper than 
 yer daddy, mebbe, but tJiafs not sayin' a vast ! 
 Well, if ye canna see what I'm drivin' at, at least 
 haud yer tongue and leave arrangements to wiser 
 heeds. Now then, it's time to turn in." 
 
 They tumbled into the van, and Nick, who was 
 now wide awake, had to feign the sleep which gene- 
 rally came so naturally. 
 
 Here was a new puzzle, and it occupied him for 
 hours, as he lay listening to the snoring of his com- 
 panions, who had soon added their trumpet-notes to 
 those of Mrs. Matt. 
 
 What a noise they made ! Nick, who was seldom 
 awake to hear this nightly concert, wished all the 
 performers far enough, quite forgetting that, in all 
 probability, his own instrument usually played in 
 the same band. But the audience is allowed to be 
 critical, whatever its own powers may be. And what 
 about the puzzle which had chased away his own 
 sleep, and was making him so impatient over that
 
 212 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 of others ? Ay, there lay the secret of his unrest. 
 What was the meaning of the conversation, a frag- 
 ment of which he had overheard ? 
 
 That some deed of darkness was being planned 
 Nick felt almost sure, but its nature he could only 
 guess at. 
 
 That he was to be made use of as an unconscious 
 instrument seemed plain enough, and the idea 
 filled him with dismay. To be made a dupe of is 
 never pleasant, and the conviction that these men 
 meant to use him as a decoy and leave him to 
 bear the blame if their undertaking failed, made 
 the lad's blood boil as he lay, afraid to stir hand 
 or foot, by the side of the plotters. For his wits 
 had been quicker than those of Pete in detecting 
 the meaning of Greyhound Geordie's plan, and the 
 conclusion to which they jumped seemed all too 
 probable. 
 
 This then was the reason of the old man's kind- 
 ness for which he had felt inclined to be grateful ! 
 This was the nature of the services he was required 
 to render in return for his board and lodging ! Keen 
 resentment burnt in the lad's heart, as he lay spell- 
 ing out the meaning of much that had been so 
 hard to understand ; and what added poignancy 
 to his feelings was the knowledge that he was, to 
 a great extent, in the power of these three rascals ! 
 
 Could he have got up and gone away undiscovered, 
 he would have done so there and then ; but he 
 could not move without almost certainly awaking 
 his fellow-sleepers. And, if even he could have done
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 213 
 
 that, he knew that the door of the van was almost 
 always locked at nights, and that the key was under 
 Greyhound Geordie's pillow. 
 
 Mrs. Matt, indeed, took it out every morning when 
 she rose to prepare the breakfast, without seriously 
 disturbing his slumbers ; but Nick was afraid to 
 run such a risk. 
 
 If only he were left alone next day, as he had 
 been on the two previous occasions, he said to 
 himself that he would at once escape from his 
 companions ; and it was in the hope that such an 
 opportunity would present itself in the morning 
 that at length he managed to fall asleep. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 
 
 How many of the plans which we make upon our 
 beds, and which seem to us so feasible in the 
 watches of the night, are possible to be carried out 
 in the morning ? But a small proportion, I should 
 think, could a reckoning be made. 
 
 Broad daylight is the dispeller of many a plan 
 as well as many a dream, and is a great hand at 
 reducing matter of fancy to matter of fact. 
 
 And so Nick discovered with respect to his plan. 
 He was never once left alone during the whole of 
 the morning, and, such was the absence of anything
 
 214 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 extraordinary in the manner and behaviour of his 
 companions, that he was almost inclined to believe 
 that the conversation he had overheard was nothing 
 but a dream. He might really have ended in so 
 doing had it not been for a whispered warning from 
 Mrs. Matt 
 
 He was helping her to collect some fallen branches 
 which lay under the Scotch firs to the side of the 
 encampment, when, as they were stooping together 
 to raise one of the largest boughs, the woman, after 
 a rapid glance towards the fire, whispered in Nick's 
 ear: 
 
 " Ye've done me mair nor yan good turn, lad, 
 while ye've been with us. I'll dae ye yan in return, 
 for I ken ye'll not betray me. The menfolk is 
 plannin' an ill-deed, and they're meanin' to ask 
 yer help. Dinnot give in to them, whativer ye 
 dae, it'll nobbut lead ye to ruin. There now, I've 
 warned ye, and if ye neglect this piece o' advice as 
 ye did the t'other, the blame's yer ain, whativer 
 happens. Whisht ! dinnot speak. I canna help 
 ye ony further." 
 
 She seized on her end of the branch, and between 
 them, they dragged it to where the men of the party 
 were grouped round the fire. 
 
 Nick's heart was beating much faster than it had 
 any right to do, even from dragging a branch so 
 heavy ; and when, almost immediately afterwards, 
 the party sat down to a savoury dinner of hare-soup 
 he felt as though every spoonful would choke 
 him.
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 215 
 
 He began to reflect on the possibility of openly 
 telling his hosts that he could stay with them no 
 longer. But he soon saw that such a proceeding 
 would be as useless as the attempt to escape them 
 at unawares. If his presence was desired by these 
 schemers he would not be allowed to part company 
 with them so easily ; and to make such a sudden 
 announcement would only awaken suspicion. No, the 
 old plan was the best, if only it could be carried out, 
 and French leave was all that he was likely to get. 
 
 At present there was nothing to be done but to 
 await the turn of events. 
 
 Meanwhile, preparations were being made to strike 
 the encampment. The van was re-packed with the 
 articles which had been taken out, and Pete was 
 told to start at sunset, and to go slowly on by a 
 certain road till the rest overtook him. 
 
 It wanted about an hour to the time when Grey- 
 hound Geordie strolled up to where Nick sat moodily 
 watching the embers of the dying fire, and, sitting 
 down on a log by his side, said, in the most natural 
 way in the world 
 
 " Nick, my lad, that pier bairn in there's vara 
 bad, I doubt. Folks say there's a kind doctor lives 
 at nae great distance from here, whae kens a vast 
 aboot bairns and their badness. Will ye gan and 
 fetch him before we start ? " 
 
 So the dreaded moment had come ! The blood 
 flew to Nick's brain and buzzed in his ears, as he 
 reflected that he was not ready to meet it. He 
 hesitated what to answer, and, during the moment's
 
 2l6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 pause, he felt that old Geordie was eying him sus- 
 piciously. What must he do ? Should he refuse 
 at once, or accept the commission, and either make 
 off without executing it, or go to the doctor's house 
 and raise the alarm ? 
 
 The latter alternative seemed the wiser, and he 
 was about to consent when the wily old plotter cut 
 the ground from under his feet. 
 
 " I'll go alang wi' ye, lad," he said, taking silence 
 for consent, or, at all events, appearing to do so ; 
 " I've business in that direction mysel'. Indeed, 
 I'd ha' called on t' doctor in passing, but that I 
 doubt his being able to find the road here. He's 
 not been lang in the neighbourhood, ye see, and 
 this spot is a bit out o' t' way. He'll want a guide. 
 Come, we'd better be gannin'." 
 
 He rose as he spoke ; but Nick did not follow 
 his example. He was racking his brains for a way 
 out of the difficulty in which he found himself, but, 
 as is too commonly the case when an expedient is 
 wanted promptly, none occurred to him. 
 
 " Diven't ye hear what I say ? " asked Greyhound 
 Geordie, impatiently. " Sittin' still when ye're telt 
 to move is a leaf out o' Pete's book, which I canna 
 sanction. It's quite plenty to have yan lazy-bones 
 hangin' aboot. I keep ye here to be useful, and 
 useful ye maun be." 
 
 "I've nae mind to be useful i' that fashion," 
 answered Nick, sullenly ; for the man's tone was 
 arousing his temper and dispelling his prudence at 
 one and the same time,
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 2 1/ 
 
 "D'ye think I feed ye and keep ye to be an 
 ornament to oor establishment ? " asked Greyhound 
 Geordie, with sharp sarcasm. " If ye think sae, 
 ye're mightily mistaken. Ye're not sae handsome 
 as arl that comes to ! Come, my lad, what ails 
 ye ? " he went on, suddenly changing his tone. " It's 
 not like yer usual good-nature to refuse sich an 
 errand as this. I'm requirin' nae hardship." 
 
 " Ye're askin' a deal mair than appears," answered 
 Nick, in the same sullen fashion. " I've nae mind 
 to the beesiness, and I winna gan. Nor ye needn't 
 think I've ony wish to eat bread I diven't earn. I'll 
 wish ye good-bye, maister, and gan my ain gait." 
 
 " Nay, that ye shallna ! " returned the old man, 
 angrily. "Ye've cast in yer lot wi' us, and ye 
 maun bide while we require yer services. We 
 canna want (do without) ye yet. I'll gar ye larn 
 whae's maister here, ye young varmint ! Do as I 
 tell ye wi'out mair words." 
 
 Nick rose. His face was red, and he was trem- 
 bling with impotent rebellion and rage against the 
 course marked out for him. 
 
 " Nay," he cried angrily ; " do yer ain dirty work 
 and let me gan. I want nae mair o' the company 
 o' sich as ye ! " 
 
 " Div ye hear that, lads ? " asked Geordie of the 
 other two men who had come up during the alter- 
 cation and were listening attentively. " Here's 
 ingratitude for favours bestowed ! What shall be 
 done to the man who rebels against his captain, 
 eh ? "
 
 2l8 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " I telt ye hoo it would be ! " said young Pete, 
 impudently, and he stuck his hands into his pockets 
 and leaned against the van. "Ye'd better have 
 ta'en my advice." 
 
 "Ay, and hoo often does yer advice turn out 
 good for onything?" asked the old man, with 
 mingled irritation and scorn. "But that's not the 
 question now. What's to be done, I ask ? " lie 
 paused for an answer, and, as none came, he broke 
 into derisive laughter. 
 
 " Ye canna tell ? " he asked scornfully. " I thowt 
 as much ! Ye may manish to hit t' reet nail on t' 
 heed yance in a blue moon, Pete, my lad, but I'd 
 give little for yer wits on ninety-nine occasions 
 out o' a hunard. The auld man has to find the 
 ticket, maist times, and sae it is again. Weel, I'll 
 tell ye what we must dae. This lad's manished to 
 scent a rat, somehow, sae we maun mak' sure o' 
 him first. We'll leave him to you, Pete ; arrange 
 sae as he canna stir a finger to spoil our pie. As 
 for the messenger, there's naebody but yer missus, 
 Matt. She's but a broken reed to lean on, I ken 
 that. But she'll hev to serve the turn, or we maun 
 dae wi'oot. Give her the instructions yersel', and 
 mind ye impress them. Ye ken weel how to dae 
 that, onyhoo ! " 
 
 Geordie broke into a harsh laugh, as he glanced 
 at the whip which leaned against the shafts of the 
 van. 
 
 " Now, look sharp ! " he said in conclusion. " Send 
 her to me, and then gan yersel' ye ken where
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 2IQ 
 
 twae minutes after we've started. Now then, Pete, 
 ye're strang enough, onyhoo. Lend us a hand here." 
 
 With a rope which he took from his pocket Geordie 
 and Pete bound Nick's hands securely, and gagged 
 him with a handkerchief so that he could not cry 
 out. He struggled a little, but not much, knowing 
 well that he was absolutely powerless in the hands 
 of these ruffians, and that resistance would only 
 bring down summary vengeance on his head. 
 
 Having executed this little arrangement in a 
 perfectly cool, business-like fashion, Greyhound 
 Geordie said carelessly to his assistant 
 
 " There ! Ye ken where to put him. See he 
 doesna mak' off. If he gies ye ony trouble ye ken 
 the remedy. Start at sunset." Then, turning on 
 his heel, he sauntered off, followed tremblingly by 
 Mrs. Matt. 
 
 " Niver fear, maister ! " Pete called out after 
 them, with a loud laugh. " He'll be safe enough 
 where I'll put him, and for langer nor he reckons 
 on. There's not mony folks comes this way ! " 
 
 No sooner was Greyhound Geordie out of sight 
 than the young ruffian seized on his prisoner, forced 
 him back against one of the Scotch firs which grew 
 by the side of the encampment, and bound him 
 securely, hand and foot, to the tree, while Nick 
 stood passively in his hands, utterly unable either 
 to resist or to cry out. 
 
 " There ! " he said mockingly, as he tied the last 
 knot, "ye can bide there till kingdom come, and 
 serve ye jolly weel too ! "
 
 220 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Then he turned away and began to harness the 
 Miller. 
 
 What Nick suffered as he stood there bound to 
 the rough red bark of the old Scotch fir it would 
 be hard to overrate. The tightness of the ropes 
 which bound his wrists and ankles stopped the 
 circulation and added the feeling of aching cold 
 to the strain of his position. The desire to call 
 out, not only for help, but to abuse his captors, 
 nearly choked him ; and the gag in his mouth 
 added the material element to his mental suffoca- 
 tion. 
 
 Nor were the sufferings of the present all. The 
 fear of the future was more terrible still. 
 
 As Pete had said, few people came past this 
 lonely spot, and those who did might easily go by 
 without seeing or hearing that he was there. If 
 nobody found him, a lingering and painful death 
 would be the consequence. 
 
 The poor lad could scarcely believe, however, that, 
 after all, these late comrades of his would actually 
 go away and leave him to his fate. Bad though 
 they might be, such an act of relentless cruelty 
 seemed hardly credible. His first rage over, he 
 kept watching the movements of Pete, and, much 
 as he hated the sight of him, dreading above all 
 things to see him and the van and the Miller move 
 away and leave him alone. 
 
 Now and then he glanced at the sun, which he 
 could see from where he stood nearing the crest of 
 the hill opposite.
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 221 
 
 He had heard Greyhound Geordie say that sunset 
 was to be the signal for the start, and in a few 
 moments more the sun would set. 
 
 The evening was fine but chilly, as evenings in 
 February usually are. A moist wind was blowing, 
 and there were floating vapours beginning to rise 
 from a pond across the road. 
 
 Xick shivered. His teeth would have chattered 
 but for the gag. 
 
 He watched the round red ball of the sun sink, 
 nearer and nearer, to the jagged crest of the hill, 
 which was rough with whins and bracken. He saw 
 them turn to a rich brown purple under the crimson 
 light, and noticed, as people sometimes do, even 
 under the most trying circumstances, the dark blots 
 formed by those which grew highest up upon the 
 light-laden background of sky. 
 
 Pete by this time had quite finished his pre- 
 parations. The Miller stood in the shafts patiently 
 awaiting the cut of the whip, which was Pete's usual 
 signal to him to start. 
 
 The young tinker himself was leaning against the 
 van, playing with the lash of his whip, and watching 
 the sun. 
 
 From the inside of the van came at intervals the 
 plaintive wail of the sick child. A rough word 
 from Pete stopped this for a time, but it speedily 
 recurred. 
 
 To the captive, standing bound against the tree, it 
 sounded like the voice of his own suffering, which 
 he himself was powerless to express.
 
 222 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 As Nick stood there, suffering silently and await- 
 ing sunset with a sickness of heart still worse to 
 bear than the pains of his body, the remembrance of 
 a picture which used to be shown to him as a little 
 boy at school, but which he had long since ceased 
 to think of, came suddenly before the eyes of his 
 mind. 
 
 He seemed to see another captive, bound in a 
 position not unlike his own, to something was it 
 a tree or a beam of wood ? which stood out black 
 against a sunset sky, much as the whin-bushes on 
 the hill were now doing. At first his mind merely 
 saw the picture without perceiving what it repre- 
 sented. Then came the dim memory of a lesson 
 learnt long since, and more than half forgotten, of 
 an all-pitiful Saviour Who suffered for men and 
 their salvation. And, with this memory, there came 
 to the boy's tortured soul a desire to cry for that 
 mercy which his fellows refused him, to a Being Who 
 knows all and pities all. He had been taught a 
 prayer once, as a lesson in school, but he had never 
 used it with any thought of an answer. And now, 
 when in his terrible need he tried to remember it, 
 the words refused to come. 
 
 But, though he remembered no words and could 
 not voice his petition, the soul of the lad awoke 
 and cried out in that moment as it never had done 
 before. 
 
 For the moment he was dreading had come. 
 The red sun dropped behind the blackness of the 
 hill, Pete cracked his whip, and, without one
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 223 
 
 backward glance, moved towards the gate which 
 stood ready opened into the lane. 
 
 The wheels of the van under the exertions of the 
 old Miller jolted heavily out of the rut they had 
 formed by standing in the moist ground ; there 
 was a creaking sound as the axles turned, then 
 driver and horse and van passed out into the lane, 
 and the gate swung to behind them. 
 
 As Nick heard the metallic click of the latch a 
 cold dew broke out over all his body, and he felt 
 as though the highest point of his agony was 
 touched. But it was not so. I suppose that there 
 are few of the pains we suffer \vhich have not 
 a deeper pang behind them, which through the 
 goodness of God we may be spared. But for 
 poor tortured Nick this greatest anguish was still to 
 come. 
 
 Amidst the fear and misery which he had been 
 feeling all day, he had scarcely given a thought to 
 his faithful little friend Viper. He had not seen 
 the dog since the middle of the afternoon ; but as, 
 in spite of her affection for her master, the rabbits 
 which abounded in the neighbourhood were, some- 
 times, a little too much for Viper's sporting tastes 
 to resist, he had not been much surprised at her 
 absence. Just, however, as the gate closed after 
 the passing of the van, the truant returned to the 
 encampment, and, instantly becoming aware of 
 Nick's plight, began a series of vain endeavours 
 co pull him away. Failing even to obtain a caress 
 or a word from the object of her ardent affections,
 
 224 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 the poor little terrier went nearly frantic, and set 
 up the most piteous howls and yelps. 
 
 The uproar was so great that Nick was just be- 
 ginning to hope that some one would hear it and 
 come to his assistance, when a step in the lane 
 reached his ears. 
 
 His heart gave a great leap of thankfulness, and 
 he turned his eyes wistfully in the direction of the 
 sound. It came nearer and nearer, and at last 
 the gate opened. Then his heart sank again like 
 lead, for the person who came through was no other 
 than Pete. He had his driving-whip in his hand, 
 and as soon as he came within distance he broke 
 out with an oath and began lashing at Viper. She 
 eluded him for some time ; but her care for her 
 master was greater than that for her own safety, 
 and she refused either to be silenced or driven 
 away. 
 
 No love had ever been lost between the terrier 
 and the tinker ; and now her resistance and his 
 attacks roused the hatred which smouldered in each 
 to absolute ferocity. Growls and oaths were freely 
 exchanged in this singular duel between dog and 
 man. But, for some time, neither succeeded in 
 actually touching the other. 
 
 At last, however, the enraged terrier saw her 
 opportunity, and, darting behind her antagonist, she 
 fastened her teeth in his leg. 
 
 With a yell of rage the tinker seized her by the 
 neck, and succeeded in choking her off by pressing 
 her throat with both his hands. The success of
 
 A HANGING BUSINESS. 225 
 
 this treatment, probably, suggested the doom of the 
 faithful little animal, which, perhaps, was sealed by 
 the flash of triumph which Pete fancied he detected 
 in Nick's eye, as he watched Viper's teeth close on 
 her antagonist's flesh. 
 
 Looking on at the struggle without being able 
 to lift a finger in his favourite's defence, Nick saw 
 the brutal Pete taking a rope from his pocket with 
 one hand, while with the other he held up Viper by 
 the scruff of the neck. Slipping a running noose 
 round the terrier's throat, he proceeded to attach 
 the other end of the rope to the branch of a tree 
 close by that to which Nick was fastened. 
 
 The captive lad saw the dog's faithful brown eyes 
 turn towards him in anguished appeal. If ever 
 eyes spoke with the eloquence of love and entreaty 
 and despair they were those of the rough little 
 mongrel terrier in that moment of supremest 
 need. 
 
 To witness this dumb appeal, and to be utterly 
 unable to respond to it, was the drop which caused 
 the wanderer's cup of suffering to be filled to the 
 very brim. 
 
 With a frenzied longing to interfere in her behalf 
 and to take a deadly revenge upon her enemy 
 and his own, Nick struggled violently to wrench 
 himself loose from the cords which bound him. But 
 they only cut his flesh to the bone, and caused the 
 blood to flow from his bare wrists and trickle down 
 the bole of the old Scotch fir. Nor were Viper's 
 struggles less futile. One long howl of fear and 
 
 Q
 
 220 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 agony struggled out from the closing throat of the 
 poor little terrier, the next moment her little sandy 
 body was twitching in the death-struggle at the end 
 of the rope, which was now firmly fastened to the 
 branch of a tree in full view of her helpless master. 
 
 Having accomplished his fiendish task, Pete stood 
 for a moment as though enjoying the agony of his 
 two victims. 
 
 " There ! " he said, with a mocking laugh, " ye're 
 both safe enough now, I guess. Neither o' ye'll 
 hev much chance o' raisin' an alarm. That tyke 
 there'll niver speak again, bad luck to it for an 
 ill-conditioned little mongrel ! And as for you, 
 my lad" he shook his fist in Nick's face "ye'd 
 ha' been at t' rope-end, and arl, if my advice 
 had been taken. Be hanged to you for an inter- 
 ferin', hypocritical cur! You and yer tyke are 
 a nice pair, and ye'd only be reet served if ye 
 dangled together. Well, good e'en to you, my 
 gentlemen ! " 
 
 He took off his cap and made a bow to his 
 two victims, with a jeering smile on his impudent 
 face, after which he turned his back on their suffer- 
 ings and once more disappeared through the gate. 
 
 As his tormenter went away Nick shut his aching 
 eyes. He could not bear to watch the death-agony 
 of the faithful creature which was losing its life by 
 reason of its love and fidelity to himself. The 
 sight of the small, quivering body and twitching 
 paws, of the starting, glazing eyes, still turned on 
 him in their agony, as though love were stronger
 
 MODERN MOSS-TROOPERS. 22/ 
 
 even than death, were far worse to him than any 
 sufferings of his own. His heart was wrung be- 
 yond endurance, and the sense of his powerlessness 
 maddened him. Oh, to be able to wrench himself 
 free before it was too late, to cry out, even, for the 
 help which it seemed so hopeless to expect ! 
 
 Rendered desperate by the knowledge that in a 
 few minutes more all must be over with his little 
 friend, Nick once more strained with all the power 
 of his young body against the bonds which secured 
 him. The cords held ; but his struggles were so far 
 successful that the position of the gag was shifted. 
 
 Through the fast-deepening twilight one awful, 
 strangled cry rang out upon the silence, then all 
 was again still. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MODERN MOSS-TROOPERS. 
 
 THERE is a proverb which says that "When need 
 is highest, help is nighest." This is, perhaps, not 
 true on every occasion ; but there is no need to 
 cavil at the saying on that account. Like all 
 proverbs it embodies a general truth ; and if the 
 occasions which it fits could be compared with those 
 which it fails to meet, the former, I venture to 
 think, would be found to outnumber the latter. 
 
 We who believe in a special Providence which 
 overrules even the fall of a sparrow, may be scorned
 
 228 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 as " old-fashioned " by many of the would-be wise 
 of this sceptical ebbing century. But scorn is not 
 proof, and till those can prove their case who assert 
 that God never interferes to save His creatures in 
 their hour of need, they must not be surprised if 
 we keep our belief, and go on quoting the old saw 
 which heads this chapter. 
 
 The history of the two unluckly dogs whose 
 adventures we are now following, affords a striking 
 proof on our side of the question, and one which 
 one at least of the pair was fond of quoting in 
 after-days. 
 
 Whether the other did as much among her equals 
 is more than I can say. Maybe, it was unnecessary 
 to take the trouble ; for, so far as my observation 
 goes, the canine race excels mankind in that simple 
 faith which neither doubts nor questions. If we 
 could trust our Master with the same unfailing 
 belief in His goodness and wisdom which the very 
 dogs are willing to give to theirs, it strikes me that 
 we should be wiser and better than we are. Now 
 for what happened on the evening in question. 
 
 Though it seemed to Nick that a long time 
 passed between the closing of the gate into the 
 lane by Pete the Tinker and its next opening, in 
 reality it could have been but a few minutes. 
 
 The hill, with its fringe of whin-bushes, had grown 
 but a shade blacker against the sunset sky. The 
 sky itself had lost but little of its liquid gold and 
 crimson ; and the waste bit of ground under the 
 shelter of the Scotch firs had gathered only a few
 
 MODP:RN MOSS-TROOPERS. 229 
 
 more shadows when steps came down the road which 
 ran outside the hedge. 
 
 They were many steps, quite an army-like tramp, 
 indeed, though no army that respects itself ever 
 marched in such irregular order as did the troop 
 which now tramped down our lane. 
 
 But no army marching to the relief of a be- 
 leagured city was ever more welcome ; for, in another 
 minute, Death the besieger must have had his way 
 with one at least of the helpless bodies which life 
 was struggling so desperately to keep. 
 
 And what was the approaching army ? If you 
 had looked over the hedge you might have felt 
 puzzled at first, for the light was getting very un- 
 certain. What you would have seen would have 
 been a medley of shaggy-looking heads, with tufts 
 upon them, some black, some dun, some red ; and, 
 above these, double the number of pointed weapons, 
 each one curved, sharp, and formidable-looking. 
 
 In the fast-gathering twilight you might have 
 been excused for fancying you were back in the 
 old moss-trooping days, and that what you were 
 looking down upon was a medley of plumed helmets 
 and an assortment of offensive weapons which had 
 grown crooked through much service. But, of course, 
 the illusion could not have lasted long ; and you 
 would have, presently, discovered that these seeming 
 moss-troopers, pressing along this Scottish lane to- 
 wards the Borders, were but a troop of Highland 
 cattle, horned and shaggy, and wild-looking, as these 
 brave little sons of the mountains are wont to be.
 
 230 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Behind them rode the captain of this warlike little 
 band, an old drover, namely, with a plaid over his 
 shoulders and a Glengarry cap upon his white hair, 
 which was every bit as shaggy as that of the shag- 
 giest of his troop. 
 
 He, in his turn, was followed by a Highland 
 collie, a mass of grey hair as long and unkempt as 
 that of the rest. 
 
 The advance-guard of these modern moss-troopers 
 had nearly reached the gate leading into the piece 
 of ground where the encampment had been, when 
 that strangled cry, which harrowed our ears at the 
 end of the last chapter, broke upon the silent air. 
 The old drover immediately turned his head in the 
 direction from which it had come, saw the gate in 
 the hedge, forced his shaggy grey pony towards it, 
 dismounted, and, hitching his bridle over the gate- 
 post, opened the gate hurriedly and entered the 
 bit of ground. 
 
 He was, in fact, already on the alert, for the dog's 
 cry of fear and pain a few minutes before had, also, 
 reached his ears as he rode along the lane, and he 
 had been listening out for another. 
 
 The canine cry might, possibly, have been dis- 
 regarded ; but the human cry which followed it 
 was much too urgent not to meet with immediate 
 response. 
 
 Once inside the gate, the old drover turned his 
 head sharply this way and that, failing at first in 
 the deepening gloom to see whence the cry pro- 
 ceeded. But Nick, becoming aware of some one near,
 
 MODERN MOSS-TROOPERS. 231 
 
 though his senses were fast failing him, managed 
 to utter another sound which brought the old man 
 at once to the Scotch firs, at the foot of which the 
 tragedy was in progress. 
 
 With an exclamation of horror, the old man 
 whipped out a big clasp-knife, opened it with 
 trembling fingers, and proceeded to remove the 
 handkerchief and to cut the cords which bound 
 the hands of the boy. But no sooner was one of 
 Nick's hands free than he pointed, with such energy 
 as its stiffness would allow of, to the adjoining tree, 
 where the body of poor Viper was now hanging, 
 limp and motionless. 
 
 He could not speak ; he could only point, but 
 this he did with such a look of agonized entreaty 
 in his bloodshot eyes, that the old man, after a 
 moment's hesitation, turned his attention to the 
 companion sufferer. It needed but one cut from 
 the knife's sharp blade to sever the cord by which 
 the unfortunate little terrier was hanging, but the 
 unloosening of the noose about its neck was a 
 rather more lengthy business, and Nick, still bound 
 and helpless, watched it with a feeling of sickening 
 impatience. 
 
 He was, by this time, growing so faint that the 
 additional torture of this moment of suspense was 
 more than the strain on his nerves could endure. 
 The little light which remained in the air seemed 
 to thicken and tremble before him, as he watched 
 the old man's efforts to undo the noose round the 
 neck of his only friend. Then flashes of brightness,
 
 232 UNDER- THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 which were certainly not there, threaded the dark- 
 ness, as with a net-work of flame. There came 
 a sound in his ears, low at first as the distant stirring 
 of the wind among the trees, then growing louder 
 and louder till it rose into a roar. 
 
 Was it a real storm crashing through the broad, 
 black crowns of the old firs above his head, and 
 making the rough, red bole to which he was bound 
 sway backwards and forwards with his body, as 
 though the tree and he must certainly fall together ? 
 Nick did not know, but it seemed to him as though 
 the storm and the darkness swallowed him. The 
 man who had come to his rescue vanished from 
 sight, together with Viper and everything around. 
 He was conscious of a feeling as though life itself 
 were ebbing from him, and clutched at the rough 
 bark of the old Scotch fir with the hand which had 
 been freed, thinking to drag himself back from an 
 abyss which was yawning before him. After that, 
 sensation stopped altogether, and he knew no more. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 
 
 OUTSIDE in the lane the rough little moss-troopers 
 had come to a halt, and were making the best of 
 their opportunities, as good campaigners should 
 always do. 
 
 Some of them were ruminating over the results of
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 233 
 
 their last browsing, standing at ease in the middle 
 of the road. 
 
 Others had put their sturdy little forefeet on to 
 the bank, at the top of which grew the hedge, and 
 were cropping the scanty blades of grass which had 
 managed to sprout in that sheltered place. 
 
 The collie had changed his position and was 
 not standing, but sitting on guard in front of the 
 troop. His hairy grey ears were erect, and his 
 vigilant eyes, twinkling beneath the shaggy thatch 
 which overshadowed them, like stars under a wisp of 
 cloud, were following the movements of his charges. 
 
 The pony stood still by the gate, resting its 
 hoary nose against the topmost bar, and raising 
 alternately one tired hoof after the other, so that 
 each leg might have a holiday in turn. His eyes 
 were looking towards the plot of ground inside, 
 where his old master was bending his stiff knees 
 over what seemed to be two lifeless forms stretched 
 side by side upon the grass. 
 
 Not that the old pony could see them plainly. 
 It was not light enough for eyes to travel so far. 
 But he knew that his master was there, and that 
 business was detaining him, and that was enough 
 for Shag. 
 
 The poor old drover, indeed, was finding this 
 piece of business, which had so unexpectedly cropped 
 up to detain him, of a nature to tax his utmost 
 powers. 
 
 Old Colin Campbell for such was his distin- 
 guished name never remembered to have met with
 
 234 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 such an adventure on any of the hundreds of occasions 
 that he had driven a herd of Highland cattle from 
 his native hills to the Borders, since the time that 
 he was a "bit laddie" up to this very evening. He 
 was beginning to be at his wits' end what to do 
 with a fainting boy on one hand, and what he was 
 well-nigh convinced was nothing but a dead dog 
 on the other, when, at length, after several attempts 
 to force some water down his throat, his human 
 patient showed signs of life. He gasped, swallowed, 
 gasped again, and, finally, opened his eyes and stared 
 up into the old face which was bending over him. 
 
 " It's Greyhound Geordie," Nick murmured, his 
 senses, though on the way home, being still a long 
 way off. "Tell Pete he's he's 
 
 He broke off, half sat up, and looked wildly 
 around him. Then seeming suddenly to remember, 
 stretched out his hands and pushed against the old 
 man with all his strength. 
 
 "Dinna touch me!" he cried hoarsely. "Let 
 me gan ! Oh, let me be ! " 
 
 " Hoots, laddie ! I'm no wantln' to harm ye," 
 was the encouraging answer. "Ye've been sair 
 mishandled, nae doot, but not by me. Here, tak' 
 a drappie mair, and try to stand. It'll dae ye nae 
 ill, lad. It's nobbut guid spring water. There ! 
 ye're better the noo ? " 
 
 He certainly was. But, nevertheless, Nick neither 
 gave answer or thanks to his kindly deliverer. His 
 own senses back, he was thinking of his fellow- 
 sufferer.
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 235 
 
 " Where's Viper the dog ? " he added, by way 
 of explanation. "Ye've niver left her to hang, 
 have ye ? " 
 
 He looked anxiously up at the black mass of 
 the great Scotch firs which the dusk was quickly 
 swallowing. 
 
 " Nay, laddie. I nearly allooed ye to dee yersel' 
 by reason o' attendin' to her," answered the old 
 man. "She's here, puir wee thing, but I doubt 
 she'll spak nae mair ! " 
 
 He pointed to where Viper's rough little body 
 lay on the grass, looking in the darkness like a 
 patch of sand. 
 
 With a deep catch of the breath Nick staggered 
 to his feet, and then threw himself down by the 
 side of his poor little friend. He spoke to her ; he 
 caressed her ; he even stooped over her soft little 
 head, and kissed her between the eyes just as though 
 no stranger had been looking on to see him. But 
 Viper never moved. Never before had he spoken 
 to her without a wag of that rope-like tail and an 
 answering light, which he could have sworn was a 
 smile, in those soft brown eyes. Now the tail lay 
 limp upon the ground, and the dull, starting eyes 
 showed no spark of recognition. 
 
 The little pink tongue, which had so often licked 
 his hand in loving recognition of his least caress, 
 was painfully protruding from the black lips about 
 which the froth had gathered. 
 
 Few that saw her would not have said with old 
 Colin Campbell that Viper would never "spak "
 
 236 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 again. Her last word seemed to have been uttered 
 when she yielded up her poor little life in defence 
 of her master. , 
 
 Then Nick seemed to forget himself altogether. 
 He forgot that at sixteen a boy's crying days are 
 supposed to be over. He forgot that his own life 
 had just been saved, and that the man who had 
 rescued him was standing by. He forgot every- 
 thing but that the only creature who loved him 
 was lying, apparently beyond hope of revival, at his 
 feet, and that with her he lost the only friend he 
 had in the world. 
 
 Tortured and weak and wretched his misery 
 rolled like a flood upon him. He let his head 
 drop on the motionless body of the little terrier, 
 clasped his stiff arms about her neck, and broke 
 into such sobs as alarmed the drover. 
 
 " Viper ! " he moaned. " Oh, Viper, lass ! Are 
 ye quite quite dead ? Oh, I canna want (do with- 
 out) ye, I canna!" 
 
 Did the little faithful creature in some far away 
 country, whither her loving spirit had fled, hear the 
 voice of her beloved friend and turn back to earth ? 
 Or was there still a living dog left in that limp, 
 hairy body, over which Nick was weeping such 
 bitter tears, to revive under the warmth of his touch ? 
 
 Let dog-lovers answer this question each accord- 
 ing to his views. I can only tell you what I know 
 to have actually happened. Suddenly a quiver 
 passed through the apparently lifeless body which 
 Nick was straining to his breast, and, in another
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 237 
 
 moment, the dim, brown eyes had given him such 
 a look of love as no human eyes could possibly 
 excel, while the little pink tongue made a feeble 
 effort to lick his cheek. 
 
 There could be no doubt about it ; Viper was 
 coming round. 
 
 " I've aye been told that terriers dies hard," said 
 the kindly voice of the old drover. "And noo I 
 see for mysel' that they're hard to kill. I never 
 came across a tyke seemingly more dead than this. 
 And yet, see, she'll soon be fresher than ye'll be 
 yersel', lad ! " 
 
 And old Colin Campbell was right ; for Viper 
 came round much more quickly than her master 
 did. 
 
 The old man looked at his patients, doubting 
 what to do. 
 
 The boy continued to kneel on the ground caress- 
 ing his regained treasure, and seemingly conscious 
 of little besides. He volunteered no explanation 
 as to the plight in which he and his dog had been 
 found, nor yet did he make the least attempt to 
 move on. Night, however, was falling rapidly, and 
 the old drover had himself and his cattle to think of. 
 
 " Lad," he said at last, " I dinna ken what ye may 
 be, or where ye live, to say naethin' aboot how ye 
 came to be as I fund ye the noo. It's gettin' late, 
 and I'm boun' to be takin' the road again, sae as 
 to reach the place where me and the beasts are to 
 spend the nicht But I dinna like to leave ye in 
 the condeetion ye are wi'out speerin' whether ye've
 
 238 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 freen's nigh han', or if there's onything mair I can 
 dae to help ye." 
 
 Nick looked up at that. He could not see the 
 kindly face of the old man with much distinctness, 
 for/with every moment, it was growing darker ; but 
 there was something in the voice which bespoke a 
 good man and true. 
 
 " Maister," he said sorrowfully, " I've nae heame 
 and nae friends, and if I bide here the villains whae 
 
 bound me '11, mebbe, come back, and then 
 
 He broke off with a shudder. 
 
 Old Colin reflected. 
 
 To take a lad, of whom he knew nothing, along 
 with him would be vastly inconvenient. Yet, to 
 abandon these helpless creatures to the fate from 
 which he had rescued them seemed utterly impos- 
 sible to his kindly heart. He looked towards his 
 pony, whose grey form glimmered through the 
 darkness as he stood at the gate, and made up his 
 mind. 
 
 " Come," he said as cheerfully as he could, " try 
 and get on to the galloway, and I'll pit yer tyke on 
 the saddle afore ye. I'll tak' ye alang wi' me as 
 far as to where we put up for the nicht, onyhow. 
 After that we must see what's best to be done." 
 
 With some difficulty, for his limbs felt stiff and 
 maimed, and his strength was low, Nick scrambled 
 to the old drover's seat on the pony's back, taking 
 Viper, who was not yet in a condition to run, in 
 front of him. Then old Colin called to his dog, 
 shouted to his shaggy troop, and the cavalcade
 
 A FRIEND IN NEED. 239 
 
 moved on again, along the lane and out into the 
 wider turnpike which lay about a mile beyond. 
 
 The progress made with a herd of cattle is always 
 slow, but to-night it was more tedious even than 
 usual ; for the cattle disliked the march in the dark, 
 and their drover was more used to riding than walk- 
 ing. But the grey collie, by dint of much barking, 
 kept the herd moving together along the road, the 
 old drover stumping after them in spite of rheumatic 
 knees. 
 
 Then the stars came out overhead and lit up 
 the night with their myriads of fairy lamps, and 
 as Nick jogged along on the grey pony, with Viper 
 sleeping on the saddle in front of him, he kept 
 looking up to where the Dog-star shone more 
 brilliantly than all its twinkling neighbours, and 
 wondering drowsily over what Greyhound Geordie 
 had told him respecting it. 
 
 Could there be anything in what the old rascal 
 had said ? And if so, did it apply to him ? Truly, 
 if he were born under that star, the boy concluded, 
 as he began to nod for very weakness and weari- 
 ness in the saddle, it must be the most unlucky of 
 all the stars. For unless, indeed, it were little Viper, 
 it seemed to him that he was the unluckiest dog 
 alive. That he was still alive, and the terrier as 
 well, in spite of all their trqubles, was a little fact 
 which Nick, in common with a great many unthank- 
 ful mortals, altogether left out of the reckoning.
 
 240 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A GOOD OFFER. 
 
 " WaEir-w-wl" 
 
 Old Colin Campbell was sitting at breakfast, next 
 morning, in a little hostelry on the outskirts of 
 Jedborough, much frequented by drovers like him- 
 self. 
 
 A bright fire was burning in the great open fire- 
 place of the old-fashioned, stone-floored room where 
 his breakfast had been laid. The old fellow's chair 
 was drawn up close beside it, and one of his large- 
 veined hands was spread out to the blaze, while 
 with the other he held a newspaper before the 
 spectacles which framed his kindly old eyes. Close 
 by him was set a round table covered with a clean, 
 coarse cloth, on which were arranged three deep 
 plates, three spoons, and three blue basins filled 
 with creamy milk. The porridge-pan bubbled 
 over the fire, watched attentively by two shaggy 
 collie-dogs, one tawny, one grey. 
 
 The grey collie we have seen before. It belongs 
 to the old drover by the fire. The other seems to 
 be an acquaintance, by the way in which it is treated 
 by our shaggy friend ; but it is a stranger to us. 
 
 The dogs looked up at the sound which begins 
 this chapter. Their shaggy ears were pricked and 
 they looked inquiringly at the drover. Apparently
 
 A GOOD OFFER. 241 
 
 they took the sound for a whistle of some kind, 
 and imagined it was addressed to them. Yet it was 
 not the sort of whistle by which men usually spoke 
 to them, and they were puzzled by it The tawny 
 collie gave a little sotto voce " wuff! " of dog inquiry. 
 The grey one got up slowly, and laid a grizzled 
 muzzle upon his master's knee, looking into his face 
 with a pair of yellow, questioning eyes. 
 
 The old man stroked the grey head of his trusty 
 assistant mechanically. But he did not speak. He 
 seemed to be quite absorbed in his paper. Finding 
 that he was not required for anything in particular, 
 the grey-coated herdsman, after civilly pausing to 
 receive the caress, returned to the interesting occu- 
 pation of watching the porridge-pan. Presently, the 
 door opened, and the landlady, an elderly dame, in 
 an old-fashioned white mutch, came bustling in. 
 
 " Weel, Mestre Campbell, and hoo's a' wi' you, the 
 day ? " she asked, as she shifted the porridge-pan 
 back from the fire. "Ye're earlier astir nor yer 
 laddie. I'd gar him fodder the beasts for me, if I 
 were in your shoes, Mestre Campbell. Auld folk 
 should spare themsel's, ye ken. I'd like a deal 
 better to hear you snorin' in bed nor that laddie ! " 
 
 " He's no just sae weel, Mestress Wilson," said 
 the old man, absently, without lifting his eyes from 
 the paper. 
 
 " Had awa' wi' ye ! No just weel ? Mebbe, 
 that micht be true, last nicht. He lookit white-like 
 and weary eneuch when ye brocht him in, Mestre 
 Campbell, and I didna grudge the het possit I 
 
 R
 
 242 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 made for him. But the day? Na, na, he's as 
 fresh-lookin' as a newly pu'ed apple, for I lookit 
 in to see him an hour agone. Ye micht weel hae 
 wakkened him and sent him oot to fodder the 
 beasts. Why, what's keepin' Mestre Flemming a' 
 this time ? He went oot soon efter yersel', and he 
 isn't in yet. The parritch is spoilin', Mestre 
 Campbell. I wadna wait on them, gin I was 
 you." 
 
 Talking all the time, the dame had poured out 
 a plate of the steaming porridge and placed it 
 before her guest. The two dogs had followed her 
 movements attentively with their eyes. But not so 
 the old man. He seemed neither to have heard 
 what she was saying, nor seen what she was doing. 
 She stood a few moments watching him, her arms 
 akimbo on either side of her solidly proportioned 
 waist. 
 
 "Weel," she said presently, with a little toss of 
 her white-mutched head, and an ill-pleased look on 
 a face whose every line was evidently more fitted 
 to express good-temper "weel, Mestre Camp- 
 bell, what ails ye at the parritch the day, that 
 ye're no eatin' it ? Folks doesna use to neglect my 
 victuals that gait. Ye'd better have said 'break- 
 fast at aucht,' rayther than siven, if ye're no ready 
 for it when it's ready for you. Hech, sirs, if that 
 isna yon lad still snorin' ! I'll away cry up the 
 stair till him, and to Mestre Flemming as weel, 
 that ye're waitin' breakfast on them. It's weel 
 to be ceevil, Mestre Campbell, but a body may
 
 A GOOD OFFER. 243 
 
 cairy ceevility overfar ; and to leave guid parritch 
 to cool, that gait, is overfar, to my thinkin' ! " 
 
 The old drover laid aside his newspaper with a 
 little sigh. His landlady's words had reached his 
 ears at last. They could hardly fail to do so, for, 
 by this time, she had put her threat into execution, 
 and " crying " aloud, first up the stairs and then out 
 of the door that " Breakfast was waitin', and Mestre 
 Campbell was no' willin' to start, wantin' the lave 
 o' the gentlemen ! " 
 
 " There, never heed, Mestress Wilson," said Colin, 
 penitently, as she returned, a little red-faced and 
 flustered, to the fireside. " I didna hear ye spak'. 
 I ken yer parritch is over-guid for a body to let 
 it spoil. I'm ready now. It was the news in the 
 paper, ye see." 
 
 "Ay, sae ye say," answered Mistress Wilson, 
 still but half propitiated. "But what's the papers 
 to guid victuals like yon ? Papers will keep, but 
 no the parritch not het, that is. Here, let be I'll 
 feed the tykes (dogs). See hoo they're watchin' the 
 yettlin' ! (big black pot). They ken fine what's guid, 
 onyhow. They're, whiles, sensibler nor men-folks, 
 is the beasts, to my thinkin' ! " 
 
 And, indeed, it seemed that this was so, so far as 
 breakfast went, that morning. For the two collies 
 attacked the porridge immediately it was set before 
 the^m, and showed their appreciation of Mistress 
 Wilson's cookery by finishing their portion before 
 old Colin had got through more than a very few 
 spoonfuls of his.
 
 244 UNDER THE DOG-STAR, 
 
 He had made but a very small indentation into 
 the smooth coast-line of the milk-surrounded island, 
 with which Mistress Wilson had filled his plate, 
 when the outer door opened and a man came in. 
 
 He wore a plaid, and was dressed much like 
 Colin himself. But instead of being old, he was 
 hardly middle-aged, and instead of being, as Camp- 
 bell was, half Highland, half Lowland, he was a 
 Lowlander pure and simple. 
 
 " I'm a bit late," he said, stating a self-evident 
 fact by way of making an apology, as people often 
 do, and unwinding his plaid the while. " But the 
 toon's full o' the news o' last nicht's becsiness, I 
 could hardlys get awa'." 
 
 " The burglary at Dr. Pritchard's ? " asked the 
 old drover ; and he took up the paper he had been 
 studying and pointed to a heading in large letters. 
 "Ay, I've joost been readin' aboot it. It's been a 
 vara bad beesiness, hasna it ? Onything mair been 
 made oot sin' this was prentit ? " He touched the 
 paper with one large forefinger. 
 
 " I havena seen the accoont," replied the other 
 drover, supping up the half-cold porridge with noisy 
 haste. " I'll tak' a look when I win through this. 
 There's been overmickle breath coolin' the parritch, 
 this mornin', I'm thinkin' ! " he added with a short 
 laugh. " They're as cauld as loch-water on a 
 frosty mournin' ! That lassie o' Pritchard's must 
 hae gotten a mon's heart in her bit body to make 
 the fecht she did. He'll be a lucky lad that gets 
 her. Eh, Cammel ? "
 
 A GOOD OFFER. 245 
 
 " What's that aboot the lassie ? " asked his com- 
 panion, pausing, with his spoon half-way to his 
 mouth, to put the question. " It says nought aboot 
 a lassie where I was readin'." 
 
 " Disn't it noo ? Mebbe, that paper was prentit 
 afore a' thae particulars cam' to han'. It's Frit- 
 chard's servant-lassie I was speakin' aboot ; she 
 that's dochter to auld Graham, ain o' the duke's 
 keepers. Ye'll ken him likely? No? Weel, he's 
 nigh dune noo, but he's been a gran' mon in his 
 time, and mony's the fecht he's had wi' poachers. 
 It's the faither o' her she gets her speerit frae, ye 
 see." 
 
 " But what has she dune, mon ? That's what 
 I'm wantin' to ken," asked the elder drover ; and 
 he nodded, as he spoke, to Nick, who, followed by 
 Viper, came downstairs at the moment. 
 
 " Come, lad, set to," he went on, signing towards 
 the third place at the table, and then looking to- 
 wards his fellow-drover to hear more. 
 
 " Ou, ay, I thowt I'd telt ye," answered the man 
 addressed. " It was this way, ye see. Ane o' the 
 gang a woman-body, as folks is sayin' decoyed 
 a\va' the doctor, as if to veesit her sick bairn, and 
 when he was gone, and there was naebody but the 
 lassie in the hoose, forbye his auld mither, the 
 burglars gat in. The doctor, ye see, is thinkin' o' 
 gettin' maryit shortly, and the hoose was full o' 
 weddin'-presents maistly siller tea-pots, spoons, 
 and forks, and sich-like, given him by freen's and 
 patients, for he's weel likit, is Dr. Pritchard. Weel,
 
 246 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 as I was sayin', the auld leddie and the bit lassie 
 were their lane i' the hoose. The auld leddie's deef 
 and blind, and disn't coont, sae it was the lassie 
 again' twa men, wi' nae mair scruples than " he 
 paused for a simile "than ye've teeth i' yer hed, 
 Mester Cammel, if ye'll alloo me to say sae. Weel, 
 the siller was a' in the doctor's surgery, and when 
 the lassie went ben to set a light to the fire, as 
 she'd hed her orders to do, there were the thieves 
 on their knuckle-bones, packin' the things into a 
 poke. They didna hear her come, and she never 
 let wit she was there by sae muckle as ane skirl 
 (scream). Hoo mony lasses wad hae hodden their 
 whisht (kept silence) like that, I ask ye ? She joost 
 took up the loaded revolver which the doctor is ac- 
 customed to keep on his table, and she cockit it at 
 the rascals, and ' Drop that, or I'll fire ! ' she says, 
 as bold as brass. But they didn't believe the pistol 
 was loaded, and they joost laucht at her, as they up 
 wi' the sack and made ready to bolt the same way 
 they had come, through the winder. She fired at 
 the foremost, wha happened to be an auld man, 
 and doon he went like a felled bullock. But the 
 next minute, he was up again, and out through the 
 winder. The t'other, wha was holdin' the hinder 
 end of the sack they were bearin' it together, ye 
 see, droppit it and made off likewise. The police 
 is after them, but there's naen o' them ta'en yet ; 
 and the lass can say but little as to their looks, for 
 she never saw their faces. Folks says that they're 
 travellin' tinkers (by way of, that is) and
 
 A GOOD OFFER. 247 
 
 Why, lad, what ails ye ? Ye sudna choke like that 
 upo' cauld parritch ! Tak' a sup o' milk. Canny 
 noo, ye'll be better directly." 
 
 Nick, indeed, was choking violently ; but it was 
 not altogether the porridge that was the cause. 
 The story to which he had listened touched him 
 closely ; but, fearing his connection with the burglars 
 might bring him into difficulties, the instinct of the 
 moment prompted him to dissemble his interest, 
 and to appear as though absorbed in finishing his 
 breakfast as quickly as possible. And these things, 
 being contrary the one to the other, had produced 
 the result mentioned. 
 
 Old Colin Campbell, who had been observing the 
 lad all the while, kept his eyes upon him still, as, 
 following Wilson's directions, he began to recover. 
 But he made no spoken observation till the other 
 drover, having finished his breakfast and his story, 
 paid his reckoning, called his dog, and, nodding 
 farewell to Campbell, went out. Then taking up 
 his porridge-plate, which still contained more of 
 Mistress Wilson's cookery than he cared for her to 
 see, he put it on the floor in front of Viper, who 
 was wistfully eyeing the empty dish which had 
 served the two collies, saying 
 
 " We'll no move till the wee doggie has had her 
 share. Ye'll have time to tell me aboot last nicht, 
 laddie. If I'm richt i' my thowts, ye ken a bit 
 mair aboot thae thieves than onybody dis as yet 
 even the police. Nay, ye needna be feared, laddie," 
 he went on, observing the boy's reluctance. " There's
 
 248 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 naebody ever lippened (trusted) to auld Colin that's 
 had cause to repent it. I've had a bit experience 
 in readin' faces during ma time, for mony's the folk 
 o' a' sorts and condeetions I've come across on my 
 travels, and if ye're a bad 'un, I read ye wrang. 
 Come, oot wi't ! I'll, mebbe, be able to stan' yer 
 freen'." 
 
 Thus adjured, Nick looked at the massive, weather- 
 beaten face of the old Scot more closely, saw the 
 honest, kindly grey eyes under their shaggy brows, 
 the mouth, cut for truth and gentleness, in spite 
 of its present wreck through want of teeth, and the 
 calm serenity of the wrinkled brow, and, seeing, 
 believed in the man before him. 
 
 Little Viper was not very long in clearing the 
 porridge-plate ; but, before she had done, old Colin 
 knew, not only the lad's experiences with the bur- 
 glars, but the general outline of his unfortunate 
 life. He might even have been persuaded to open 
 his heart on the subject which was most oppressing 
 it namely, his fears respecting Teddy, had Viper 
 been a little longer over her breakfast. But, while 
 he was hesitating whether or not he should speak 
 of the immediate cause of his leaving Bellister and 
 the terrible night which had followed upon it, the 
 last bit of that island of porridge was engulfed by 
 the terrier. She looked up and wagged her tail. 
 
 Old Colin rose stiffly from his chair. 
 
 " Weel, laddie," he said, " it's time we were movin'. 
 I canna mind havin' been sae late in startin' for 
 mony a day. But there, the rheumatics has hould
 
 A GOOD OFFER. 249 
 
 o' me this mornin', and movin's no sac easy. Look 
 here, my lad, I'll male' ye a proposal. IVre in 
 need o' a freen', and I'd be better o' an assistant 
 for a bit, at ony rate. Will ye gan along o' me ? 
 I'm bound to Ca'lisle Auction-mart, and there's nae 
 time to lose by the way. Weel, is it a bargain ? " 
 
 Nick's eyes glistened. The real kindness of the 
 offer could not be mistaken. But the lad was so 
 unused to kindness that he hardly knew how to 
 receive it. A lump, which was, also, unusual, rose 
 in his throat, and checked his answer. 
 
 " It's a regular hirin', ye ken," added the old 
 drover, noticing the momentary hesitation, and, 
 in spite of his knowledge of men, mistaking the 
 cause. "Ye needna fear but ye'll get yer wage. 
 What d'ye say a shellin' a day and yer keep ? It's 
 no muckle, I ken that, but 
 
 " I diven't want yer brass ! " burst out poor Nick, 
 in a choked voice. "Ye're over-good to sich as 
 me. If ye nobbut kent " 
 
 " There, there, laddie, say nae mair ! It's joost 
 a matter o' mutual convenience, that's what it is," 
 said old Colin, breaking in upon the lad's halting 
 acknowledgment, and winding his plaid about his 
 own stalwart figure as he spoke. " Gang and fetch 
 the beasts while I saddle Shag. Had awa', Kelt, 
 me man ! Ye're to gang wi' that lad. He kens 
 ilka word I say til him, dis Kelt," added the old 
 man, a slow smile breaking over his weather-beaten 
 face as he watched the intelligent movements of 
 his dog:.
 
 250 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 But still Nick hesitated. He was looking at 
 Viper, about whom no word had been said. 
 
 " I canna leave her," he said slowly, as old Colin 
 was walking towards the room where Mistress 
 Wilson was usually to be found. 
 
 "What, lad? What's that?" he asked, rather 
 sharply, thinking that the lad was making some 
 objection. 
 
 Nick repeated his words. 
 
 The old man laughed kindly. 
 
 " Ay, ay, lad, we'll tak' her along wi' us, if she'll 
 behave hersel' wi' the beasts. 'Love me, love my 
 dog,' eh ? And I like ye the better for't too ! " 
 
 And so the matter was settled. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 
 
 "THEY'LL be wantin' ye for a witness, likely, 
 now they've cotched the auld thief, or what they 
 tuke to be him. I had the news from a packman 
 while ye were watering the beasts at yon trough. 
 Mebbe, I did wrang in fetchin' ye awa' frae Jedbro'." 
 
 The party were well on their way by this time. 
 The old town on the Tweed, with its beautiful 
 ruined abbey, had vanished into the grey mists 
 which are apt to blur a northern horizon on the 
 afternoon of a day towards the end of February. 
 
 The sun was shining down in fitful fashion from
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 251 
 
 a low grey sky, well curtained by clouds with 
 mother-o'-pearl-like edges, which were drawn back, 
 now and then, to show the blue which lay behind, 
 in case, as it seemed, the world should forget that 
 it still was there. 
 
 The sturdy little moss-troopers were plodding 
 along a rough moorland road, with miles of heather 
 rolling away, dark and ragged, toward the grey of 
 the horizon. A clump of Scotch firs, with gaunt, 
 wind-twisted arms outstretched to the lowering sky, 
 stood out on a ridge to the left. A brown burn 
 brawled over its rocky bed in a gully to the right. 
 A few home-going rooks, flying heavily through 
 the moist air, were the only signs of life, with th 
 exception of the travellers themselves, in the wide 
 wintry landscape. 
 
 Old Colin Campbell, with his bonnet drawn down 
 over his wrinkled forehead, rode his shaggy grey 
 pony in the rear of the troop. By his side trudged 
 Nick, looking, in his velveteen cast-offs, like some 
 gamekeeper turned tramp. 
 
 Kelt and Viper, an odd pair indeed, followed 
 peacefully behind. For the moss-troopers needed 
 no herding just then. Their dun and red and 
 black little bodies were marching along in good 
 order for a troop of such irregulars as they. Their 
 shaggy heads carried their formidable weapons, 
 pointed resolutely towards England, as their com- 
 patriots had done many a time and oft in the days 
 when Scotland never crossed the Border unarmed. 
 
 Neither the old drover nor his new assistant had
 
 252 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 spoken for several hours before the former made the 
 remark which you have read above. 
 
 Nick had not been thinking of his present sur- 
 roundings. His thoughts had gone back to Bellister, 
 and, when his companion spoke, he was wonder- 
 ing what Meggie was doing just then. It must be 
 nearly time for watering the cows. Who did it, 
 he wondered, now he was no longer there ? Who 
 helped her with the milking ? And what did she 
 now think of the poor lad who had always been 
 her willing slave ? 
 
 It was just at this point that Colin's remark 
 broke in upon his reflections. 
 
 He started and looked towards the speaker, and 
 the old man had to repeat his words. 
 
 " Stay in Jedbro' to be a witness ? Nay, maister, 
 that's the vara reason I want to be out on't ! " 
 
 " Why ? Ye're no reflectin', laddie, I think, that 
 ilka guid ceetizen is boun' to dae what he can to 
 help in bringin' creeminals to justice. Mebbe, 
 havin' shared bite and sup wi' those graceless men, 
 ye're no joost willin' to spak' again' them ? Weel, 
 the feelin' dis ye justice. But feelin's maunna stan' 
 i' the way o' duty. If ye'd spak' up yester-nicht, 
 trouble might hae been saved. I'm no blamin' ye 
 for that, however, seein' ye were dazed wi' bad 
 usage. But if yer testimony is wanted when the 
 trial comes on, ye'll joost have to gie it wi'out 
 respect o' persons." 
 
 Old Colin said this with solemn gravity, almost 
 as though he were a judge himself, addressing the
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 253 
 
 jury in a court of justice, and every word fell 
 heavily on the ears of the lad who walked beside 
 him. 
 
 Nick's conscience accused him, also, of a crime ; 
 and it seemed to him that, if only the old man 
 knew of that act of violence committed by him 
 under the Roman Wall, not even his kind heart 
 would be allowed to interfere with this stern sense 
 of duty, and that he, Nick, would, in his turn, be 
 delivered up to justice. He looked towards the 
 old drover and quailed under the searching look 
 of his kindly eye. 
 
 " Weel," said Colin, compassionately, " I'll no 
 say mair tae ye at present. It may happen ye'll 
 never be called ; only remember if ye are, spak' 
 the truth, my laddie. It's the only way. Puir 
 bairn ! " he went on, half to himself, as he watched 
 Nick's hangdog look. " He's for a' the world like 
 a tyke that's been used to nothin' but cuffs and 
 bats and kicks frae the time he was littered ! He's 
 aye cxpectin' anither frae ilka body he comes near. 
 I verily believe he's maist afraid o' auld Colin 
 next ! Laddie," he continued, turning to Nick, 
 "ye've had a hard life, I can see that, but ye 
 maunna lose heart, or fancy the warld is made 
 wantin' the sunshine arltogether. Luik there, laddie, 
 luik there ! " 
 
 He pointed to where the westering sun had 
 opened for itself a fold in the pearl-grey curtain 
 that, for some time past, had shut it in, and was 
 glinting down upon the dead heather of the desolate
 
 254 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 moor. A long band of yellow light was spreading, 
 like a smile, around the place where the sunset was 
 presently to be, and the brawling burn to the right 
 of the party had caught the reflection, and was 
 flashing it back into the face of the peeping sun, 
 like a frolicsome child at play with its father. 
 
 Nick's sad eyes followed the direction of the old 
 man's finger, but no answering smile was seen in 
 them. 
 
 " There's some folk niver has a chance," he 
 answered sullenly. " Them that's born wi' a bad 
 name keeps it, sae far as I ken." 
 
 "Till they win a better, laddie," was the gentle 
 answer. " It's a hard fecht, I ken that, when a' the 
 warld's again' ye ; but it's no impossible gin ye 
 only persevere." 
 
 Nick looked at the old drover with an expres- 
 sion in his eyes which went to his companion's heart, 
 so heavy and hopeless was it for a lad of his years. 
 
 " Ay, but if the bad's born in ye," he said slowly, 
 "hoo aboot that?" 
 
 " There's bad born in us a', laddie," replied Colin, 
 looking thoughtfully away to where the band of 
 yellow light was steadily spreading on the western 
 horizon. " We're a' leavened wi' Adam's sin. But 
 there's anither leaven working again' that, my lad, 
 and has been ever sin' the Son o' God joined His 
 nature unto ours. See yon licht, hoo it's drivin' 
 awa' the clouds ? Good's boun' to get the better 
 o' bad i' the lang run ; for God is stronger nor the 
 muckle deil ; I've proved it mysel'."
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 255 
 
 "Ay, but it's easy to talk when a man comes o' 
 good stock, as I mak' nae doot ye do, Maister 
 Campbell. But when yan's faither and moother is 
 yan disna ken what " a little shudder ran through 
 the lad as the image of Tramping Sal rose 
 before his mind's eye "it's a vara different 
 matter." 
 
 For a minute or two the old drover did not 
 answer, and Nick began to think that he had 
 silenced him. He himself had come to consider 
 that a case like his was hopeless. But to find that 
 this genial old man, who appeared ready to make 
 the best of most things, was likely to agree with 
 him, seemed to make it more hopeless still. He 
 looked wistfully at Colin, who was sitting his old 
 pony in a brown study. After what seemed to 
 Nick a very long pause, the old man spoke. 
 
 " Ay, it's a hard case, yon," he said slowly. " I'm 
 aye wae for bairns like that, for there's nae doot 
 but that this warld's made the harder for them by 
 the sins o' their forbears. Yon's what the Scriptur' 
 means when it says, 'Veesitin' the sins o' the 
 faithers upo' the children, unto the third and fourth 
 generation.' " 
 
 " It's unjust, it's cruel unjust !" burst out the boy, 
 with a catch of the breath. He had been chewing 
 the cud of this hard saying ever since he had begun 
 to think at all of the problems of life, and his young 
 soul was beginning to rebel against his bitter ex- 
 perience of its truth. 
 
 " Laddie," replied old Colin, gently, and his kind
 
 256 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 eyes moistened as they looked at the innocent 
 victim of an inevitable law, " the r diarld's unjust to 
 sich, nae doot, but no the Lord. The sins o' men 
 are bouit to bring forth evil fruit. What yan sows 
 must e'en coom up. If tares coom up, it's man's 
 fault for sowin" them isna it ? and no God's. It's 
 a law o' nature, and it canna be altered. But 
 hearken to what the Scriptur' says : ' What mean 
 ye, that ye use this proverb concernin' the land o' 
 Israel, sayin', The faithers hae eaten sour grapes, 
 and the children's teeth are set on edge ? As I 
 live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not hae occasion 
 any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all 
 souls are Mine ; as the soul o' the faither, so, also, 
 the soul o' the son is Mine : the soul that sinneth, 
 it shall die.' " 
 
 Old Colin said all this very impressively, as 
 though every word of it came straight from the 
 heart, and were the result of firm conviction. The 
 broad Lowland dialect which he had learnt to speak 
 in his lifelong journeys backwards and forwards 
 through southern Scotland, gave to the Bible words 
 a sound as of personal appropriation, which made 
 them more telling, so far as north-country Nick 
 was concerned, than if they had been repeated in 
 correct English. 
 
 The boy listened thoughtfully, but he said 
 nothing. For Nick, though shrewd enough, as are 
 most of those who live near the Borders, was not 
 quick-witted, and it took a long time for a new 
 thought to digest in his mind. That very evening,
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 257 
 
 however, his new master was able to drive the 
 lesson home by means of a practical application. 
 
 On reaching the village-inn where a halt was to 
 be made for the night, old Colin handed to his 
 assistant his wages for the day. 
 
 "There, laddie," he said, as he pressed the pro- 
 mised shilling into Nick's unwilling hand, "a bit 
 o' brass in the pooch mak's a mon feel mair respon- 
 sible-like. There's, mebbe, a thing or twa ye'll be 
 needin', and there's a shop roond the corner. I've 
 an errand to do \vi' a farmer body, no far frae here. 
 I'll be gone an hoor, and yer time's yer ain till I 
 come back." 
 
 He rode away on Shag, with Kelt following 
 behind him, and Nick returned to his seat by the 
 peat-fire in the inn-kitchen. 
 
 A man came in and called for whisky, which the 
 old landlord brought him, together with a kettle 
 of hot water, a tumbler, and a pipe. 
 
 The new-comer was a silent man, evidently much 
 devoted to the business which had brought him to 
 the inn. 
 
 He filled his glass with the air of one who does 
 it daily, lit his pipe, leaned back in his chair, and 
 proceeded to take his ease and enjoy himself, as 
 though he had the place to himself. He sipped, 
 shut his eyes, puffed lazily, and sipped again, with 
 his feet outstretched to the red glow of the fire. 
 His coat was shabby, his boats were patched, and 
 his face was unhealthy in complexion. Yet, for the 
 time, he looked happy. 
 
 S
 
 258 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 If cares he had, and he looked like it, he was, 
 evidently, on the way to forget them. The sight 
 of his enjoyment, the smell of the steaming spirits, 
 and the sense of his own fatigue and misery, 
 worked upon the boy in the opposite corner. 
 
 The craving, which had been growing upon him 
 since his introduction to whisky by Greyhound 
 Geordie, awoke. He had a shilling in his pocket. 
 Why should he not gratify his desire ? 
 
 The old landlord, shuffling in, at that moment, 
 with fresh peats for the fire, looked towards him 
 inquiringly. 
 
 Nick threw him the shilling and called for spirits, 
 and, very shortly after, he was as blissfully uncon- 
 scious of everything else as was his opposite neigh- 
 bour. 
 
 When old Colin returned, later than he had 
 expected, Viper was alert enough, but her master's 
 head rested on his arms upon the table beside an 
 empty tumbler. 
 
 His more seasoned companion still sat opposite, 
 his bleared eyes blinking in the smoke. 
 
 The old drover said nothing that night. Nick 
 would not have understood him if he had done 
 so, being, indeed, in a region to which human 
 words cannot penetrate. But in the morning, 
 when the reckoning was paid and the party were 
 again on the march, he proceeded to point his 
 moral. 
 
 Leaning over from his pony towards the lad, 
 who, with an aching head and shamefaced looks,
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 259 
 
 was trudging beside him, he touched him on the 
 shoulder and said 
 
 " Sae ye mean to eat yer sour grapes, as yer 
 faithers hae dune, and mak' the warld a bit harder 
 for yer bairns than it's been for ye, eh, laddie ? " 
 
 Nick said nothing. But he shook off the old 
 man's hand. 
 
 " Canny there ! " went on old Colin ; " nae can- 
 trips wi' me, lad ! It's laid upo' me what to say, 
 and I mean to say't too. Sae just cock yer lugs 
 and listen, as Kelt, there, dis when I gie him his 
 orders." 
 
 Still Nick said nothing. 
 
 A misty rain was driving across the moors, and 
 the road was wet and muddy. The moisture settled 
 on the boy's cap and shock of red hair, and trickled 
 down his face and neck. He was feeling profoundly 
 miserable and uncomfortable, both in mind and 
 body. The shilling had gone from his pocket, and 
 there was nothing to show for it but shamefaced- 
 ness and an aching head. And now here was to 
 be a lecture into the bargain ! 
 
 There seemed no help for it, however, any more 
 than for the falling rain. Both would alight on 
 his devoted head whether he liked it or not. So 
 he bowed to the inevitable. 
 
 Old Colin's eyes twinkled a little as he saw the 
 stiffness in the lad's shoulders and the sullen set 
 of his mouth. He read in them the state of his 
 mind as plain as print. 
 
 "Ye're thinkin' I'm gangin' to haud ye a lang
 
 260 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 discoorse, laddie ? " he said, with a humorous 
 twist of the lips. " Weel, and if I was minded that 
 way ye couldna gainsay me, ony mair than gin ye 
 were in the kirk and I were the minister. Ye're 
 settin' under me, sae to speak, for Shag's ma 
 poopit and weel above ye. But, nevertheless, ye're 
 mista'en. I've given ye my text, it's true ; but 
 what I've still to say is mair of the nature of a 
 confession. Ye think, mebbe, I'm i' quite anither 
 boat than yersel', and am speakin' as the Pharisee 
 to the Publican aboot things I've hed nae experience 
 of? But there again ye're mista'en. They ca' me 
 Cammel, it's true, and for the maitter o' that we're a' 
 Cammels where I was born. But, for a' that, it wasna 
 my faither's name. He was a ne'er-do-weel, was my 
 faither, though I say it mysel', a Lowland drover wi' 
 as bad a name as any i' the beesiness. And a bad 
 time I had wi'm when I was a bit laddie. Swearin' 
 and drinkin' and a' that's bad I larnt frae him afore 
 my face had lost its smoothness. Then he well he 
 deed, and the less said aboot it the better. After 
 that I got a godly man for a maister, and it was 
 frae his mooth I larnt the bit textie I gav' ye. He 
 larnt me hoo to fecht the deils that were in me, 
 and fecht them I did, till Weel, they've ceased 
 to rive me ; and though, mebbe, I sudna say't, the 
 name o' auld Colin Cammel's weel respectit frae the 
 Hielan's to the Borders. And what I've dune ye can 
 dae and a', laddie, gin ye'll ony try, thro' the grace 
 o' One ye ken o'." 
 
 The old drover's voice trembled a little as he said
 
 SOUR GRAPES. 261 
 
 the last words. Sympathy, deep feeling, and earnest- 
 ness were all in it, and the old face reflected what 
 the mouth uttered. 
 
 Again he stooped from his saddle and laid a large 
 rough hand, which, nevertheless, was very gentle, 
 upon the shoulder of the waif who was walking by 
 him ; and this time Nick did not throw it off. 
 
 " Ye'll try, laddie, winna ye ? " he said appeal- 
 ingly. " It'll no be easy, I ken that. Sich as ye 
 and me has a harder time nor maist, and there's a 
 wheen (some) things lawful for ithers that's inex- 
 pedient for us, and must be gi'en up the whusky, 
 for ane. It's no safe to use it when the longin's 
 i' the blood. But it's better to cut off e'en the 
 richt hand than to lose the soul, ye ken. Ye're 
 no offended wi' me noo, laddie, eh ? " 
 
 The last words fell with soft persuasive appeal 
 on Nick's ears, and he struggled hard to answer 
 them. But never in his life before had he been 
 spoken to in such a fashion, and, somehow, it made 
 his heart feel very large, almost as though it were 
 spreading upward to his throat. And, try as he 
 might, no words would come. But he put up both 
 hands and grasped the big, gentle hand with a grip 
 which brought the tears into old Colin's eyes. And 
 that did quite as well. 
 
 The honest old drover and the homeless vagabond, 
 against whom, till now, the hand of every man had 
 been, took hands, as in a bargain, which was none 
 the less binding that not a word was said.
 
 262 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 DOGS OF JUSTICE. 
 
 THE Spring Assizes came on at Jedborough, and, 
 as old Colin Campbell had foreseen, Nick was called 
 as a witness. 
 
 Matt the Tinker, otherwise Matthew Elliott, had, 
 also, been captured by the police, and both he and 
 Greyhound Geordie, whose real name was George 
 Grant, after examination before the magistrates, 
 had been committed for trial. 
 
 Pete had managed to disappear ; but Mrs. Matt, 
 who had, also, been taken into custody on a charge 
 of complicity, had, in her desire to clear herself, 
 let out a good many more particulars than her 
 husband at all approved of, and it was through 
 her that Nick, and the outrage committed on 
 him, became known to the authorities. 
 
 Up to the date of the trial our friend had con- 
 tinued with Colin Campbell the drover, and the 
 two, in spite of the gulf of years which yawned 
 between them, had become fast friends, as lads and 
 old men occasionally do when there is sympathy 
 between them to bridge the gulf. 
 
 That short sermon, preached from the pulpit of 
 the pony's back on the way to Carlisle, was the last 
 of the kind addressed by the old drover to his
 
 DOGS OF JUSTICE. 263 
 
 protege. No more words, indeed, seemed needed. 
 Example, the most impressive of all sermons, was 
 left to do the rest. 
 
 At Nick's special request, the daily shilling which 
 old Colin insisted should be his, was kept by the 
 master till the servant should have learnt to spend 
 it better. For if money helps to make a man 
 feel " responsible," as the old drover had said, Nick 
 felt he would be better without any such responsi- 
 bility just then. 
 
 " Ye're reet, laddie, ye're reet," Colin had said ap- 
 provingly, when his pupil made the request. " Bairns 
 must cut their wisdom-teeth afore they're trusted 
 with property, and, seemingly," he added with a 
 smile, "yours is still to cut." 
 
 It was on a bright spring day, when a keen east 
 wind was ruffling the waters of the Tweed and 
 blowing the big white clouds, like ships, across 
 the pale blue sky, that Nick came back to 
 Jedborough. 
 
 He had greatly dreaded the return. To stand 
 in a court of justice and give evidence under the 
 searching eye of the law is trying enough to any 
 one inexperienced. But for a lad with a secret, 
 which as yet he had not dared to share even with 
 his fatherly old friend, it was nothing less than 
 appalling. 
 
 He felt sure that, somehow or another, though 
 the trial would turn on the crime of others, that 
 night's work of his under the Roman Wall would 
 come to light, and the prospect scared him.
 
 264 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 If he could have run away he would willingly 
 have done so. But old Colin Campbell's influence 
 held him fast. He could not "run" with the old 
 man's eyes upon him. So here he was at Jed- 
 borough, feeling like an ancient criminal with the 
 red-hot ploughshares before him He must get 
 through his ordeal as best he could, or betray 
 himself by refusal. 
 
 Old Colin Campbell had insisted on accompany- 
 ing him. Why the lad was so reluctant the drover 
 could not guess ; for, as he had said, he was an 
 adept in reading character, and he failed to read in 
 Nick's face the record written by crime. 
 
 So he set down the evident shrinking, in part to 
 a boy's natural dislike to face a legal tribunal, in 
 part to a commendable reluctance to speak against 
 his companions. 
 
 Nor was this latter guess entirely without foun- 
 dation. 
 
 In spite of his rough awakening on the subject 
 of Greyhound Geordie, Nick could not quite con- 
 vince himself that the old rascal's seeming kindness 
 had all been part of the plot. In the end he had 
 certainly intended to use the lad whom he had 
 succoured, and, failing to do so, had abandoned him 
 to a cruel fate. But the kindness had seemed 
 too genuine at first to be a deliberate act of 
 betrayal. 
 
 Had it been Pete against whom he was called 
 on to bear witness, Nick felt that he would have 
 done so without compunction, for he could not
 
 DOGS OF JUSTICE. 265 
 
 forget how that young ruffian had gloated over his 
 own and Viper's tortures. But with Greyhound 
 Geordie it was different. And the prospect of 
 seeing that slouching figure and foxy old face, 
 with the keen and kindly eyes, standing before him 
 at the bar, and being compelled to say that which 
 would help to fasten his doom upon him, was by no 
 means pleasant to Nick. 
 
 But this was part of the ordeal which must be 
 faced, and from which there was no escaping. The 
 dreaded moment came. 
 
 With a beating heart and legs which trembled 
 under him, Nick was brought into court and put 
 into the witness-box. 
 
 For the first few moments his terror was so 
 great that his head swam and he could see nothing 
 distinctly. A mist seemed to be over everything, 
 through which all loomed dim and wavering before 
 his eyes. 
 
 Presently, however, a voice brought him to his 
 senses a solemn voice administering to him the 
 oath. 
 
 As he repeated it mechanically after the officer, 
 he seemed to hear again old Colin's voice of warn- 
 ing in his ear, "Spak" the truth, my laddie, wi'out 
 respect o' persons. It's the only way." 
 
 Then he looked up. 
 
 The mist had cleared away, and there, among the 
 hundreds of curious faces which crowded the court, 
 was the kindly countenance of old Colin himself, 
 smiling encouragingly upon him.
 
 266 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The sight of the sympathy in that one face gave 
 the lacking courage to poor Nick. He held up 
 his head, clutched his hands together, and set his 
 teeth to bear what might be coming. 
 
 He saw the judge, hedged about with all the 
 solemn terrors which the law can give. He saw 
 the keen, alert faces of the advocates and writers- 
 to-the-signet. They looked to him like greyhounds 
 held in by the leash, ready to spring out upon 
 some frightened hare as soon as the word was given. 
 And, though he was in the witness-box and not in 
 the prisoner's dock, his heart went pit-a-pat, as if 
 he were the hare himself. 
 
 A vision of the Laird o' Cockpen flashed 
 through his mind at the thought of greyhounds, 
 and then came the thought of Greyhound 
 Geordie. 
 
 Nick knew that he must be standing at the bar 
 together with Matt the Tinker, though, as yet, he 
 had not been able to bring himself to glance that 
 way. 
 
 All these thoughts and feelings look long upon 
 the page, but the mind reads its own records much 
 more quickly than eyes can do. And poor Nick's 
 experiences, so far as we have told them, were 
 crowded into a very short space of time. For, 
 of course, you will understand for yourselves that 
 that learned judge and his " dogs of justice " were 
 not likely to await the convenience of their 
 trembling witness, any more than, in the old free days, 
 the prisoners at the bar and the Laird o' Cockpen
 
 DOGS OF JUSTICE. 267 
 
 were wont to consider the feelings of the frightened 
 hare. By this time, indeed, one of the greyhounds 
 had been "slipped," and was already beginning to 
 " worry " his victim. 
 
 " What is your name ? " he asked sharply. 
 
 " Nick," came the low answer. 
 
 " What else ? Give your surname." 
 
 A pause. Then with slow reluctance the witness 
 answered 
 
 " I's got nane." 
 
 The advocate raised his eyebrows. 
 
 " How old are you ? " 
 
 " Aboot sixteen, or, mebbe, seventeen ; I diven't 
 joost reetly ken." 
 
 " And you come from the borders of Cumberland 
 and Northumberland, I should guess by your accent, 
 eh?" 
 
 "Ye're reet." 
 
 " I thought so. What is the name of your native 
 place?" 
 
 There was a long pause. Nick looked this way 
 and that, like an animal hard-pressed trying to 
 escape. 
 
 But the greyhounds of the law are not wont to 
 let their victims escape them, and the one in whose 
 clutches poor Nick now found himself was not the 
 least keen of his kind. He put his question in a 
 different form. 
 
 " Perhaps you come from Haltwhistle ? " 
 
 "Mebbe, I dae, if ye say sae," was the sullen 
 answer.
 
 268 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The advocate smiled. 
 
 " I thought as much ! " he said ; " I know those 
 parts. And now I will trouble you to look at the 
 prisoners in the dock and tell me whether you have 
 seen them before ? " 
 
 Nick lifted his unwilling eyes. Like the poor 
 hare in the clutches of its captor, he had no choice 
 but to abandon himself. Yes, there was the sight 
 he had dreaded to see. But it was far worse than 
 he had expected. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie was not standing, but sitting 
 at the bar. It was easy to see that he had been 
 badly hurt, for his shoulder was bandaged and his 
 arm in a sling. His once healthy, wrinkled face, 
 browned by a life lived almost entirely out of 
 doors, had turned to a ghastly grey. His figure 
 had shrunk to half its former proportions. 
 
 The man had the pitiful look of one who is 
 wasted with incurable sickness. His eyes, with their 
 surrounding wrinkles, the handwriting of years of 
 craft and cunning and sarcasm, and, also, of a kindly 
 humour which looked strange amongst the rest, met 
 the eyes of the lad. The two looked long at each 
 other. 
 
 There was a sort of pathetic, half-yearning appeal 
 in the old man's eyes which went straight to the 
 boy's heart. 
 
 Once more he seemed to be sitting on the snow- 
 covered moor on the northern side of the Roman 
 Wall. That foxy face was bending over him with 
 an odd expression of kindness in its wrinkled lines,
 
 DOGS OF JUSTICE. 269 
 
 and a voice was saying, " I havena muckle wi' me 
 nobbut a bit bottle o' whusky and a crust o' 
 bread but ye're welcome to a share." 
 
 Nick hardly saw the sullen defiance in the face 
 of Matt the Tinker, who stood beside his companion 
 in crime. He had eyes for no one but Greyhound 
 Geordie, and, after that one long look, he could face 
 him no more. 
 
 It seemed to him as though he were being asked 
 to hit a man who had been kind to him, when that 
 man was himself in need. 
 
 Again he glanced hither and thither in the wild 
 desire to escape. But there was no escape for 
 him. 
 
 The advocate repeated his question, and, pain- 
 fully unwilling though the witness evidently was, 
 his testimony was dragged out of him. 
 
 Even the kindly encouragement which was still 
 in the rugged face of the old drover could no longer 
 comfort poor Nick. He felt as though he were 
 guilty of ingratitude and treason of the deepest 
 dye. He even forgot his own sufferings and those 
 of Viper, as, once more, he met the pathetic reproach 
 of those sunken eyes. 
 
 But he was soon to forget this, also, in a feeling 
 much more personal. For, the first advocate having 
 elicited all the information that he wanted concern- 
 ing the burglary, the advocate on the other side 
 arose, and began to cross-question the witness with 
 a view to discrediting his testimony. And now 
 began an ordeal for poor Nick, in comparison with
 
 2/O UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 which the first was as nothing. The fresh grey- 
 hound tore the poor hare unmercifully to pieces. 
 He was yet keener than his rival, and in a very 
 few minutes he had routed out not only a good 
 deal of the biography of poor Nick, but much of 
 Tramping Sal's as well. He had found out about 
 Nick's workhouse upbringing, and made him con- 
 fess to dismissal from Bellister. He had unearthed 
 the story of the hidden treasure, and was already 
 in full cry on the scent of that buried assau 1 t 
 by the Roman Wall, when a sudden interruption 
 took place from the audience which packed the 
 court. 
 
 " Ay, it's him ! " cried a man's voice, in loud, 
 angry tones. " It's him, sure enough. Yon's the 
 rascal himself whae stole the gold and the dog, and 
 nearlings knocked t' life oot o' ma son. If my lad 
 dees, he'll have to hang." 
 
 " Silence in the court ! " cried the officer. But he 
 cried in vain. 
 
 The crowd, which till now had listened with quiet 
 attention, rose to its feet, and for a few minutes 
 the court was in a hubbub. 
 
 " Down wi' the villain ! " they shouted. " Down 
 wi' the young rascal who is lying awa' the character 
 of a puir auld man. It's hissel' that's guilty ! " 
 
 For a short time it almost appeared as though 
 the lad in the witness-box would have been torn 
 from it and lynched by the indignant mob before 
 the very eyes of the judge and his officers. 
 
 But such a state of things could not long endure
 
 "WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS GREY." 2/1 
 
 in a nineteenth-century court of justice. Nick was 
 hustled out of sight. The police appeared on the 
 scene, cleared out the disturbers of the peace, and 
 order was restored. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 "WIIEX ALL THE WORLD IS GREY." 
 
 " I COULDNA hae believed it o' yon lad ! " 
 
 Old Colin Campbell stood on the stone bridge 
 over the rapid Tweed, with his arms leaning upon 
 the' parapet and his eyes on the running water. 
 His rough-hewn, kindly old face was full of trouble. 
 The corners of the mouth drooped pathetically, 
 and the lips trembled as, every now and then, they 
 formed the words which are written above. They 
 were spoken in a low voice, and were addressed to 
 no one but himself. For he was quite alone. Not 
 even his dog was with him, both Kelt and Viper 
 having been left at the inn when their masters 
 went into court. 
 
 The old drover had come out after the scene 
 described in the last chapter. He no longer cared 
 about the trial. He was only conscious of an aching 
 feeling of bitter disappointment. For the lonely 
 lad had stolen into the heart of the lonely old man. 
 He had learnt, not only to believe in him, but to
 
 2/2 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 love him. He had been full of hope for his future, 
 and proud of the improvement which he thought 
 had taken place since Nick had been under his care. 
 The revelation, therefore, which had taken place 
 that day had come upon him as a rude shock. It 
 seemed to him that he had been cruelly taken in ; 
 that the lad he had befriended had been playing 
 a part with him, pretending to give him his 
 confidence, and keeping back what, had he known 
 it, would have prevented all dealings between 
 them. 
 
 In the first bitterness of his disappointment old 
 Colin even forgot from what a terrible situation he 
 had rescued this lad, and was ready to believe with 
 the crowd that Greyhound Geordie, instead of being 
 the chief actor in a dastardly outrage, was the in- 
 nocent victim of a youthful criminal. Such black 
 ingratitude towards the old men who had been 
 deceived into showing kindness to a precocious 
 young rascal by means of a pitiful tale, seemed, 
 indeed, appalling, and old Colin, though he was too 
 sick at heart to join in it, could not find fault with 
 the angiy menace of the crowd. 
 
 As he stood there looking moodily at the water, 
 there was no doubt in the old man's mind concern- 
 ing the guilt of the lad. He had watched Nick 
 closely during the trial, had noticed the hesitation 
 with which he had given his evidence, and the 
 hunted look in his face when, under cross-examina- 
 tion, he had been forced to reveal his antecedents. 
 Above all, he had seen the scared look in the boy's
 
 "WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS GREY." 2/3 
 
 eyes when the accusing voice had been raised 
 against him. He had expected an indignant 
 denial ; but, instead of that, the tell-tale crimson 
 had rushed to his face, and he had hung his head 
 and allowed the storm to go over him in silence. 
 
 Such behaviour, it must be confessed, did not 
 look like innocence. To feel that we have been de- 
 ceived by, and disappointed in, some one to whom 
 we have taken a fancy, and towards whom we are 
 conscious of having gone out of our way to show 
 kindness, is not conducive to an impartial judgment. 
 We must not, therefore, blame old Colin for so 
 hastily condemning poor Nick. 
 
 Here was the bad name come up again against 
 this unlucky dog. Was it, this time, to end in 
 hanging ? 
 
 " I couldna hae believed it," repeated the old 
 man. " And, yet, if what yon mon said was true, a 
 mair hypocritical young tyke couldna be found i' 
 the hale kingdom. Eh, dear sirs, but it's gaen 
 me a stoond ! I had a feelin' maist byordinar 
 (extraordinary) for yon lad. Weel, weel, I've had 
 mony a disappointment in my life and I maun 
 joost tak' anither. It's frae the Lord's han', I ken 
 that, but I canna feel, the day, as if that made it 
 ony better to bide. It's sinfu' to say sae, I ken 
 fine, but sae it is. Eh, lad, lad ! What for did 
 ye deceive me that gait ? I'm no sae yable to 
 thole trooble as ance I was. Could ye no leave 
 me my lane ? Eh, dear, dear, dear ! " 
 
 In the soft spring twilight the old drover bowed 
 
 T
 
 2/4 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 his head upon the parapet and a few slow tears 
 dropped down into the flowing Tweed. For poor 
 Colin Campbell was old. He had never known the 
 joy and comfort of such ties as come with wife or 
 children, and he had, all unwittingly, given to this 
 lad all the long pent-up affection of a big, warm 
 heart. Never in his solitary life had he felt more 
 lonely than on that spring evening when he stood 
 on the Tweed bridge and saw his life flow on before 
 him, lonely to the end. 
 
 In vain the brown water laughed and chattered 
 and raced in the broad channel below him. In 
 vain the sunset painted the sky with the loveliest 
 tints of violet, rose, and crocus, which shone reflected 
 in the river, like another sunset down below. In 
 vain the coming spring told its soft tale of hope in 
 swelling bud and freshening field. Though always 
 before this kindly old philosopher had been able 
 to read the lesson of Nature even when much less 
 plainly writ, he failed to see it now. His old heart 
 seemed to have lost its spring at last, and his old 
 eyes saw all the smiling world in black and brown 
 and grey. 
 
 Even the jolly blackbird, whistling its blithe, 
 sweet prophecies of joy and gladness yet to come 
 in that thorn-bush by the river's brink, had no 
 message for the dull old ears. 
 
 " Hope on ! hope on ! hope on ! " it seemed to 
 say. " Another day, old man, another day." 
 
 But to our old friend Colin Campbell it seemed 
 that neither hope nor the future was now for him.
 
 "WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS GREY." 2/5 
 
 He had staked the last hope for his nearly run-out 
 life on one poor human heart. That heart had 
 proved a blank, and now he had lost his all. 
 
 Ay, it is easy to preach hope to others, but how 
 hard it is to apply the lesson to one's self when the 
 mists of disappointment are down on the mountains 
 of our life, and sun and stars have wholly disap- 
 peared ! How doubly hard for the old, whose sun 
 has nearly set ! Poor, poor old Colin Campbell ! 
 
 But while he leaned thus on the bridge with the 
 light dying around him, a hand was laid on his 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Maister Cammel, ye're wanted," said a voice. 
 
 The old drover looked up, and turned a dazed, 
 tear-wet face on the speaker. If this were a mes- 
 senger of hope he wore rather a queer livery a 
 dark-blue uniform, a broad leather belt, and a 
 helmet on his head. He was a policeman, in fact. 
 But what of that ? Hope sends queer messengers, 
 sometimes ; for she disdains not to use any. 
 
 " Eh, what ? Surely, ye're no gangin' to tak' my 
 chracter next, maister ? It's a' that's left me ! " 
 answered the old drover with a pathetic attempt at 
 a smile. " What for d'ye want me ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, Colin, it's no that," replied the police- 
 man, reassuringly. " It's yon lad o' yours. He's 
 wantin' sair to see ye. It seems there's a warrant 
 oot again' him for robbery and assault t'other side 
 o' the Border. It's at the instance o' a chap called 
 Ridley the same wha made the disturbance in the 
 coort to-day. They're takin' the lad to Haltwhistle,
 
 2/6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 the nicht, to be examined by the magistrates o' his 
 ain district, on charges of robbery and assault 
 brought against him by his late master, and he 
 wants to see ye afore he gangs." 
 
 " Nay, maister," answered the old drover, shaking 
 his head with mingled anger and sadness, " I've 
 had eneuch o' that lad." 
 
 " Nay, but, Colin, ye canna refuse to see him 
 when he begs sae sair ? Man, ye're no sac simple 
 as to gang wi' the tide o' public opcenion and 
 believe, as folks did, this afterneen, that yon grey- 
 heeded rascal has been wrongfully accused ? Nay, 
 nay, Pritchard's lass is main certain as to his back, 
 though she disna ken his face. And how came 
 that ball in his shoulder if it didna come frae her 
 gun ? Depend upon it, this lad will turn oot mair 
 sinned against than sinnin', though, mebbc, it's no 
 for me to say sae afore he's tried. Ye'll come 
 alang wi' me ? " 
 
 The old drover hesitated a moment, then he said 
 slowly, "Ay, I'll gang." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 HEART VERSUS WILL. 
 
 THE policeman opened the door of a little waiting- 
 room in the court-house, and introduced Campbell 
 into the presence of poor Nick.
 
 HEART VERSUS WILL. 2/7 
 
 The lad was sitting by a little table, with his 
 head down on his hands. 
 
 A policeman, who had him in charge, was sitting 
 by a small fire. 
 
 When the old drover came in he rose. 
 
 " He's asked to see you alone," he said, in the 
 slow, correct English which those speak to whom 
 a dialect comes more natural, and who have 
 carefully studied what they consider a more 
 "genteel" tongue. "The train starts in half an 
 hour ; you may have a quarter." Saying this, he 
 withdrew. 
 
 The old drover stood in the middle of the floor, 
 looking sadly down on his late protege. 
 
 The droop of the young figure showed the 
 deepest dejection. The shock of red hair and 
 the hands hid the whole of the face. 
 
 For full two minutes out of the precious fifteen, 
 neither of them stirred nor spoke. A clock over 
 the chimney-piece ticked ofif the minutes with 
 relentless regularity. 
 
 Still Colin Campbell stood and looked down 
 upon the bent red head. His heart yearned -over 
 the lad. But his sense of justice was stern, and 
 it tyrannized over his heart. 
 
 Presently, however, he took a step nearer to the 
 table. It seemed as though his heart were draw- 
 ing him in spite of his head. The clock had now 
 ticked off three minutes from the allotted fifteen, 
 and only twelve remained. 
 
 Still the boy did not look up, but the shock of
 
 278 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 red hair began to quiver. The old man saw it, 
 and a tear gathered in his grey eye and trickled 
 slowly down his furrowed cheek. 
 
 "Mair sinned against than sinnin'." The 
 policeman's words returned to his mind, and, with 
 the magnetism working upon him which comes from 
 the near presence of one beloved, his heart rose 
 up and began to wrestle with his will. He came so 
 near to the table that, by stretching out his hand to 
 the full extent of his arm, he might have touched the 
 red shock head had he so desired. But his hands 
 were clenched behind him, fettered by the sternness 
 of his will. 
 
 Five minutes were now gone from the fifteen, and 
 not a word had passed. As the clock hands pointed 
 to the ended five minutes, the lad's shoulders began 
 to heave, and presently a strangled sob sounded 
 through the quiet room. 
 
 Old Colin could bear the strain no longer. That 
 sob went deeply into his heart, so that, like a horse 
 which feels the spur, it broke away into a gallop, 
 and the will could no longer hold it in with either 
 bit or bridle. 
 
 He went close up to the lad, laid his large right 
 hand on the tumbled red hair, and another tear 
 trickled down and fell upon the boy's hands. 
 
 " My lad, my lad," he said in a voice which shook 
 pathetically. " My puir, puir bairn ! " 
 
 At the gentle touch and the pitying words, Nick 
 raised his head, saw that the old man had kneeled 
 down beside him, and with a cry like that of Esau
 
 HEART VERSUS WILL. 279 
 
 at the sight of what he had lost, bowed his fore- 
 head upon Colin's shoulder and wept sore. 
 
 Inexorable time went on. 
 
 Ten minutes passed, and yet the lad had said 
 no word of explanation. 
 
 There came a knock at the door. 
 
 " Five meenits mair, Maister Cammel," said a 
 voice, " and then ye maun come awa'." 
 
 Old Colin felt the boy tremble in his arms, for, 
 by this time, he had wrapped both of them around 
 him. 
 
 "My lad," he said, still in that same oddly soft 
 voice, " ye sent for me ? " 
 
 At the gentle reminder Nick raised his head, 
 cleared his throat with an effort, and answered 
 
 "Ay, maister, I wanted to to " The lump 
 
 came back, and he had to stop and swallow it. " I 
 wanted to let ye ken hoo sair I rue that I didna 
 tell ye arl. At first I was flayed o' losin' yer good 
 opinion, and maister, I've niver had a rale good 
 freend like ye afore ! Folks has tret me like 
 like a dog, ever sin' I can mind. Nay, I vvadna tret 
 a tyke as I've been tret, not 
 
 A passionate sob rose in his throat and checked 
 the words. 
 
 " Bairn, bairn, dinna I ken what it is ? " said the 
 old man, patting the heaving young shoulders with 
 a soothing touch. " Ye needna tell me. But, 
 laddie, time's nearly up. Let the sins o' ithers 
 bide, and keep to yer ain. Is it truth, then, what's 
 laid to yer charge ? Was it a' lees ye telt me ? "
 
 280 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 There was pathetic appeal far more than reproach 
 in the shaking voice. But Nick was stung to the 
 quick. He drew himself back from the clasp of the 
 old man's arms, and broke out reproachfully, in his 
 turn 
 
 " Lees ? And wad I lee to you, maister ? D'ye 
 ken me sae little after the days and weeks we've 
 travelled togither, that ye can think that on me ? 
 As true as I'm a sinful lad I've telt ye nobbut the 
 truth. I only wish I'd telt ye mair on't ! " 
 
 " Then ye're fausly accused ? Thank God, laddie ! 
 Thank God ! " 
 
 The light of a great relief broke over the old 
 man's face, which doubt had so sadly clouded, as, 
 sometimes, on the evening of a misty day the long 
 white shrouds of vapour twist themselves together 
 along the valley streams and leave the hilltops 
 clear to the sunshine. 
 
 But Nick could not clear himself altogether. 
 
 " I niver said it was art false," he said slowly. 
 " It's true I didna tak' the goold, nor did I steal 
 the dog she cam' after me of her ain free will. 
 But if Teddy Ridley dees, it'll be my hand that 
 did it. Nay, maister," he added hastily, as he saw 
 the cloud returning to old Colin's face, "I niver 
 meant him ill, but when I saw mysel' hounded awa' 
 for takin' what he took hissel' to the best o' my 
 belief, that is the deil cam' into me, I think, 
 and I didna ken what I did, nor care sae muckle 
 owther ! " 
 
 There was an odd sort of defiance in the way in
 
 HEART VERSUS WILL. 28 1 
 
 which the lad tossed his shock of red hair as he 
 said these words. Then in another tone he added 
 quickly, " Ye believe what I say, maister ? " 
 
 "Ay, laddie, and that I dae," was the hearty 
 answer. 
 
 " And ye forgie me ? " 
 
 " I'd hae but little chance mesel' if I didna, 
 laddie. May the guid Lord help ye through ! " 
 
 The last words came, after a little pause, with 
 trembling fervour, and again old Colin drew the 
 lad into his sheltering arms. 
 
 A sharp rap sounded on the door. 
 
 " Time's up ! " said a peremptory voice. 
 
 " I'll say a' I can in yer favour, laddie," said the 
 old drover, as he rose stiffly to his feet and turned 
 towards the entering policeman. 
 
 "Ay, I'm ready, sir," he said, as the man held 
 the door for him to pass out. 
 
 But Nick held him by the sleeve. He seemed 
 still to have something he wanted to say, but the 
 words did not easily come. 
 
 " Come, lad," said the policeman, with decision. 
 " We've got to march." 
 
 " Viper ! " gasped the boy. " I want to see her 
 afore I gan." 
 
 " I'll see to the tyke ; niver fret aboot her, 
 laddie," said old Colin, as the policemen took their 
 prisoner between them to conduct him to the train. 
 
 "But she'll niver sattle if I diven't tell her to 
 bide," objected the lad, plaintively. " Can't I see 
 her, sir ? " he turned to the more kindly looking of
 
 282 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 his two conductors "nobbut yan minute?" The 
 boy's eyes pleaded as well as his lips. 
 
 The man seemed touched. For policemen have 
 hearts as well as other men, though those stiff blue 
 coats are a wonderful protection, as a general rule. 
 But, nevertheless, he shook his head. 
 
 " It canna be, lad," he said, not unkindly. " It's 
 no possible, ye ken. And besides Sergeant 
 Kennedy," he went on, turning to his companion, 
 " what did I hear aboot yon dorg ? " 
 
 " Her owner's taken her," answered the superior 
 officer shortly, in his school English, as, with a 
 frown of reproof to his subordinate, he marched 
 his prisoner away. 
 
 Old Colin Campbell watched them go down the 
 street to the station ; but his face was no longer 
 that of a man who has lost his all. 
 
 " Pier laddie ! " he sighed, and his old eyes were 
 wistful and tender as they rested on the strong 
 young figure between the two tall policemen 
 " pier laddie ! It's vara hard on him vara hard ! 
 And yet eh, Colin, my mon ! " he continued, apos- 
 trophizing himself, as he went on his way to the 
 inn. " Eh, Colin, my mon, but ye're sair like Peter, 
 ye're vara short o' faith ! Ye'll hae to clap down 
 on yer knees, this nicht, and thank the Lord for a' 
 His mercies, ye wull that!" 
 
 He crossed the bridge over the Tweed in the soft 
 spring gloaming. The light was almost all gone 
 now all but one lingering yellow gleam remained 
 to show where the sun had been.
 
 THE WORLD AGAINST HIM. 283 
 
 The trees by the river were wrapped in shadow, 
 but the cheerful blackbird whistled on. 
 
 " Hope ! hope ! hope ! " it said, " another day 
 will dawn, another day ! " 
 
 And, this time, old Colin's ears were no longer 
 deaf. 
 
 " Thank God ! " he murmured, for his heart was 
 overflowing, though he was not yet upon his knees. 
 " He's a deal better to us 'or we desarve a vast 
 better! I'll, mebbe, be spared to see my laddie 
 ance mair afore I dee." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE WORLD AGAINST HIM. 
 
 "AND are ye quite determined to proceed against 
 yon puir lad, Mr. Ridley ? " 
 
 The speaker was old Colin Campbell, who had 
 followed his protege to Haltwhistle, where Nick 
 was now detained at the police-station, awaiting 
 the Petty Sessions, which were to be held next 
 day. 
 
 John Ridley, as we have seen, had, after much 
 searching, hunted down his quarry at last. For 
 Nick had not only, as he supposed, committed a 
 robbery on his premises and an assault upon his 
 son, but he had defied his master to his face 
 almost a worse crime than either of the others in
 
 284 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 the eyes of the farmer of Bellister. It was to 
 Ridley's exertions, more even than to those of the 
 police, that Nick's apprehension was owing. He 
 had taken a warrant out against his late servant 
 on both charges, and so determined was he to 
 bring him to justice, that, dissatisfied with what he 
 considered the slow proceedings of the police, he 
 had constituted himself a special detective in the 
 case. Reading in the papers the account of the 
 burglary near Jedborough, and of the outrage, by 
 the tinkers supposed to have been concerned in it, 
 on a tramp-boy, his suspicions that the latter 
 might possibly be Nick were immediately aroused. 
 For he remembered that, according to Nick's own 
 story, he had been in company with people of that 
 class when first he had run away from Bellister ; 
 and what more likely than that, on his present 
 flight, he had joined with such again. 
 
 "Birds of a feather flock together," said Ridley 
 to himself, "and what fitter company than tramps 
 and thieves could there be for a young rascal of 
 that sort ? Well, I always meant to look up 
 William Scott, the horse-dealer chap at Jedborough, 
 and see if he hasn't got a cart-mare to suit me 
 for Polly's getting a bit auld for ma work. I'll 
 kill twae birds wi' yan steane, and attend the 
 trial. Mebbe, I'll get some information, even if 
 this tramp-lad should turn out not to be 
 Nick." 
 
 Accordingly, John Ridley had crossed the 
 Border, ostensibly to buy a mare, for he preferred
 
 THE WORLD AGAINST HIM. 285 
 
 to say nothing about his other errand, lest it should 
 prove to be but a wild-goose chase after all. 
 
 What he heard in Jedborough, however, made 
 him very sanguine that Nick and the tramp were 
 one and the same. And when he learnt that the lad 
 in question had red hair, and that he would appear 
 in the witness-box against the prisoners for burglary, 
 his excitement was such that it required all his 
 iron self-control to keep his suspicions to himself. 
 
 He spoke of them to no one, however, but the 
 counsel for the defence, with whom he had an 
 interview, supplying him with a good deal of 
 information concerning the past history of the lad 
 whom he felt next to certain the witness was, and 
 suggesting a searching cross-examination. 
 
 But though Ridley prided himself upon being 
 able to keep cool on any emergency, his passions 
 were not by any means so well-bridled as he 
 imagined them to be. 
 
 The sight of Nick sent the angry blood to his 
 head, and it was all that he could do to sit quiet 
 while the witness gave his evidence against the 
 prisoners. When, however, the counsel for the 
 defence got up, and, in pursuance of his own 
 suggestions, proceeded to cross-examine the wit- 
 ness, Ridley could no longer contain his excite- 
 ment. The Roman Wall was no sooner mentioned, 
 than, quite carried away by his feelings, and unable 
 to await the end, the farmer sprang to his feet, 
 and took the matter out of the lawyer's hands by 
 hurling his accusation at Nick's head.
 
 286 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 It was not very likely, therefore, that, having 
 run down and captured his prey, as he considered, 
 quite through his own astuteness, he would now 
 forego the gratification of his vengeance at the 
 request of Nick's new master. 
 
 He had hardly the patience to listen to Colin 
 while he put the question with which this chapter 
 begins. 
 
 Growing very red about the face and neck, he 
 rose to his feet and pointed to the door of the 
 room in which the interview had taken place. 
 
 "Am I determined to proceed again' yon lad? 
 'Deed and I am that, mister. I dinna ken whae 
 ye may be, but it speaks badly for ye to be friends 
 wi' sich scum o' the earth as the young rascal ye're 
 trying to beg off. I wish ye good mornin', mister." 
 
 The old drover turned away without a word, 
 and left the farmer to himself. He was, at the 
 same time, too sad and too proud to notice the 
 insult to himself. His thoughts were all with "his 
 lad," as, in his heart, he called poor Nick. 
 
 He knew what he would himself feel if shut up 
 in prison ; and, to his kindly heart, the idea of his 
 late companion, shut up in a close cell, awaiting 
 he knew not what, was nearly as painful as though 
 he had been there himself. The confinement was 
 bad enough, but far worse might be in store. 
 
 Old Colin felt his flesh creep as he called to 
 mind the account Ridley had given of his son 
 Teddy. 
 
 The lad's condition was grave. It was more
 
 THE WORLD AGAINST HIM. 287 
 
 than improbable that he could be carried into 
 court to give his evidence, next day ; and the 
 doctors were doubtful as to whether he would ever 
 rally from the injuries he had received. 
 
 " If my lad dees, he'll have to hang for it," 
 Ridley had said, using the same words that he had 
 uttered at Jedborough. 
 
 And old Colin knew, that, in the event of the 
 assault being proved against Nick, this would, pro- 
 bably, be the end of it. " Puir lad, puir, puir fellow ! " 
 
 Old Colin repeated the phrase at intervals, under 
 his breath, as he walked back to Haltwhistle, and 
 his heart was heavy within him. 
 
 He had put his protege's case into the hands of 
 a solicitor, so that nothing might be neglected 
 which could lead to a satisfactory conclusion. But 
 Colin had little faith in lawyers. 
 
 " I like nane o' they finnickin' writers," he 
 muttered, as after an interview with the solicitor, 
 he turned his steps towards the police-station to 
 see Nick. "They're a' the same wi' their 'afore- 
 saids,' their ' thereinafters,' and a' the tag-rag o' 
 words they use to wrap up a simple beesiness. 
 But, like a' the fashes o' this warld, they're neces- 
 sary evils, I suppose, and we maun e'en pit up wi' 
 them till we gang aloft. We'll be shot o' them 
 then. For there'll be nae law up there, I jaloose 
 (suspect), and, consequently, nae lawyers." 
 
 Having arrived at this rather uncomfortable con- 
 clusion for the lawyers, old Colin lifted his head 
 with a little air of defiance, and walked more rapidly
 
 288 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 on his way. The cause of this gesture was the im- 
 pudent remark of a little boy to his fellows as the 
 drover went by. 
 
 "Yon's the chap that's the friend o' the young 
 deevil," he said, pointing with his finger to Colin. 
 
 "What d'ye mean?" asked his companions. 
 
 " Why, the chap they're tryin' for the murder o' 
 a decent man's son Nick they ca' him. Diven't 
 ye ken whae auld Nick is ? Ay, I thowt sae ! 
 Well, this is the young un ! " 
 
 The boys laughed. But old Colin only quickened 
 his walk a little, and held his head the higher. 
 
 " Sin' a' the warld's again' the puir laddie," he 
 thought, "the mair reason I sud stand up for him. 
 And I wul ! " 
 
 The old drover had an order to visit the prisoner, 
 a,nd he was admitted without difficulty. 
 
 Nick looked very white and weary, and there was 
 a hunted look in his eyes which went to his friend's 
 heart. But he tried to smile as he saw the painful 
 emotion of the old man. 
 
 " Niver fret, maister," he said, with a vain attempt 
 at cheerfulness ; " I niver had much hope frae the 
 first, for I nivef had nae luck in my life. If yan's 
 born to hang, yan'll be hanged. Sae what's t' use 
 o' frettin' ? ". 
 
 " My laddie, my laddie, ye maunna say that," 
 cried old Colin in great distress, so that his voice 
 shook. " Yer life's in the Lord's hands ; ye ken 
 that not e'en a sparrow fa's wi'oot Him ? And, 
 laddie, the Lord is good. I hae proved it."
 
 THE WORLD AGAINST HIM. -289 
 
 "Then ye dinnot believe in luck, maister?" 
 Nick's wistful grey eyes looked into the troubled 
 face of his friend. " Ye dinnot haud wi' them that 
 think there's onything in the star ye're born under ? " 
 
 " The stars ? Havers ! " replied old Colin, with 
 the irritability of one who is in grief of mind. 
 " What's the stars got to dae wi' our lives ? . I sud 
 like to hear wha was the fule-body that telt ye sich 
 a story as yon ! Why, lad " the querulous note 
 went out of his voice " it's naethin' but faithless- 
 ness to say sich things. Didna God mak' the stars, 
 also? and isna He their Ruler as weel as oors-?" 
 
 "Mebbe ye're reet, maister. I ken little aboot 
 sich things. I!ve larned nae religion sin' I was a 
 bit bairn at the schule." 
 
 "Nor I havena learnt mickle owther," was the 
 answer. " I niver hed mich chance o' book-larnin', 
 and I dinna ken whether a' my opeenions wad 
 joost come up to the measur* o' the Kirk, for I've 
 hed to wark them oof by mysel' for the maist part. 
 But, laddie, the heart has mair to say in them 
 things than the heed no that I'm sayin' onything 
 again' guid larnin'. But\ if we've given the heart 
 to Him, and hae dune oor best, He'll no be that 
 ill content. Pit yersel' in His /lands, bairn, and 
 dinna fash yersel' aboot sich heathen things as 
 stars. He'll dae His best for ye, ye may depend 
 o' that." 
 
 " Time's up, sir." 
 
 Colin Campbell's eyes rested silently upon Nick's. 
 Heart seemed speaking to heart, though both the 
 
 U
 
 2QO UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 old heart and the young were too full to put those 
 sayings into words. 
 
 " God keep ye, my bairn ! " said the old man ; 
 and then the door shut behind him, and Nick was 
 left alone. 
 
 But he no longer felt alone. All his young life 
 he had had to stand by himself and fight for his 
 own hand, as the expression is. But now, even 
 though it seemed as though the world was more 
 than ever arrayed against him, he felt, for the first 
 time, that there was a friend by his side who was 
 fighting for him. 
 
 The care and affection shown him by old Colin 
 could not have been greater had they been shown 
 between father and son, and the assurance that some 
 one cared for and believed in him brought a feeling 
 of warmth and strength to the poor lad's heart. 
 
 It did more. It made the fact of a Father in 
 heaven a reality to him. 
 
 Sitting alone in his cell he \vent over and over 
 again in his mind the words that old Colin had 
 spoken, till, at last, when darkness came, for the 
 first time since he was a little lad, Nick fell on his 
 knees and prayed. 
 
 The scared look passed out of his eyes. Peace 
 settled, like a dove, upon his heart, and the prisoner, 
 spite of the uncertainties of the morrow, slept as 
 soundly, that night, as any free man could have 
 done, without a care to trouble him.
 
 ( 291 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE BITER BIT. 
 
 THERE was a great stir in Haltwhistle, next day. 
 The local interest shown in a case is all the stronger 
 when those concerned in it live in the near neigh- 
 bourhood, and when the scenes of the crimes to 
 be inquired into, are so well known to every 
 inhabitant as were Bellister and the Roman Wall. 
 
 Nick and Teddy had been at school with most 
 of the lads, and that the one should have nearly 
 been " the death " of the other, when they had 
 lived so long under one roof, created a feeling of 
 delightful horror in the minds of all their con- 
 temporaries. It was a sensational bit out of a 
 newspaper, enacted in their very midst, which, in the 
 eyes of many of its inhabitants, raised the quiet little 
 town of Haltwhistle to a position of public interest 
 and notoriety which was extremely flattering. 
 
 "The Haltwhistle Murder Case" how thrilling 
 that would sound ! This, we are sorry to say, was 
 the thought in too many minds ; and, though 
 nobody liked to confess it, there was a lurking 
 hope that events might so turn out as to result 
 in this crowning distinction. For, even in the 
 nineteenth century, enough of savagery remains
 
 292 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 among us to cause the appetite for horrors to be 
 stronger than that sense of pity and fellow-feeling 
 which Christians ought to cherish for their sinning, 
 as well as for their suffering brethren. 
 
 The very youth of the prisoner was looked on, 
 by most of those who flocked to their doors to see 
 him go by, as an added ingredient in the interest. 
 His smooth face and boyish looks, it is true, awoke 
 pity in a few hearts ; but with the majority, they 
 weighed in the scale against him. 
 
 " Nobbut a bairn," was the common remark, " and 
 yet as bad as the auldest sinner ! It's joost horrify- 
 ing, isn't it ?" And heads were shaken, and frowns 
 levelled at poor Nick, so that he felt himself con- 
 demned already. 
 
 John Ridley and his wife were the first witnesses 
 to be examined, and they gave their evidence 
 ruthlessly. They had not a word to say for the 
 orphan who had grown up in their house, and 
 everything that they could say against him they 
 said. 
 
 They spoke of the boy's ingratitude in running 
 away the first time from the people who had 
 befriended him ; of the ill-treatment of their son 
 by the defendant, even in those early days, which 
 had led to his leaving Bellister. 
 
 " The very fact of his return," said John Ridley, 
 "showed that he kent how guid a heame we had 
 gi'en him." And then he went on to show how 
 lenient he and his wife had been in receiving the 
 orphan back, and laid great stress on the base
 
 THE BITER BIT. 293 
 
 return for their kindness made by Nick in robbing 
 their premises, and attacking their son. Nick's 
 lawyer here remarked that it was by no means 
 proved that his client had taken the gold, and that, 
 even supposing this to be the case, it was not his 
 employers whom he had robbed, valuables, found 
 as the coins had been, being " Treasure Trove " 
 which is claimed by the Crown. Ridley seemed a 
 little taken aback by this information, which cleared 
 up the question, raised in the byre by Nick and 
 Meggie, on the day of the finding of the coins, as 
 to whose property they really were. But the farmer 
 had not done yet, and he went on to relate how 
 Nick, on being accused of the theft, had again run 
 away from the place without even waiting to be 
 dismissed. 
 
 "Whae's owe t' gold is hardlys sae much the 
 question, as / see it," said Ridley, with a cutting 
 glance at Nick's lawyer. " It's whae bagged it we 
 want to ken. And if I'd been let to speak wi'out 
 having t' words ta'en oot o' ma mooth, I'd ha' telt 
 what, to ma mind, gans far to show. Why, that 
 lad hadn't a word to say for hissel' when I pit it 
 to 'm ! And if to bolt while my back was turned 
 isn't to fit on t' cap, I'll joost trouble the wise folks 
 who have studied the law to show me what is ! " 
 
 There was a laugh at this, and Nick felt the 
 blood rush to his face as he realized that, by his 
 precipitate flight, he had, indeed, given the Ridleys 
 a handle against him. 
 
 Yes, it would have been wiser to have stayed
 
 294 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 and braved it out he saw that every one was 
 thinking so. But then, not one of them knew how 
 his employers had goaded him to it by their 
 determined belief in his guilt. 
 
 Meggie Ridley was now summoned to give her 
 evidence, and Nick felt a feeble hope, as he heard 
 her name, that here, at last, was some one who 
 would be ready to say what she could in his favour. 
 Even though she had helped him so little when 
 first he was accused, he could not believe, knowing 
 how kind she had always been, that this com- 
 panion of his childhood would fail him now, when 
 he needed a friend so much. But bitter disappoint- 
 ment was in store. 
 
 The pretty, fair-haired child, with her blue eyes 
 and apple-blossom complexion, created quite a 
 stir as she entered the witness-box. It was easy 
 to see how frightened and ill-at-ease she was. 
 There were marks of tears on her cheeks, and she 
 kept her eyes cast down and her hands locked 
 together, while her lips trembled and her breath 
 came fast. When she appeared, the prisoner turned 
 his eyes towards her with a look of eager question- 
 ing. They seemed to be appealing to her to stand 
 his friend in this his hour of trial, as he and she 
 had always been friends before. 
 
 "Meggie," they seemed to say, " You won't be 
 against me, will you ? " 
 
 But the girl's eyes gave him no answer. They 
 did not even glance his way. Not even by a 
 gesture did she show that she was aware of his
 
 THE BITER BIT. 295 
 
 presence. The frank, roguish Meggie of other 
 days seemed to have utterely disappeared. 
 
 Her answers came low and trembling, and, alas ! 
 they did him more harm than good. It seemed to 
 poor Nick as though his old playfellow, instead of 
 standing up for him, was doing her best to ruin 
 him ; and the iron entered into his soul, as each 
 low, hesitating reply seemed to rivet more firmly 
 upon him the crimes of which he was accused. 
 
 When, at last, her testimony was given, and Nick 
 again looked towards her with reproach and en- 
 treaty, she still refused to look at him. 
 
 It seemed as though she were determined not to 
 acknowledge him in any way. 
 
 " She's shamed o' me, that's it," thought poor 
 Nick. " She winnot let wit (show) that she ever 
 cared a pin for sich as me." 
 
 The thought filled him with bitterness. It was 
 that, far more than the actual harm her testimony 
 had done to his cause, which went to the boy's heart, 
 and brought with it a reckless carelessness of 
 results. 
 
 " If Meggie's turned again' me, I dinna care 
 what happens to me ! " he thought to himself ; and 
 he set his face with a look of sullen unconcern, 
 which convinced the onlookers that he was not 
 only guilty, but hardened in crime. 
 
 There was a pause when Meggie had given her 
 evidence. She was crying by the time it was 
 over, and many people, who showed no pity for 
 poor Nick, felt sorry for her.
 
 2Q6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 There was a little stir and whispering in the 
 court. Then the doctor, who was attending Teddy, 
 came in and reported that he had just been to 
 Bellistcr with a carriage, intending to bring his 
 patient into court, had it been possible to do so ; 
 but that he had found the condition of the lad so 
 critical as to make his appearance out of the 
 question. 
 
 " It is as much as his life is worth," said the 
 doctor, gravely. " It may be that, in a week, we 
 may patch him up sufficiently to warrant it. But 
 I doubt it. I am sorry to say that it is as likely 
 as not that the injuries will ultimately prove fatal." 
 
 Again there was a stir in the court, and glances 
 of horror and anger were directed towards the 
 prisoner. 
 
 It seemed more than likely that this dour- 
 faced young fellow would be sent to the assizes 
 on a charge of "Wilful Murder," or, at least, of 
 " Manslaughter." The case bid fair to be sensa- 
 tional in the highest degree. 
 
 After that little stir, every one grew very silent. 
 They were listening intently for what would come 
 next. 
 
 But nothing came to satisfy the craving for more. 
 
 The story, which had grown so interesting, was 
 suddenly broken off; for, in the critical condition 
 of the principal witness, it was impossible to pro- 
 ceed. The case was remanded for a week, and 
 Nick was taken back to the police-station. 
 
 As he left the court, in charge of two policeman
 
 THE BITER BIT. 297 
 
 old Colin was waiting at the door on the chance 
 of a word or look. But the policemen hurried 
 their prisoner on, evidently anxious to avoid the 
 crowd which had assembled to see him ; and it 
 was noticed that the boy kept his eyes on the 
 ground, and refused to lift them, though he 
 seemed aware of his old friend's neighbourhood. 
 
 Old Colin went back to his lodging with an 
 aching heart. But it was more for his lad than 
 for himself that he was distressed. He had 
 doubted him once, but not anything that he had 
 heard that day, much as the evidence had told 
 against Nick in the opinion of the public, could 
 shake his faith in the prisoner's innocence. 
 
 That week was a weary time both for Nick and 
 his old friend. It was passed by the boy in a sort 
 of hopeless apathy. He told himself, that, spite of 
 anything old Colin might urge to the contrary, he 
 was "born to be hanged, and hanged he would 
 be." He did not even seem interested in the old 
 drover's reports of Teddy ; and Colin might have 
 been the dearest friend of the latter, so assiduous 
 was he in his inquiries. Not even the sick lad's 
 own father and mother could pray more earnestly 
 for his recovery than did this old man, who had 
 not so much as seen him. Considering the sort of 
 people the Ridleys were, this is, perhaps, not 
 saying very much. But let that pass. The spiritual 
 condition of John and his wife in no wise detracted 
 from the goodness of Colin's prayers. 
 
 And every prayer was needed. For, if Teddy
 
 298 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 died, the Haltwhistle magistrates would have no 
 choice but to send Nick to the assizes with a 
 terrible charge against him. For Teddy, before 
 his case became so serious, had made his deposi- 
 tion, and there seemed no doubt whatever who it 
 was that had assaulted him. 
 
 Nick, indeed, did not deny this charge, vehemently 
 as he had repudiated that of the robbery. 
 
 Would Teddy be able to appear ? This was 
 the question which was absorbing every one's 
 attention for miles around. It was this that was 
 asked when gossip met gossip, the state of the 
 weather, usually so interesting on these occasions, 
 especially in the variable climate of the hill-country, 
 being, for the time, quite neglected. 
 
 It was not "Will it rain, think ye?" even with 
 the farmers, but "What's been heard o' Ted 
 Ridley ? " 
 
 The doctor was tired of being questioned on the 
 subject, and avoided anxious inquirers whenever 
 he could, by galloping past on his stout grey horse. 
 But his face was watched as he went by, and the 
 answer gleaned from his looks which could not be 
 gained from his tongue. 
 
 " T' doctor luiks terrible grave," was the usual 
 comment at the beginning of the week. "Yon 
 lad maun be gannin' doon." 
 
 But, as the days went on, and the guardian of 
 the public health began to assume a satisfied 
 aspect, the opinion gained ground that Teddy 
 would recover.
 
 THE BITER BIT. 299 
 
 " He wadna seem sac smiling-like if his patient 
 \vas deein', wadn't t' doctor," sagacious folks re- 
 marked, and they were right in their conjecture. 
 
 Though still in a serious condition, and never 
 likely to be the lad he had been, the principal 
 witness in the case which was exciting such interest, 
 was "patched up" sufficiently to appear. No 
 wonder Dr. Shield looked complacent. It was a 
 decided feather in his cap, more especially as his 
 fellow practitioner, Dr. Billow, had said, all along, 
 that the case was hopeless. 
 
 Thus it came to pass, that, when the magistrates 
 met again, the two lads, who had last confronted 
 each other with all the heat of anger and 
 hatred in the dark solitude of the moors by the 
 Roman Wall, were again brought face to face to 
 answer in cold blood before a court of justice for 
 the deeds that had been done there. 
 
 Though it was evident now that neither murder 
 nor manslaughter could be brought against the 
 prisoner, the charges of theft and of assault re- 
 mained, and though the case was less sensational, 
 the interest of the public had hardly abated. 
 
 Everybody was eager to see one who had been 
 brought so near to death's door as Teddy had 
 been, by the hand of a school-companion, and to 
 hear what he had to say against that other lad 
 who had so nearly proved his slayer. 
 
 Even the whisper that another important ex- 
 amination would take place that morning, did not 
 cause the interest in the Bellister case to flag.
 
 30O UNDER THE DOG-STAR, 
 
 What this new case was, was known for certain 
 to very few. But it was reported that the police 
 had just captured a man who had been concerned 
 in the Jedborough burglary, and that he it was 
 whose examination was to come on after the 
 magistrates had finished with Nick. 
 
 No one had been able to catch a glimpse of 
 either of the prisoners, that morning ; the police 
 had been careful about that. But nearly every one 
 in Haltwhistle was on the look-out for Teddy's 
 arrival, and the carriage which brought him, with 
 the doctor in close attendance, was loudly cheered 
 as it drove up. 
 
 It was evident to see that public feeling was 
 entirely with the Ridleys, and that no one had 
 the smallest sympathy with the friendless lad who 
 had been their drudge. 
 
 Those who were fortunate enough to gain admit- 
 tance to the room where the magistrates were 
 sitting, looked curiously at the prisoner, as Teddy 
 Ridley, with his head bandaged and his face white 
 and sunken, was carried in and placed in an arm- 
 chair, instead of the usual witness-box. 
 
 Nick gave a slight start, as his eyes rested on 
 the pitiful wreck, whose face he had last seen, white 
 and senseless, upon the dark heather. How often 
 had that face appeared to him in dreams ! No 
 wonder he could not see it again unmoved. 
 
 But that little start was all that was to be seen 
 of the inward emotion. The moment after, his 
 eyes were on the ground, as before, and nothing
 
 THE BITER BIT. . $01 
 
 but sullen unconcern was to be read upon his face. 
 Teddy gave his testimony, also, without looking 
 at Nick. It was given in a low and feeble voice, 
 and sounded much like an oft-conned lesson re- 
 peated against the grain by some fretful schoolboy. 
 His story was short, and varied hardly at all from 
 his previous deposition. He had been returning 
 late from an errand, he said, on which his father 
 had sent him ; and, to save time, had cut across 
 the moor instead of going round by the road. 
 
 As he was passing the Roman Wall, Nick had 
 sprung out from its shadow, set the dog upon him, 
 and attacked him himself, at the same time, 
 utterly without provocation. 
 
 Taken off his guard, he had been quickly thrown 
 to the ground, and half-throttled by his assailant. 
 
 " For pity's sake ! " he had gasped, " dinna murder 
 me right off ! What have I done to " 
 
 " What have ye done ? " was the angry answer, 
 and then had come the accusation of stealing the 
 coins, which, said Teddy, he had taken himself. 
 
 A desperate struggle followed, Teddy getting 
 the better for a moment. Then he was pulled 
 down once more, and, after that, he remembered 
 nothing. 
 
 "And how do you know," he was asked hero, 
 " that the lad Nick was the thief ? Till he accused 
 you of taking the coins, you had not so much as 
 heard that they had been found." 
 
 Teddy did not answer at once. He looked faint, 
 and seemed to find it difficult to collect his thoughts.
 
 302 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 The doctor gave him a restorative, and then the 
 question was put again. 
 
 " I kent nought about it then" he said. " That's 
 true enough, for it didn't come out till after I had 
 gone on my errand. But I remembered afterwards, 
 when I came to mysel', arl aboot Tramping Sal. 
 Money had passed between them afore. I seed 
 it mysel' afore Christmas, when faither gave him 
 a two-shilling bit. She wanted more, and he 
 wanted it badly to make her bide away. She's his 
 mother, ye ken, though he isn't willin' to own her." 
 
 There was a titter in the court at this, and the 
 prisoner was seen to turn fiery red. 
 
 But Nick's lawyer objected that Teddy's so- 
 called knowledge was purely supposition. He had 
 cause to know that Nick had knocked him down, 
 certainly. He had had "striking proof" of that, 
 as the play has it. 
 
 There was a laugh at this, and the laugh, for 
 once, was against Teddy. 
 
 But, continued the lawyer, there was no such 
 proof that the same person had taken the coins. 
 His client, in owning to the assault, had pleaded 
 provocation, and had given them a stronger proof 
 that some one else had taken the coins than Teddy 
 could find to bring against him. The box which 
 had contained them was seen by his client in 
 Teddy's possession, and this it was which had led 
 to the attack. He would like to ask how young 
 Ridley got that box, and whether the coins, also, 
 had been in it when it came into his hands ?
 
 THE BITER BIT. 303 
 
 These questions on the part of Nick's lawyer 
 created quite a sensation. 
 
 The prisoner raised his head for the first time 
 since he had come into court, and looked at Teddy, 
 who again showed signs of faintness. 
 
 There were low exclamations of " No ! No ! " and 
 " Shame ! " 
 
 But these were hushed down. 
 
 The magistrates allowed that the questions were 
 quite in order ; and Teddy, forced to reply, hesi- 
 tated, contradicted himself, and, finally, fell back 
 on a flat denial. 
 
 A policeman came forward at this juncture, and 
 informed the chairman that the other prisoner who 
 had been taken, that morning, and was awaiting 
 his turn for examination at the back of the court, 
 was willing to give evidence, bearing on the 
 present case, in the hope that, in return, he might 
 be leniently dealt with in his turn. 
 
 A fresh sensation ensued. The plot was thicken- 
 ing. The chairman, after consulting his fellows, 
 gave leave, and the new witness was introduced. 
 
 He was a slouching, gipsy-looking lad, with dark 
 complexion and furtive eyes. The prisoner seemed 
 to recognize him at once, for he started violently. 
 
 " What is your name ? " was the first question put. 
 
 "Peter Elliott," was the reply. "Ay, I ken the 
 prisoner, and he's reason to ken me. There's nae 
 love lost betwixt us, as he can tell you. It's not 
 to save Jam but to searve mysel' that I'm willing 
 to tell you what I know anent this robbery."
 
 304 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 And then he proceeded to tell how Teddy and 
 Greyhound Geordie had had sporting transactions 
 together. How the former was in debt to the 
 latter to a considerable extent for "sporting tips," 
 as the phrase is, and bets lost which he could not 
 pay. How, at last, Greyhound Geordie had 
 threatened to tell the lad's father, if the money 
 was not found without further delay. 
 
 "And found it was," concluded the young 
 tinker, with a mocking glance at Teddy, "found, 
 as you may say, in rayther a peculiar fashion, and 
 handed over and all. That chap there, thought, 
 I'll bet, that he and the auld 'un were the only 
 folks that kent. He isn't aware that I, being 
 curious as to our gaffer's movements he was a sly 
 auld chap, was Greyhound Geordie, and tried to 
 keep us in the dark ; but he couldn't keep things 
 from me! followed him on the day in question, 
 as was in hiding at that wayside pub near the 
 Roman Wall where the meetin' was to take place, 
 and I saw the money pass. ' Hullo, my bantam ! ' 
 says Geordie. 'These is angels, not sovereigns. 
 Wherever did ye get them ? ' 
 
 " ' What odds is that to ye, since ye've got them 
 now?' answered Mr. Ted. 'Here, take them 
 away, and change them across the Border ; it's all 
 I ask of ye ? ' 
 
 " He didn't want questions asked, ye see, having 
 reason enough for that, as we ken now. And 
 Geordie took them wi'out another word, for reasons 
 of his own. He kent, mebbe, that angels is worth
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 305 
 
 mair nor sovereigns. They're bound to be, or he 
 vvadn't ha' ta'en them trust auld Geordie for that. 
 So now, ye ken what I do, anent this beesiness. 
 I've found the thief for ye, I think, and I only ask, 
 gentlemen, in return for my help that ye'll give 
 me my liberty." 
 
 He had found the thief, indeed ; and the thief 
 was not at the bar, but was lying back, in a real 
 faint, this time, on the armchair which served as a 
 witness-box. 
 
 When both witnesses had been removed, Nick 
 was declared to be cleared of the charge of robbery, 
 a nominal fine was- inflicted for the assault, as 
 committed under great provocation, and, to his 
 intense relief and astonishment, the prisoner found 
 himself free to go where he would, while his 
 accuser was charged with taking the coins, and 
 only admitted to bail in consideration of his pitiable 
 condition. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 
 
 THE very first to come forward and take Nick by 
 the hand, as he left the court, was old Colin Camp- 
 bell, who had paid the fine for his protege. The 
 tears were in the old man's eyes, tears of intense 
 joy. He could hardly speak, but he gripped Nick's 
 
 X
 
 306 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 right hand with his own, while with the left, he 
 slapped him on the shoulder. 
 
 " Didn't I say sae, my lad ? " he exclaimed at 
 last. " Didn't I tell ye it would a' come richt ? 
 Thank God, lad, thank God, I say, Who has done 
 justice, for His maircy endureth for ever!" 
 
 And then he fell to shaking the hand he held 
 till Nick thought it would come off. 
 
 The lad tried to speak in return, to thank this 
 true friend for all that he had done for him. But 
 the words would not come. He was still strug- 
 gling for them, when a letter was handed to him. 
 
 It was from George Grant, alias " Greyhound 
 Geordie," and had come under cover from the 
 governor of Jedborough gaol to the chairman of 
 the bench at Haltwhistle. 
 
 Geordie, apparently, was not aware that Nick 
 had been in custody, for the letter only contained 
 a few words of entreaty that he would come to 
 Jedborough and see him once more, as he was 
 very ill, and had something important to say to 
 him. 
 
 Freed himself, Nick could feel nothing but intense 
 pity for the prisoner, feeling as he did, that his 
 evidence had helped to convict him. He even 
 reproached himself, as he handed the letter to 
 Colin, for his old companion's present condition. 
 
 " There's nae cause for ye to blame yersel', what- 
 iver, laddie," said the old drover, as the two settled 
 themselves into opposite corners of a third-class 
 carriage, and sped away on their journey north.
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 30 
 
 " I carina hear ye reproach yersel' as though ye 
 were at fau't What cud ye do but gie yer evi- 
 dence at his trial accordin' to the truth ? He was 
 guilty, and ye cudna mak' him itherwise, even if 
 yer evidence had been all that was wantin' to bring 
 his sin hame to him. He'd, likely, hae been con- 
 demned wi'oot ye. Ye forget that the lassie's ball 
 was found in his shoulder. That was strong 
 evidence besides yours. Ye maun learn to balance 
 thae things better i' yer mind, Nick, my lad, if ye 
 want to live at peace wi' yersel' and a' mankind." 
 Then, after a little pause, during which he looked 
 attentively at Nick, he added, changing his tone 
 from admonition to one of fatherly tenderness, 
 " But there, laddie, ye're no fit to be fashed wi' an 
 auld man's clavers. Ye're joost ootdone, pier bairn, 
 and guid for nought but rest. Here, sit by me and 
 pit yer heed on my shoulder whiles I lap ye in 
 my plaid. Hoots, lad, what is there to be shamed 
 o' ? There's naebody here to see." 
 
 So Nick, with but a very slight demur, did as he 
 was told, and, soon, he was fast asleep, with his red 
 head on Colin's shoulder and the old man's arm, as 
 well as his plaid, wrapped closely around his body. 
 
 Never in his life had poor Nick been so tenderly 
 cared for, not even when he was a little child. And 
 he found himself wishing, as he fell asleep, that this 
 tender-hearted old man were the father whom he 
 had never known. Then, indeed, might he have 
 at least one parent of whom he could be proud, 
 and whom he could love with all the hitherto
 
 308 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 unasked-for affection which was stored up in his 
 lonely young heart. 
 
 But, after all, were Colin, indeed, his father, could 
 he have loved him more ? Hardly. For though 
 one proverb says that " Blood is thicker than water," 
 Shakespeare's saying, that one may be " more than 
 kin and less than kind," contains a truth just as 
 deep on the other side of the question. And there 
 is a kinship of the heart which is even nearer than 
 the ties of blood. 
 
 It was with an uncomfortable feeling of nervous- 
 ness that Nick presented himself, next morning, at 
 the gaol ; for he and his friend had arrived in Jed- 
 borough the night before, too late to obtain ad- 
 mission. He would fain have taken Colin with 
 him ; but this was not allowed. 
 
 "Auld Greyhound Geordie, as they ca' him, is 
 vara bad," said the warder to Nick, as he took him 
 along the bare stone passages to the room where 
 the sick man lay. "Ye maun be canny wi'm, my 
 lad, for there's no mitch life left in him. He's 
 fretted a deal to see ye, and he fretted that sair 
 for a sicht o' that greyhound o' his that the beast's 
 been let in beside him, the day, for a bit. It's hard 
 to refuse the deein', ye see, even when they're cheat- 
 the-wuddy chaps (gallows-birds) like yon. Oor 
 governer's a kind mon, ye see, and he's stretchit a 
 point. It's mair than cud hae been expectit." 
 
 He opened a door of one of the infirmary cells, 
 a comfortable enough room, and well-warmed. 
 Here, stretched on a bed, with the Laird o'
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 309 
 
 Cockpen lying on the floor beside him, Nick saw 
 the man he had come to visit. 
 
 But how changed ! He had looked ill, indeed, at 
 the trial. But the gunshot wound, received at the 
 burglary from the hand of Dr. Pritchard's gallant 
 "servant-lass," had been sapping his strength ever 
 since, and had made him what he now was. 
 
 Nick started, as he met the hollow, fever-bright 
 eyes looking eagerly towards the door, from out 
 of the haggard face propped against the pillows. 
 The long thin nose looked longer and thinner than 
 ever. In fact the face looked all eyes and nose, 
 for the cheeks and mouth were so sunken as to 
 have nearly disappeared altogether. The russet 
 tinge which had lingered in the hair and raggy 
 beard had faded a good deal. The beard, indeed, 
 had been shaved off, and the hair cropped, and 
 all that remained of it had turned nearly white. 
 But the crafty, satirical lines which had given so 
 much of its foxy character to Greyhound Geordie's 
 face, were still there. For handwriting of this sort 
 can never be blotted out when a man arrives at 
 Geordie's age, even though the craft and satire may 
 cease to be exercised. 
 
 He stretched out a thin hand, from whose bones 
 all the flesh had gone, to Nick as he came in. The 
 Laird o' Cockpen, too, condescended to recognize 
 him as an acquaintance by a slight wave of the 
 tail and a lifting of the fine, straight nose, though 
 he evidently did not consider him worth the trouble 
 of rising in his honour.
 
 310 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "Ye've dune weel to come, lad," said Geordie, 
 as Nick took his offered hand and sat down on the 
 chair which had been placed for him near the bed. 
 
 " I'd ha' dune mair for ye nor that if I could," 
 replied Nick, in a voice which trembled a good 
 deal ; and he looked down at the Laird to avoid 
 encountering the penetrating eyes of the sick man. 
 " Maister," he went on, the words of a little speech, 
 which he had been rehearsing by the way, tumbling 
 out thick and fast, " I was sorry to speak again' ye, 
 as I had to do t'other day." 
 
 " Nay, laddie, nay," said Geordie ; and he laid 
 one of those skeleton-like hands of his on Nick's 
 knee. " I bear ye nae grudge for that. Ye 
 believe me, laddie ? " 
 
 "Ay." 
 
 Nick could say no more, for there was that in 
 the sick man's voice and manner which brought a 
 lump into his throat and the tears inconveniently 
 near to his eyes. 
 
 "And I want ye to ken, and arl, that it wasn't 
 by my will that ye and yer tyke were treated as ye 
 were yon day in the plantin 1 . I was forced to tie 
 ye up for fear ye sud' gie the alarm. But I telt 
 them to pit ye in the van. I niver meant them 
 to tret ye as was dune. And to hang that wise- 
 like dorg o' yours, and that afore yer eyes ! Man, 
 I was mad when I heard of it. What ye maun 
 hae thowt o' me ! Can ye forgie me for arl that ? 
 I'm a deein' mon, ye see, laddie, sae ye maun joost 
 think on o' that."
 
 'YE'VE DUNE WEEL TO COME, LAD," SAID (JKORDIE. 
 
 Page 310.
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 311 
 
 The keen, bright eyes looked across at Nick 
 with a wistfulness in them which was a stranger 
 there. 
 
 Nick took the thin hand into both of his, and a 
 sob came as he tried to speak. 
 
 " Dinna talk o' forgiveness," he faltered. " Ye've 
 been vara kind to me." 
 
 "Kind? Weel, I hardly think that, lad. Folks 
 wadn't ca' it joost 'kind ' to 'tice a yoong chap like 
 ye to put his hand to the kind o' kittle (risky) job 
 we were aboot yon neet. It isn't joost a palace I'm 
 in noo, my lad, nor yet a bed o' roses I'm lyin' 
 on. And ye micht ha' been here yersel' if ye'd 
 dune as I wanted you to dae. Kind, sez ta ? A 
 queer sort o' kindness, I think ! " 
 
 There was a touch of the old sarcasm in Geordie's 
 voice as he said this, and he laughed an odd, cack- 
 ling sort of laugh. He looked at Nick as though 
 he expected, an answer. But the lad did not speak. 
 Geordie's tone made him uncomfortable, and he 
 was at a loss how to take him. 
 
 "Weel," said the sick man at last, "ye 1 re o' t' 
 same mind as me, noo, eh ? Yon was joost t' sort 
 o' kindness a faither wad be likely to dae his son, 
 eh?" 
 
 Again he fixed his glittering eyes on Nick with 
 such an odd expression in them that the lad grew 
 more and more uncomfortable. What could the 
 old chap be driving at, he wondered ? Were his 
 wits failing him again ? 
 
 It almost sounded like it, and Nick felt the blood
 
 312 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 tingle at his finger-ends from sheer nervousness. 
 He stooped down and began to stroke the satin coat 
 of the Laird o' Cockpen, to the manifest annoyance 
 of the latter, who resented it as a decided liberty. 
 
 But still those hollow, fever-bright eyes remained 
 fixed upon the lad. There was a wistful look in 
 them, as though they were pleading for a different 
 answer than that which the sarcastic tongue sug- 
 gested. 
 
 "Weel?" asked Greyhound Geordie again. 
 " Cannot ye spak', lad ? Ye telt me, yance, ye didna 
 ken whae was the daddy o' ye. Ye'd be blithe to 
 hae yan the marrow (just like) o' auld Greyhound 
 Geordie, eh ? " 
 
 Still no answer. 
 
 Was the old fellow laughing at him, or did he 
 really know something concerning his parentage ? 
 Nick wondered this in his heart, and it sent the 
 hot blood rushing to his face. But he had not the 
 courage to put the question. 
 
 Then the sick man grew impatient. A trem- 
 bling ran through all his wasted body as he asked 
 querulously 
 
 "Ye'll hae left the tongue o' ye at Haltwhistle, 
 it seems. Eh, lad ? " 
 
 Nick looked up in desparation. 
 
 " What div ye want me to say ? " he asked, with 
 a sharpness in his voice which he did not intend. 
 
 The sick man began to whimper in that dis- 
 tressful way which persons in extreme bodily 
 weakness sometimes show when thwarted.
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 313 
 
 "Lad," he cried "lad, canna ye see what I'm 
 wantin' ? I've lived a life wi'oot love, and noo I'm 
 dyin' alone in prison. I like ye, lad. I've liked ye 
 ever sin' I found ye starvin' by t' roadside, little as 
 I may ha' shown't. It was the drawin' o' natur', I 
 reckon, for they say that blud is thicker nor water. 
 Weel, I diven't ken whether it's sae wi' ivery yan ; 
 mebbe, it isn't wi' ye ? No ? But, oh ! lad, if ye 
 cud show a small kindness to pier auld Geordie, 
 he'd die happier, he wad that ! " 
 
 He stretched out both wasted hands imploringly 
 towards Nick, like a beggar asking for alms. 
 
 The lad was touched to the quick, uncomfortable 
 though this interview was making him. He got up 
 and went closer to the bed, taking the chill, bony 
 hands between his own warm, strong ones. 
 
 " I'll dae onything for ye I can. Didn't I say 
 sae ? " 
 
 " Onything ? " asked Geordie, wistfully. His eyes 
 looked up into those of the lad who was bending 
 over him, and he trembled and breathed hard. 
 " Onything, laddie ? Could ye d'ye think ye could ? 
 It'll seem a hard thing to ask, mebbe, after neg- 
 lectin' ye arl these years, but if ye could nobbut 
 kiss me and carl me 'faither' !" 
 
 The sunken eyes were full of an earnest appeal 
 which was terrible to see. 
 
 But Nick did not see it. The prison-room seemed 
 to be spinning round with him, and there were red 
 flashes before his eyes. 
 
 He dropped the hands of the sick man, and slid
 
 3 14 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 down on to his knees beside the bed, covering his 
 face with his hands. He simply could. not stand 
 upright under the blow which he had received. 
 
 His father ! What a father ! Could it, indeed, 
 be true ? Or was it but a cruel jest on the part of 
 this strange old man ? 
 
 Greyhound Geordie groaned. 
 
 " Ye canna bring yersel' to't ? " he said piteously. 
 " It's a deal to ask, I ken that, for the mak' o' 
 faither I've been. But, oh ! lad, it wad ease me sair, 
 and I winna be here to fash ye lang ! Ye canna 
 dae't ? VVeel, weel ! " 
 
 He sighed, a long, weary, sad sigh, and sank 
 back on the pillows from which he had raised 
 himself. 
 
 The greyhound got up slowly, went close up to 
 the pillows, and thrust his long, straight nose into 
 the hand that was nearest to him. He seemed to 
 understand that his master needed comfort. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie stroked the smooth head of 
 his favourite. 
 
 "Weel, Laird," he said plaintively, "you and me 
 maun e'en dae as we can. There's naebody else 
 to care for us. Eh ? Pier beast ! Pier beast ! Ye 
 loove the auld fellow, onyhoo. What's to come on 
 ye when I'm gane, eh, Cockpen ? " 
 
 The greyhound licked the thin hand, and his 
 dark eyes looked lovingly into those of his 
 master. 
 
 Nick looked up. He was suffering horribly, but 
 nevertheless he recognized that another was
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 315 
 
 suffering still more. And, besides, there was a 
 question which must be asked. 
 
 " Is it true ? " he said, in a choked voice. " If it 
 is, then " He stopped. 
 
 " True ? Ay, sae far as I ken, it's true eneugh," 
 answered the sick man, with some bitterness. " I 
 didn't ken, mysel', till yer story came out in evidence 
 at my trial ; and it knocked me down, it did that, 
 when I called to mind how I had tret you, and 
 how 'twas my own son was standin' there again' 
 me. But it's true eneugh, sae far as I ken. If 
 ye're Sal's son, it's maist likely that ye're mine an' 
 arl. She and me took yan anither for better or 
 for warse some auchteen years agone. It was for 
 warse, ye see." He smiled, the old sarcastic smile. 
 " She was a born tramp, was Sal, and nowther she 
 nor me could dae wi' each other, naeway, though 
 she was a fine-like wumman in them days, she was 
 that ! Weel, weel, that's arl over now. We pairted 
 afore we'd been wed a year, and I've never set eyes 
 on her since. Mebbe, I was to blame. If ye ever 
 see her again ye maun let her ken I bear nae 
 malice, and I hope she's nae ill-will to me. There 
 was a lad-bairn, I kent that, though I niver let on, 
 not wantin' to be fashed wi' sich-like, and the wife 
 gone. Ye favour Sal a bit, laddie, I think as she 
 was when I kent her, onyhoo," he added quickly, 
 as he saw the boy shudder. "And, mebbe, me 
 and arl. Ye've reed hair, and baith Sal and me 
 was carroty. Ay, ay, it's likely eneugh ! " 
 
 Again he sighed, and looked wistfully at Nick.
 
 3l6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 A strong shrinking was upon the lad. To ac- 
 knowledge this condemned robber as a father went 
 against him body and soul. He could not feel 
 that he owed this man any of the love and rever- 
 ence which are a father's due. And yet yes, with 
 all this, Nick was conscious of something within 
 him which told him that he was, indeed, the son 
 of this poor old reprobate. And the loneliness 
 and scorn and want of love which had been his 
 own portion in life spoke to his heart, and pleaded 
 in favour of this dying thief. 
 
 A tear gathered in his eyes and fell upon the 
 thin hand which rested upon the bed close beside 
 him. Responsive tears started to Geordie's eyes 
 and trickled down his wasted face. 
 
 " Niver heed, lad," he said brokenly. " I ken 
 weel I desarve nowther love nor peety. I've made 
 my ain bed, and maun e'en lie on't. The chaplain 
 says that there's mercy and love for me ayont the 
 grave, and if that's sae, it's a deal mair nor what 
 sich as I could expect. Auld Greyhound Geordie 
 maun dee as lonely as he's chosen to live. Livin' 
 alane has been easy eneugh, but, somehoo, the 
 dyin's anither matter ; and I wad ha' liked 
 But there, it was overmuch to ask ! " 
 
 He sighed, lay back, and closed his eyes. It 
 looked, indeed, to the lad who was watching him, as 
 though the lonely end was very near. A great pity 
 sprang up in his heart. He knew so well himself 
 what it was to be lonely and unloved. 
 
 He stooped lower.
 
 THE END OF GREYHOUND GEORDIE. 317 
 
 If what the old man asked for would make him 
 die the happier, ought he not to give it ? After 
 all, it was but a little thing. But little things, some- 
 times, loom very large. And this thing seemed 
 tremendous to poor Nick. 
 
 "Ye'll shake hands wi' me, and wish me weel 
 through, onyhoo, laddie ? " asked Geordie, opening 
 those sad, tired eyes of his ; and he held out his hand. 
 
 Nick took it he did more, he stooped still lower 
 and laid his lips on the dying brow. 
 
 "Good-bye, faither," he said. 
 
 Greyhound Geordie had conquered. His face 
 lighted. With more strength than he had seemed 
 to possess, he drew the lad's head down close to 
 his own and kissed him on the mouth, laying one 
 wasted hand upon the red head. 
 
 "Thank ye, laddie," he whispered "thank ye. 
 Ye've done me mair good nor ye can tell. The 
 blessin' o' a faither like me canna be o' muckle 
 vally, I doot, but, such as it is, ye have it. Ay, 
 may God bless the laddie, and give him a better 
 end nor his faither ! " 
 
 There was silence for a while. Then a knock 
 sounded on the door. 
 
 The dying man loosed the boy and pointed to 
 the greyhound. 
 
 " Tak' him, laddie," he said, in a husky whisper. 
 " He's arl I have to leave ye, barrin' the inheritance 
 o' a marred life and a dishonoured name." 
 
 He paused and caressed the dog, who had come 
 up to the bed again and was licking his hand.
 
 318 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "Gang wi'm, Laird," he said ; "yon's yer maister 
 noo." 
 
 The greyhound turned its dark eyes wistfully 
 from one to the other. 
 
 " Tak' him awa' ! Tak' him awa' ! " said the 
 dying prisoner, querulously. " He's a grand beast, 
 is the Laird," he added, with a fond glance at 
 the beautiful creature, "and ye're welcome to him, 
 but" his lips trembled as he met the loving look 
 of his dog " I can bide nae mair ! " He lay back 
 again and closed his eyes. 
 
 Then the warder came in, and Nick and the dog 
 went away with him. And that, so far as Nick 
 knew it, was the end of Greyhound Geordie. For 
 he died shortly after, and Nick never saw him again. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 MORE THAN FATHER. 
 
 FOUR years went by, four happier years for poor 
 Nick than he had ever passed in his life ; for when 
 he had told old Colin Campbell how that he had 
 found and lost a father, the honest old drover had 
 adopted him as a son. 
 
 " Never heed, laddie," the good old man had said, 
 putting his hand on Nick's shoulder, as he stood 
 shamefaced before him. "Ye mind what I said to 
 ye, ance, about the sour grapes? If yon auld chap
 
 MORE THAN FATHER. 319 
 
 may God forgie him ! has set his teeth on edge 
 by eatin' o' the fruits of evil-doin', that's nae reason 
 that yon should let him spoil yer life for you. Ye 
 ken the auld saw, ' A stout heart to a stey brae ' ? 
 Weel then, dim' yer bank. Haud up yer heid, mon, 
 and mak' a brave fend. Live doon what's ahint, 
 and mak' folks forget ye're no the son o' honest 
 folk. If auld Colin's help can do ye ony guid, he'll 
 be a faither to ye from this day for'ard, sae lang 
 as he lives ! " 
 
 So the old drover had said, and he had been 
 as good as his word. Nor had his kindness been 
 thrown away, for Nick had met it with such love 
 and gratitude as had made him like a son indeed 
 to the childless man. 
 
 "Yon lad's like a staff to me i' my auld age," 
 Colin often said during those three years. " I'd 
 have had to give up the drovin' and retire lang 
 since if it hadna been for him, and God kens 
 I'd hae been puir no joost sae puir i' brass, 
 mebbe, but puir, indeed, i' loove, but for my 
 laddie." 
 
 While Colin could still manage to ride auld Shag, 
 the old man and the young had journeyed together 
 to and fro between the Highlands and the Border 
 towns, with their sturdy little moss-troopers in front 
 of them. Nick had thus learnt all the secrets of 
 the cattle trade, and when at length the weight of 
 years prevented the old drover from travelling any 
 longer, Nick was able to undertake the business 
 for him.
 
 320 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 But he never failed, after each trip, to visit the 
 little Highland croft which old Colin had bought 
 with his savings, to see how his adopted father was 
 faring, and to report his own doings. 
 
 Those visits were red-letter days both for the old 
 man and the young ; for no father and son could 
 love each other with a truer affection than did 
 those two waifs of society. 
 
 Nor was it only cattle-dealing that Nick learned 
 from the old drover. By practice still more than 
 by precept, he learnt the lesson which old Colin had 
 had to learn, before him, that however heavily han- 
 dicapped a man may be in the race of life, he is 
 yet no sport of fortune, but a free agent, able to 
 run with patience the race that is set before him, 
 ay, and reach the goal before many who have the 
 start of him. 
 
 And as old Colin had made good his own footing 
 in the face of many difficulties, so did his adopted 
 son follow in his footsteps, till the name of Nicholas 
 Grant (for our friend had taken the name to which, 
 as it seemed likely, he had a right) bade fair to be as 
 well respected as that of Colin Campbell. All this 
 time Nick saw nothing of the Ridleys of Bellister, 
 though he thought of them, and especially of 
 Meggie, far oftener than even Colin knew. 
 
 He heard that the charge against Teddy had 
 been dropped, the young man having sunk into 
 such a pitiable state of chronic invalidism and semi- 
 imbecility, as to render his trial impossible. He 
 learnt, also, that John Ridley was becoming more
 
 MORE THAN FATHER. 321 
 
 and more disliked by the pitmen of the colliery 
 where he was viewer. But that was all. 
 
 "When I'm gone, mebbe ye'll be ganging back 
 to yer native place, laddie ? " Colin asked him one 
 day. "It micht be as weel if ye cud mak' it up 
 wi' thae Ridleys. Ye're no carin', noo, mebbe, but 
 when ye reach the spot in the journey where I 
 stand, ye'll like to ken that ye're at peace wi' a' 
 men. Nay, laddie," he went on, as he saw a dark 
 look come into the lad's face, "ye maunna bear 
 malice. They've wranged ye, I ken that, but is yer 
 ain conscience quite clear towards them ? Gin ye'd 
 keepit yer temper yon nicht, that puir lad ye telt 
 me of micht hae been as hale and strang as ye are 
 this day. Ay, ay, I ken he was at fault, I ken a' 
 aboot it ; but a mon who loses haud o' hissel' sae 
 far as to assault his neebor canna be held blame- 
 less. Think on what I say, laddie, and when occa- 
 sion offers see that ye act as a Christian should." 
 
 Though Nick passed this little admonition by 
 with some impatience at the time, it was not for- 
 gotten by him any more than other things which 
 his old friend let fall, and a time came when he 
 acted on it. 
 
 For such words are like little seeds. They often 
 fall unheeded on the hearts of those that hear them, 
 to spring up in due season, long, perhaps, after the 
 sower has passed away. 
 
 Thus it was with this \vord of old Colin's. A day 
 came when Nick, returning home from one of his 
 expeditions, found his old friend lying dead, struck 
 
 Y
 
 322 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 clown by a sudden stroke during his absence. He 
 was only in time to stand with Kelt, as joint chief 
 mourner, beside the old drover's grave, and sorrow, 
 as he had never sorrowed before, over the loss of 
 his more than father. 
 
 Lonely, indeed, did Nick feel as he returned to 
 the empty cot, which with the bit of land and all 
 old Colin's worldly goods he had left by will to his 
 " dear adopted son," and sat, on the evening of the 
 funeral day, by the desolate fireside between the 
 two faithful dogs which had been bequeathed to 
 him by the two old men who had called him son. 
 
 Long into the night he sat thinking deeply over 
 all that old Colin had said, reviewing his past life 
 and speculating concerning the future. 
 
 Sadly lonely this seemed after those years of 
 close companionship with the old man, whose arm- 
 chair stood empty by the fireside which his presence 
 had made so homelike. 
 
 Nick felt, as he looked at it, that this could no 
 longer be home for him, though the place was his 
 by right, unless he could find some one to bear 
 him company. He looked at his two dumb friends, 
 the only ones which were left him in the world, 
 and sighed heavily as he stroked the rough head 
 and the smooth. 
 
 Once upon a time the companionship of a dog 
 had contented him, but old Colin's society had 
 spoiled him for that. He loved the dogs as much 
 as ever ; but, after all, though dogs can do many 
 things, there are some matters which are beyond
 
 MORE THAN FATHER. 323 
 
 even their wise heads and loving hearts. They 
 cannot exchange thoughts with us. They cannot, 
 with all their power of sympathy, plumb the depths 
 of human joy and grief. 
 
 Much as Nick liked his present companions, he 
 was conscious of a want, a want which even little 
 Viper had been far better able to fill. Poor little 
 Viper ! Did ever heart beat in any canine breast 
 which was so nearly human as was hers ? So Nick 
 wondered as he sat lonely by the fire. And, with 
 the thought of Viper, there came a thought of 
 Viper's mistress, little Meggie Ridley of Bellister. 
 
 He thought of her as the blithe, kindly little 
 companion of his boyhood, not as the frightened, 
 tearful lassie whose testimony at the trial had 
 been so damaging, and who would not so much 
 as meet his eye when he stood in the prisoner's 
 dock. He had been sorely hurt at the time by 
 what he had looked on as her unfriendly behaviour 
 to him when all the world was against him. But, 
 now he came to consider it, was she so much to 
 blame ? Like himself at the trial of Greyhound 
 Geordie, she had been forced to speak the truth ; 
 and can a man blame a girl like that if she shrinks 
 from claiming acquaintance with one who is accused 
 of crime ? No ; after all, her conduct had been but 
 natural. 
 
 How would she meet him now, wondered Nick, 
 if he were to go back to her as a free man with a 
 house and croft of his own, and a character for 
 industry and honest dealing ? Would she give him
 
 324 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 her friendship once more, in spite of what he had 
 done to her brother? She must be quite a big 
 girl now, must Meggie Ridley. Should he find 
 her as bonnie and friendly, now she was a lassie of 
 eighteen, as she had been as a child ? 
 
 All these speculations passed through Nick's mind 
 as he sat by his lonely fireside ; and with them 
 came a great yearning after the old home of his 
 boyhood and the only human creature remaining 
 in the world whom he felt he could call "friend." 
 And then he thought of old Colin's counsel that he 
 should return and make his peace with those people 
 who had sheltered his boyhood, even though not 
 too kindly ; and the idea, which had gone so sorely 
 against the grain at the time, found lodgment in 
 his mind. 
 
 Yes, he would go. As soon as the business con- 
 nected with old Colin Campbell's death was settled, 
 he would return to his native place before under- 
 taking any more work. He would at least make 
 inquiries as to the family at Bellister, and ascertain 
 how any advance on his part was likely to be re- 
 ceived, and then he would act accordingly. 
 
 Having come to this determination, Nick felt his 
 loneliness a little less crushing ; for it seemed to 
 him that the empty chair was no longer so empty, 
 and that from its depths he could hear his old 
 friend's voice saving to him, as he had so often 
 done before, "That's reet, my laddie, I'm pleased 
 wi' ye. Dae yer duty, and the Lord'll bless ye, 
 and mak' it to prosper in yer hand."
 
 ( 325 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 "YES OR NO?" 
 
 IT was on a dark November evening that Nick 
 returned to Bellister. 
 
 He got out at Greenhead, the station before 
 Haltwhistle, intending to make some inquiries 
 at the colliery, and then walk the short distance 
 between that and Haltwhistle. 
 
 Not having been in the neighbourhood for more 
 than four years he did not think there was much 
 chance of his being recognized. He had gone 
 away a smooth-faced boy ; he was returning a 
 young man, with a promising little moustache and 
 a very fair show of whisker. 
 
 The pock-marks, too, which had once so much 
 distressed Meggie, had almost disappeared, and the 
 shock red head, though as red. as ever, was now 
 well-kempt and clipped into decent bounds. 
 
 He had grown considerably, and his clothes were 
 good. Altogether he was no longer the miserable, 
 ill-fed, ragged boy who had tramped into Halt- 
 whistle, on that misty night in November, over four 
 years ago, but as respectable-looking a young fellow 
 as could anywhere be seen, with an air about him 
 as of one who has done well for himself and is held 
 in esteem by his fellow-men. 
 
 With all this, however,. Nick preferred arriving
 
 326 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 at a station where he had no . acquaintances, and 
 making those few inquiries that he might find how 
 he was now looked upon at Bellister before showing 
 himself in a place where he and his mother were so 
 well known as they were in Haltwhistle. 
 
 It was nearly dark when the train drew up at 
 Greenhead. 
 
 Blenkinsop old castle, on the top of the hill, 
 showed a black mass of wall and turret against a 
 grey, starless sky, the rows of coke-ovens and pit- 
 men's houses at the foot giving out a red glow and 
 cheery twinkle, in pleasant contrast to the darkness 
 above. 
 
 In the daytime the contrast is just the other way, 
 and the grimy-looking colliery-village at the foot 
 of the slope throws into picturesque relief the ivy- 
 grown walls against the blue sky overhead. 
 
 Our friend Nick had not been much at the col- 
 liery. But he knew the place enough to find his 
 way without any difficulty to the little public-house, 
 where the pitmen, who had been at work during the 
 day, were wont to congregate in the evening. As 
 we know, Nick was now a perfectly sober fellow, 
 having, by old Colin Campbell's advice, given up 
 spirits altogether, though he had never taken the 
 pledge. 
 
 But, this evening, for reasons of his own, he broke 
 through his usual rule of never calling for drink in 
 a public-house, and, sitting down with the men who 
 were drinking and smoking round the fire, he ordered 
 a glass of beer.
 
 "YES OR NO?" 327 
 
 The pitmen looked at him as he sat down, and 
 the very animated discussion which was going on 
 among them sank for a while into silence. They 
 saw he was a stranger, and the strangeness tied 
 their tongues. 
 
 It was a comfortable room, with a sanded floor 
 and a bright fire, heaped, as fires in winter generally 
 are where coals are plentiful, well up the chimney, 
 and giving out a pleasant warmth on the circle of 
 men around it. 
 
 Nick's hands were cold, and he spread them out 
 to the blaze. The nature of his employment was 
 not such as to harden and blacken the hands, and 
 his were noticeable in a company of men accus- 
 tomed from infancy to work amongst coal. 
 
 He felt that his hands as well as every other 
 detail of his dress and person were undergoing 
 the critical stare of a dozen pairs of eyes, and the 
 sensation was not over-pleasant. 
 
 To make a little diversion he ventured on the 
 first remark. 
 
 " Trade pretty brisk at present ? " he asked. 
 
 An elderly man opposite to him took his pipe 
 out of his mouth, knocked the ashes in a leisurely 
 fashion into the fire, and then said 
 
 "That depends on what ye carl brisk. We, 
 mebbe, mightn't agree aboot that. What we carl 
 brisk here might be reckoned slaw across t' Border, 
 and t'other way on. Ye'll be a stranger, hereaways, 
 likely ? " 
 
 There was an amount of caution about the
 
 328 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 answer, and an adroitness in turning it into a 
 question which was characteristic. 
 
 Nick began to regret an inquiry for an answer to 
 which he cared nothing. But he was north-country 
 bred as well as his interlocutor, and knew how to 
 answer in the same strain. 
 
 "As ye say, I've nobbut joost come ower t' Border. 
 But I ken my way aboot a deal o' places cattle- 
 jobbers dis, ye see." 
 
 Nick's reply got him well out of the corner into 
 which the pitman had tried to pin him, and that 
 without any unnecessary expenditure in lies, 
 which, indeed, our friend would have scorned to 
 tell. 
 
 "Ay, it's a mair lively-like trade nor coal-hackin', 
 I reckon," remarked a younger pitman, who was a 
 bit sprucer and cleaner than the rest, though, indeed, 
 none of the men could have been called dirty, 
 all surface grime having been carefully removed 
 on coming out of the pit. " Yan disn't see a deal 
 o' the warld when yan's wark lies in its inside. I'm 
 aboot tired on the job, I am." 
 
 "What for disn't tha' turn jobber thysel', Bob, 
 if them's thy sentiments ? " said a companion, with 
 a laugh. 
 
 " Yan maun stick to yan's trade if yan wants to 
 gan for'ard," answered the young man, sagely. 
 
 " Hear ! hear ! " cried his fellows ; and there was a 
 general laugh. 
 
 "But ye'll not stick here lang, I'm thinkin'," 
 said another among the younger men. "Ye'll be
 
 "YES OR NO?" 329 
 
 gettin' t' sack next, Bob, like Jem and Watty did 
 to-day. Eh, Watty, lad, hoo d'ye feel ? Ye'll hae 
 to tramp roond and see a bit on t' warld afore ye 
 sattle doon at anither pit boddum. As for Jem, 
 we ken his sentiments. He gav' us them afore ye 
 cam' in." 
 
 " Watty and I agree," said a dour-looking fellow, 
 who had not spoken since Nick's arrival. 
 
 "Ay, we dae that," answered the more lively 
 Watty. "We've nowther on us any notion o' ex- 
 changin' Blenkinsop for ony ither pit. It's anither 
 nor us'\\ hae to flit, I'm thinkin'." 
 
 " Ay, it's aboot time he did," answered Jem ; and 
 Nick noticed a dangerous flash in his sullen eye, 
 which boded ill for somebody unnamed. 
 
 " ' Least said, sunest mended,' lads. That's what 
 / think," said the old man who had first spoken ; 
 and he glanced across at Nick. 
 
 " Who's yer viewer here ? " asked the latter, trying 
 to speak unconcernedly ; and he took a sip of his 
 beer. 
 
 " He's ain brither tiv auld Nick, if ye ken what 
 that means, stranger," answered Watty ; and there 
 was a general laugh. 
 
 Nick started at hearing his own name, and looked 
 interrogation, wondering if the speaker had recog- 
 nized him. But there was nothing in the circle of 
 faces around the fire to alarm him on this head. 
 
 "Ay, ye maun be a stranger here if ye diven't 
 ken hoo highly we think o' oor viewer," remarked 
 Bob. " He's greatly respected, is John Ridley."
 
 330 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " He always zuas open-fisted and sweet-tempered," 
 put in another man ; "but sin' he was sold by his 
 ain son, he's been joost angelic, hasn't he, lads ? I 
 wadn't be in Teddy's shoon for arl the gold they 
 said he fund and him tied to the fireside and 
 forced to hear onything his faither chooses to tell 
 him. Eh, man, but yon lad'll hae felt the rough o' 
 auld Ridley's tongue ! " 
 
 " Sarves him reet for daein' what he did. I arl- 
 ways said yon lad wad come to grief," remarked 
 one of the elder pitmen. " It's aboot maddened 
 auld Ridley, and he sae prood-like and arl." 
 
 " Ay, it was rough on yon pier lad as was sarvant 
 at Bellister," said Bob. "What's come on him, I 
 wonder." 
 
 " Naebody, hereaway, kens that," answered Watty. 
 " He was badly tret, was yon lad, by arl the Ridley 
 family. And folks says for arl he Was fund inno- 
 cent, his name's niver named i' Bellister. It's like 
 a reed clout to a bull, it mak's the auld man fair 
 wild." 
 
 "Ay, that's true," answered Bob, "for I tried it 
 on mysel', yan day, when he was misca'ing me ; and 
 man, didn't he glower ! " 
 
 "Lads," said the old man in the corner, "the 
 whusky's makin' ye arl over-free wi' yer tongues, 
 I'm thinkin'. Ye forget we've a stranger amang us. 
 He'll not be carin' to hear sae mooch aboot oor 
 viewer. Is there ony news where ye come frae, 
 mister?" He turned to Nick with meaning, and 
 both Nick and the pitmen took the hint. The
 
 "YES OR NO?" 331 
 
 former produced a Jedborough paper, and the 
 subject was changed. 
 
 One after another the younger men present rose 
 from the seats and went quietly out, till, presently, 
 Nick found himself alone with a few of the elders. 
 Then he, too, got up from his seat and handed the 
 paper from which he had been reading to the man 
 in the opposite chimney-corner to whom he had 
 first spoken. 
 
 " I maun be off," he said. " Ye may keep t' 
 paper." 
 
 "And thank ye. Good neet," was the civil reply. 
 
 Nick went out. 
 
 It was quite dark now ; but he knew the road 
 he had to travel, and had no fear of losing his way. 
 
 The path he intended to take would lead him past 
 Bellister Castle, and, though the night was cloudy, 
 he had some hopes that, when the moon rose, which 
 it would do shortly, there might be light sufficient 
 to see the old home of his boyhood which had never 
 been very long out of his mind. 
 
 To go boldly up to the door in the daytime 
 and pay his respects to the family, as he had hoped 
 to do, seemed hardly possible after what he had 
 heard in the public-house. But, at all events, Nick 
 thought he might stand outside in the moonlight, 
 if the moon condescended to shine, and look once 
 more on the broken walls he so well remembered 
 and still loved, as men do love the home of their 
 youth, even when they have not been altogether 
 happy in it.
 
 332 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Perhaps, too, he might see Meggie. It was about 
 the time that milking should be over, and if it 
 were not too light to betray him, he might venture 
 up to the farmyard gate, by which he had entered 
 on his last return, and, who knows ? he might 
 catch a glimpse of her as she came out of the 
 byre. 
 
 The thought made Nick's heart quicken and his 
 breath come faster, as he left the glow of the coke- 
 ovens behind him and plunged into the darkness 
 of the November evening. 
 
 He walked at first at a smart pace, but, presently, 
 coming to a plantation of firs, through which a foot- 
 path leads by a short cut to Bellister, he slackened 
 a little. 
 
 In the old days there used to be a stile to the 
 right, by which foot-passengers crossed from the 
 high-road into the path. Nick knew whereabouts 
 it ought to be ; but it was not light enough to see 
 with any distinctness, and he felt along the stone 
 dyke with his hand to discover if the remembered 
 stile were in its old place. 
 
 While he was creeping along the bank, groping 
 for the outlet, he heard voices in the plantation 
 not far from where he was ; and, presently, other 
 voices, accompanied by the sound of steps, came 
 along the road behind him. Some one in the 
 plantation gave a low whistle. 
 
 Nick stopped to listen. 
 
 He guessed that the men to whom the voices 
 belonged were poachers, and was unwilling to dis-
 
 "YES OR NO?" 333 
 
 turb them, as the consequences to himself were 
 likely enough to be unpleasant. 
 
 " Is that ye, Watty ? " asked a cautious voice 
 inside the plantation. 
 
 A slight rustle had accompanied Nick's move- 
 ments along the bankside, for it was covered with 
 dry grass and bracken, and he guessed that the 
 sound of his own footsteps had reached the ears 
 of the men on the other side of the wall. 
 
 Crouching down where he stood he remained 
 perfectly still. 
 
 " I thowt I heared somebody close by," said the 
 same voice, still in the same cautious whisper. 
 
 "It was nobbut t' wind," said some one else. 
 
 " Hoots, lad ! there's nae wind," was the answer. 
 " It'll be a rabbit ye heard. But here they come. 
 That's ye, lads, isn't it ? " said the voice in rather 
 a louder tone, as the footsteps which Nick had 
 heard in the road came close up to where he was. 
 
 " Ay, whae else ? " was the reply, and the steps 
 rustled among the grass and bracken, almost 
 brushing against the crouching figure below the 
 dyke. 
 
 " Whisht ! " said the first man within the planta- 
 tion. "There's nae carl to speak sae loud, Watty. 
 Ye're in t' road, remember, and nae private way, 
 as ye seem to think. Hev ye browt t' lucifers ? " 
 
 "Ay. But it's ower early yet, Jem. It's ye 
 that's forgettin' now." 
 
 "Nay, I'm none forgettin'. Hae ye been to see 
 if arl's reet?"
 
 334 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 "Ay, we can lie quiet in this plantin' till the 
 leets is oot, and then leet up oursel's. Man, what 
 a bonnie lowe " 
 
 " Whisht, ye haufthick (half-witted fellow) ye ! 
 Canna ye be quiet ? " said the man in the planta- 
 tion, who had first spoken. " Ye'll ruin arl wi' that 
 tongue o' yours." 
 
 " Ruin yersel', lad ! Whae is't that's bawlin' novv > 
 I sud like to ken ? Ye've niver telt us if Bob's 
 
 been up to Bel My, but I'll give it ye if ye 
 
 hit me that gait again ! " 
 
 " I diven't care what ye dee sae lang's ye're quiet, 
 man. Ay, Bob's been, ye ken where, and the job'll 
 be easy enough. T' auld mon's off." 
 
 " Hip, hip, hooray ! " The cheer certainly was 
 made under the breath, but it was too noisy, never- 
 theless, for Jem. 
 
 "Man ! " he whispered, with rising irritation, " I'll 
 strangle ye if ye diven't haud yer whisht ! Ye'll 
 ruin arl, just now, and I wadn't be balked o' this 
 for somethin'. Now come yer ways over and we'll 
 wait in Guid sakes, what was that ? " 
 
 In m oving, one of the men in the road had stepped 
 on Nic k's foot ; and though the sufferer vigorously 
 held his breath, the aggressor uttered an exclama- 
 tion. 
 
 " Save us arl, it's a spy ! " he cried, seizing Nick 
 by the collar. "Strike a light, Jem, and let's see 
 whae 'tis." 
 
 Nick struggled, but in vain. Many hands were 
 on him, and he was powerless in them.
 
 "YES OR NO ?" 335 
 
 There was the sound of a match scraping against 
 the box. Apparently it was damp, for, with a 
 muttered oath, it was flung aside, and the scraping 
 began again. 
 
 This time there was a flare-up. Nick could see, 
 in the sudden flash, the grass and bracken at his feet, 
 the stones of the rough stone wall in front of him, 
 grim faces looking over, and others close beside 
 him. Then the match was held close to his own 
 face. 
 
 " My sangs, if it isn't the stranger ! " said several 
 voices together. 
 
 Then the match went out. 
 
 " Be it whae it may," said the fierce voice of the 
 man they called Jem, "he's in oor pooer. He'll 
 hev to swear never to let on, or 
 
 " Ay, that will he ! " cried the others before the 
 final word could be spoken. 
 
 " Div ye hear that, my bantam ? " asked one of 
 the men who held Nick, giving him such a shake as 
 a terrier gives a rat. "Ye've spied on us. Ye've 
 heard, mebbe this, mebbe that onyhoo, mair nor 
 we've a mind. Tak' yer oath to keep a quiet 
 tongue i' yer mooth, and I winnot just say we'll 
 let ye off arltogether ; but, onyhoo, it'll be the better 
 for ye. Refuse, and tak' the consequences. 
 
 Certain conditions in men's lives sometimes re- 
 peat themselves. Men are tried in a similar way 
 twice over. Sometimes it happens that, having 
 stood the first time, a man falls the second, and 
 vice versa.
 
 336 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Again Nick had the choice thrust upon him of 
 being an accomplice in crime, or suffering grievous 
 hurt for refusing. He had chosen the nobler part 
 once when he was a struggling lad of no reputation. 
 Would he do so again, now that his character was 
 earned ? 
 
 You, my reader, will of course say " Yes " at once. 
 We know quite well what you would do were you 
 in Nick's position. 
 
 You will probably scorn him, therefore, when I 
 tell you that there was a long pause, on our 
 hero's part, between the above ultimatum and an 
 answer. 
 
 In a flash, such as that just made by the lucifer 
 match, he saw another fir-plantation and himself 
 in the hands of Greyhound Geordie, Matt, and 
 Pete. He felt again the cutting tightness of the 
 cords, and saw Viper's rough little body swinging 
 in front of him. 
 
 He had suffered severely for choosing the straight 
 and difficult path, that time. Was there no way, 
 on this occasion, by which he might escape suffering 
 and leave himself free to give the alarm so sorely 
 needed ? Suppose he were to swear, as these men 
 desired, and, doing so under compulsion, hold him- 
 self quit of his oath and free to save the innocent 
 once he was free himself? He looked at the fierce 
 eyes and scowling faces around him, not with his 
 bodily eyes, for it was now quite dark, but by the 
 light of memory, as supplied by that transitory flash 
 of the little lucifer ; and, though Nick was brave
 
 HOW NICK RETURNED TO BELLISTER. 337 
 
 ay, and had fought his way up to a character for 
 upright honesty he trembled and hesitated. 
 
 The men who held him gave him another shake. 
 
 "Ay or no?" they cried. "We'll count three, 
 Jem, and then " 
 
 "Ay, ay, I'm ready," said the brutal voice, which 
 Nick now knew so well, out of the surrounding 
 darkness. 
 
 " One two," began the lighter voice of the man 
 called Watty, and with each word he shook his 
 victim by the collar "three! Now, yes or no?" 
 
 "No!" answered Nick, firmly, and he said a 
 word of prayer, for in his ear he seemed to hear 
 the voice of old Colin whispering to him, "Spak' 
 the truth, laddie. It's the only way." And the 
 whisper gave him strength. 
 
 Then a fist like a sledge-hammer came down 
 upon his brow, and he took the consequences 
 of his refusal from the hand of the man called 
 Jem. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 HOW NICK RETURNED TO BELLISTER. 
 
 WHEN Nick came to himself it was no longer 
 dark. The moon was twinkling down upon his 
 face through the gently moving branches of the firs. 
 
 z
 
 338 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 For he was no longer on the roadside, but, as he 
 gradually discovered, among the trees of the plan- 
 tation. 
 
 In a dull sort of fashion he noted the black 
 barred-work of the boughs and twigs against the 
 light-filled sky, remarked the strong upstanding 
 toothing of the dark foliage, and said to himself 
 that he was in a plantation of Scotch firs. Scotch 
 firs ? What had Scotch firs to say to him ? Of 
 what did they remind him ? Was it of pain ? 
 
 His head was aching badly now. He had ached 
 all over once before, and it was, also, under trees 
 like these. What was the connection ? 
 
 He thought of the kind old face of Colin Camp- 
 bell. Would he were there now ! 
 
 Then he thought of Viper, and raised his head a 
 little with infinite difficulty to see if, peradventure , 
 that big cone up there on one of the branches could 
 by any possibility be Viper's little body. 
 
 It relieved him greatly to find that it was not 
 so, and he lay still for a while again. From Viper 
 it was not far to Meggie. He thought of her a 
 while, and with her of Bellister. 
 
 What was wrong about Bellister ? Surely, there 
 was something. Ah, yes ! 
 
 Like the flash of the lucifer match, memory came 
 back to him, and he struggled to his feet, and began 
 to crawl up the hill, clinging to the trunks of the 
 trees, from one to the other of which he tottered, like 
 a baby learning to walk. A great dread was upon 
 the young fellow, a fear of what he might see, once
 
 HOW NICK RETURNED TO BELLISTER. 339 
 
 the hill was topped and there were no more of those 
 thick Scotch firs to hide from him the view of 
 Bellister. 
 
 This dread made him feel even more sick than did 
 the blow which he had received. He was trembling 
 in every limb, weak and feeble as a very young 
 child or very old man. But that dread, though it 
 helped to palsy him, drove him onward, neverthe- 
 less, up, up, up, to the top of the hill. 
 
 His breath is coming in great gasps before he 
 reaches it. His knees are bending under him. 
 There are only three trees still to be conquered, 
 and then, if the worst has come, he will know it. 
 
 But those three trees are hard to conquer. Nick 
 falls more than once before he is over the needle- 
 strewn ground and clasping the rough red bole of 
 the last. 
 
 And now that the summit is reached, he hardly 
 dares look towards Bellister lest his eyes should tell 
 him that he is too late to give warning before the 
 horrible deed, which he feels certain is intended, is 
 an accomplished fact. His head, indeed, is swim- 
 ming so much that, at first, he can see nothing but 
 a reel of Scotch firs jigging around him. But, pre- 
 sently, they settle down into their places again, the 
 moon shines out from a cloud, under which she has 
 been wading, and the view is clear. Yes, there is 
 old Bellister on the slope of the opposite hill across 
 the winding, shining Tyne, its broken walls dark 
 against the darker trees behind, their tops just 
 touched by the moonlight.
 
 340 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Nick's heart bounds as he sees it, for the red 
 glow which he has dreaded so much is not there. 
 There is nothing but dark shadow and cold blue 
 moonlight. 
 
 Doubtless, Jem the pitman has done his best to 
 hinder the alarm being given. But, either his hand 
 was lighter than he thought, or Nick's head was 
 more strongly fortified than most which have come 
 within his experience, for " the consequences " have 
 not been quite what was expected, and "the spy" 
 may yet be able to carry his warning in time to 
 circumvent the deed of darkness. 
 
 The hope gives new strength to Nick. He forgets 
 his aching head and trembling limbs, as, swiftly, 
 but cautiously, lest he should come upon the enemy 
 lying in wait somewhere on the scrubby hillside, 
 he plunges down the valley. 
 
 As he goes he hears the clocks of Haltwhistle 
 strike, and halts for a moment to count the strokes, 
 for he feels that the success of his enterprise hangs 
 upon one, more or less, of those silver-clear 
 bellwords which are falling upon the still night- 
 air. 
 
 " One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. 
 Eight. Nine. Ten. Can it be only ten ? " 
 
 It seems an age since he overheard the plot. It 
 seems a lifetime since he " took the consequences " 
 of refusing to betray it. Only ten o'clock ! If he 
 have counted right, he may yet be in time. For 
 though, by ten o'clock at latest, Mrs. Ridley is wont 
 to extinguish every light in Bellister, the incendiaries
 
 HOW NICK RETURNED TO BELLISTER. 341 
 
 will, surely, wait till the household has had ample 
 time to fall asleep. 
 
 Nick's ears have brought him a message of hope 
 as well as his eyes, and his brain and heart are the 
 steadier for it. 
 
 Relieved and refreshed, he runs on again. He is 
 down among the shadows in the valley. He is 
 across the river. He is breasting the hill on which 
 stands the old castle, almost before such a thing 
 seems possible. 
 
 Now he is at the farmyard gate. The windows 
 of the farmhouse are all fast shut, like so many 
 sleeping eyes. All is as quiet as Nick so well re- 
 remembers it usually is at Ridley's farm by ten 
 o'clock. 
 
 Only the jingle of a cow's chain, and the regular 
 sound of "munch, munch" comes from the byre 
 to show that the inmates are not all unconscious. 
 
 Nick crosses the yard, and he knocks cautiously, 
 very cautiously, at the back door. He has not 
 much hope that any one will hear him, but this is 
 how he begins. Viper maybe Viper will hear 
 him ? He had forgotten her presence, and a cold 
 dew breaks out on his forehead as he listens for 
 her passionate little bark. For such an alarm as that 
 may bring the incendiaries upon the scene prema- 
 turely, and with evil consequences to all concerned. 
 
 But Viper does not bark. Probably she is sleep- 
 ing in her old quarters again, and Nick's move- 
 ments have been too quiet for the sound of them 
 to reach even her little prick ears.
 
 342 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Nick waits a moment at the door. But minutes 
 are much too precious to be lost, and, finding that 
 he may wait there any number of minutes without 
 much chance of being let in, he bethinks himself 
 of Meggie's window. 
 
 He knows that she always sleeps or used to 
 sleep in a little room over the back-kitchen, and 
 that there is a water-butt under her window, on 
 which he has climbed many and many a time when 
 a boy to tap at the pane in the early mornings 
 when the two had a stolen bird-nesting or mush- 
 rooming in prospect. 
 
 Why not do so now ? 
 
 He has never felt the slightest compunction about 
 doing it before. Why should he now have a sort of 
 uncomfortable shrinking, as though he were himself 
 a thief in the night, instead of there to give warn- 
 ing against worse than thieves ? 
 
 Needless to say, Nick does not stay to ask him- 
 self any such question ; and yet his heart is beating 
 quickly as he hoists himself on to the moss-grown 
 edge of the water-butt and taps with his knuckles 
 upon the tiny window-pane. 
 
 It is a light and timid tap. It might almost be 
 the tap of one of the ivy-leaves which creep round 
 the casement. But, strange to say, it wakes the 
 sleeper within, sound sleeper though Meggie Ridley 
 has always been. 
 
 Nick's heart beats still faster as he hears the 
 movement within. He hears the striking of a 
 lucifer for the third time that night. (Will he ever
 
 HOW NICK RETURNED TO BELLISTER. 343 
 
 cease to feel those queer sensations whenever he 
 hears the scratching of a match ?) Then comes a 
 light within, which casts a slender shadow upon the 
 blind. There is the shadow of curly hair about the 
 head, and the outline of the little tipped-up nose. 
 Nick thought he would have known it anywhere. 
 And yet the look of that shadow startles him. It is 
 not the little shadow which his child friend used to 
 cast on wall and daisied grass when he and she 
 played together in the sun in those days of long go. 
 
 It is a shadow so much longer and Well, Nick 
 
 has not time just then to find another adjective, 
 for the blind is cautiously pushed aside and a face 
 looks out 
 
 There is a glint of moonlight on it, making the 
 eyes shine and skin look satin-smooth, and catching 
 at the gold threads in the tumbled curly hair. The 
 sight of it makes Nick's breath come faster than 
 before. 
 
 It is Meggie's face, and yet not just the Meggie 
 he remembers. 
 
 The child Meggie was roguish and masterful in 
 look. But this Meggie, what is she ? 
 
 Ah, there is something about this Meggie much 
 too wonderful to be made out all at once. Or so, 
 at least, it seems to Nick. 
 
 " Whae is't ? " she asks breathlessly. For though 
 the girl's face is lighted, that which looks at her 
 through the window-pane is darkly shadowed. 
 
 As no immediate answer is forthcoming, a 
 look of alarm, which had been growing upon the
 
 344 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 face inside, deepens, and the blind is quickly 
 dropped. 
 
 Nick begins to fear that she has gone to raise 
 the alarm. He has not counted on this, for the 
 old Meggie had never been wont to look scared 
 when he tapped at her bedroom window. This 
 new Meggie disconcerts him. 
 
 But he need not have been afraid. For, alarm- 
 ing though it is for a girl to see a man looking in 
 at her window in the night, Meggie Ridley is a 
 self-possessed little personage, and has all her wits 
 about her. 
 
 She 'quickly returns with a light, raises the 
 blind again, and looks the intruder steadily in the 
 face. 
 
 And then she nearly shrieks in spite of all her 
 self-possession. 
 
 " Nick ! " she says. " Nick ! Why, lad, it's never 
 thoo?" 
 
 So she recognizes him after all ! 
 
 Although he has changed so much for the 
 better that it might have been more of a compli- 
 ment had his old playfellow failed to see in him 
 the ragamuffin Nick of long ago, the young man 
 cannot help feeling a throb of gladness at this 
 prompt recognition. 
 
 But there is no time then for leisurely tasting 
 of the joys of re-union, old friends though those 
 two are. 
 
 At a sign from him she opens the window. 
 
 " Meggie," he whispers, " mak' nae noise, but
 
 HOW NICK RETURNED TO BELLISTER. 345 
 
 rouse yer folk and get oot o' the hoose as sharp 
 as ye can. There's some chaps frae the pit comin' 
 to set ye afire. Whisht ! " he puts up his finger 
 hurriedly as he saw a look of terror come into the 
 girl's blue eyes. "Divn't mak' a sound, but dae 
 as I say ; I'm off for the police." 
 
 "Oh! Nick, Nick, dinnot gan! Whatever shall 
 \ve dae if they come while ye're awa' ? " 
 
 " Ye've nae men i' the hoose ? " 
 
 " No, nobbut Teddy, and he's nae good, pier lad ! 
 Faither's away, and we get a man frae Haltwhistle 
 now to dae the wark. Nick, diven't leave us." 
 
 She puts her hand out of the window, and lays 
 it on that of her old playfellow with a confiding 
 gesture which goes to the young man's heart. 
 
 "I wadn't, if I could help 't, Meggie," he says 
 earnestly. "I'll be back as sharp as I can. But 
 somebody must gan. There're not enough o' us 
 here to stop the rascals. Be sure and mak' nae 
 noise, and keep a light burnin'. They're nobbut 
 waitin' a bit to be sure ye're arl abed. If ye 
 show that ye ken what's up, I wadn't answer for 
 ivliat they might dae ; for they're gey and angry 
 wi' yer faither." 
 
 "Ay, I ken," answers the girl. "And sae might 
 ye be and arl, Nick, if arl remembered their wrangs, 
 for ye've been badly tret. I wonder " 
 
 "Whisht, lass! Say nae mair," answers Nick, 
 hurriedly, though the girl's wistful words and look 
 are as balm to his heart. "There's nae time to 
 crack now. The suner I gan the suner I'll be back.
 
 34" UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Keep up yer courage, lass ; wi' God's help we may 
 get off yet." 
 
 He catches the little hand, wrings it hard, and 
 noiselessly lowering himself from the water-butt, 
 hurries away. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 IN THE NICK O' TIME. 
 
 IF Nick had before been keen to reach Bellister, 
 he was now still more so to return to it. He had 
 seen Meggie again, and the sight of her had acted 
 on him like a cordial. 
 
 He ceased to feel his aching head ; strength re- 
 turned to his limbs. He even forgot to speculate 
 as to what her father might have to say to him 
 on his return. To bring help to Meggie, and to 
 be at hand to protect her, was the object of all his 
 endeavour. As for the safety of Mrs. Ridley and 
 that of her son Teddy, he hardly thought of it at 
 all, except as it concerned the happiness of his old 
 playfellow. For had not Meggie recognized him at 
 once ? Had she not appealed to him for protec- 
 tion ? That recognition, that appeal had made a 
 new man of Nick. The little episode of the trial, 
 when the girl had seemed to stand aloof, to put 
 such a distance between herself and her old friend,
 
 IX THE NICK O' TIME. 347 
 
 had melted away from his memory. Meggie her- 
 self had effaced it. For she had met him on the 
 old familiar ground ; nay, better, for, even in the 
 midst of her own danger, she had remembered his 
 feelings sufficiently to drop a word of regret for 
 the way in which he had been treated. 
 
 No wonder he forgot his broken head, or at least 
 scorned to think of it. He had got it in Meggie's 
 service. He was Meggie's champion, and that was 
 enough for Nick just then. 
 
 He wasted no time in Haltwhistle. Only wait- 
 ing long enough to see the sergeant of police and 
 summon assistance, he was off again to Bellister as 
 fast as his legs could carry him. 
 
 The old castle was still dark, except for the uncertain 
 moonlight, when he left the town and crossed the 
 bridge over the river. But, hardly was he on the 
 other side, than a sudden flush of colour tinged the 
 cold blueness of the sky. A red tongue of flame 
 shot upward, like a dart, from the hill. 
 
 Nick came to a sudden stand, as though he had 
 been shot ; then, catching up the branch of a tree 
 which was lying near him in the road, he rushed on 
 as hard as his legs could carry him, with set teeth 
 and panting breath. Before he was up the hill, 
 however, the red tongue of flame had spread to a 
 broad crimson banner, bordered with a fringe of 
 black smoke, which seemed to wave from the keep 
 of the old castle. 
 
 The red glow of the fire quenched the moonlight, 
 as the sun makes a candle turn pale. The broken
 
 34$ UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 walls stood out dark and massive against the 
 glowing background, casting strong shadows across 
 the grass. The trees, the house, the stacks, and the 
 farm-buildings all sprang into vivid relief of red 
 and black and yellow. 
 
 The sight was as beautiful as it was terrible, and 
 was visible for miles around. In lonely farmhouses 
 and shepherds' cottages upon the moors, men were 
 awakened by the red reflection, and said to them- 
 selves that " surely, the sun was rising early for the 
 time of year." 
 
 To Nick the suddenness with which the flames 
 had flared up was the most terrible part of the 
 business. It seemed to him at first as though help 
 would come too late to save anything. So great 
 was the light that he thought the whole homestead 
 must be on fire, and he trembled for the safety of 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 As he came nearer, however, he found that, so 
 far, less harm was done than he expected. One 
 of the stacks was alight and burning brightly, 
 but that was all as yet. The house and buildings 
 were quite untouched, though he could hear the 
 cattle blaring noisily in the byres, frightened by the 
 red light of the flames which shone through every 
 chink. 
 
 He avoided entering by the farmyard gate, and 
 crept round by the ruins, thinking it probable that 
 Meggie might have taken shelter there with her 
 mother and brother if she had not been able to get 
 away altogether. For, so far as the fire went, the
 
 IN THE NICK O' TIME. 349 
 
 ruins were safe enough, indeed, the only safe place 
 upon the premises, for there was nothing left which 
 could burn about the grim old walls. 
 
 The flicker of the flames within the stack-yard 
 came through the loopholes of the keep, and soon 
 showed him that he was right in his guess. For, 
 no sooner was he within the walls than he saw 
 Meggie stealing along in their shadow towards him. 
 
 She grasped his arm. 
 
 " Mother and Teddy are down in the dungeon," 
 she whispered. "But I couldn't bide; I'm flayed 
 o' their firin' the byre. Hark, how my pier coos is 
 blarin ! Nick, we maun creep round and let them 
 oot. I canna bide to hear them carl me." 
 
 " Where are the men ? " 
 
 " In t' stack-yard. Look, there's yan o' them tryin' 
 to fire anither stack ! It disn't burn quick enough 
 to content them. It's that quiet to-neet. And 
 Guid presarve us arl, Nick ! If that isn't that villain 
 Jem Green that hates faither the worst o' them 
 arl ! See, he's carryin' a leet to the little cart-shed, 
 and Viper's in there. Diven't ye hear her barkin' ? 
 They're mad wi' her for that. Nick, let's open the 
 little back winder. They'll niver think o' that. I 
 canna hev Viper burnt." 
 
 Without waiting for Nick to give his opinion, 
 Meggie bounded from his side, and made a dash 
 for the cart-shed. Fear for her dumb friends 
 seemed to have taken from her all care for her 
 own safety. 
 
 Nick followed her, creeping along in the shadow
 
 350 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 lest he should attract to her the attention he was 
 so anxious to avoid. 
 
 Till help came and oh ! how slow seemed the 
 movements of those he had summoned ! the only 
 chance of defence lay in remaining unperceived. 
 Could this be done, it might be possible for himself 
 and Meggie to save the cattle ; but, once the de- 
 fenders of Bellister betrayed their presence, Nick's 
 experience of the assailants told him that no mercy 
 was to be expected at their hands. Six desperate 
 men bent on revenge were not to be openly resisted 
 by one lad and lass. 
 
 But Meggie's precipitation was fatal at that 
 moment, and brought about the very danger that 
 he feared. 
 
 She was but half way between the ruins and the 
 buildings when she tripped upon a stone and fell 
 headlong, uttering, involuntarily, as she did so, a 
 little gasping sound, which at once attracted the 
 attention of a man who was crossing the grass with 
 a lighted torch. 
 
 " Hullo ! " he said, " what's this ? Why, as I live, 
 it's Ridley's lass. She turned up her nose at 
 me t'other day, the hizzy ! She shall pay for it 
 now." 
 
 He was stooping down over the girl and about 
 to seize her roughly by the arm, when the thick 
 branch of a Scotch fir came down with crashing 
 weight upon his head. 
 
 The man neither saw who gave the blow, nor 
 uttered a sound when he received it. He went
 
 IN THE NICK O' TIME. 351 
 
 down where he stood, and lay like a log, and Nick 
 felt that his own broken head was avenged. 
 
 Lifting up Meggie, he drew her, shuddering and 
 half sobbing, into the shelter of the wall. 
 
 She clung to him w r ith both her hands. 
 
 " Nick oh ! Nick ! " she gasped. 
 
 "Whisht, Meggie," he whispered back reassur- 
 ingly. " I've settled that yan ; it's Jem, I think. And 
 t' others diven't seem to have heard. Keep yersel' 
 quiet, lassie, and I'll creep roun' an let oot the pier 
 beasts. It's them that's maist in danger now I've 
 settled the man whae was after Viper. Eh dear ! 
 are yon chaps niver comin' frae Haltwhistle ? " 
 
 He crept cautiously onward round the corner of 
 the buildings, closely followed by Meggie, who did 
 not seem able to stay by herself. Together they 
 entered the byre, which had already caught fire, 
 entered it, undid the chains from the necks of 
 the frightened cows, and left them to make 
 their escape by the open door, which they speedily 
 did. 
 
 Viper, meantime, was howling piteously, and, as 
 Nick and his companion came again into the open 
 air, they were appalled at seeing the roof of the 
 little cart- shed, which was made of heather- thatch, 
 old and very dry, in a bright blaze. There were 
 men round the door, but the little building might 
 yet be entered, without their knowledge, by the 
 window at the back. 
 
 It would not be an easy enterprise, however, to 
 get in and out unscathed ; and Nick hesitated, as
 
 352 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 much to leave Meggie alone outside as to risk 
 himself within the burning building. 
 
 Had Meggie not been there he would not have 
 thought twice about the danger to himself in his 
 eagerness to save his dog friend. But with Meggie 
 herself in danger it was a different matter, for he 
 felt that the human friend came first 
 
 Meggie, however, seemed to be of a different 
 opinion. Viper's howls of terror made her forget 
 everything but the peril of her favourite. She 
 clasped her hands, and turned her agonized blue 
 eyes on Nick. 
 
 "Save Viper," she cried. "Lad, ye'll niver let 
 the bit doggie burn ? " 
 
 That was more than the young fellow could 
 resist. He flung prudence to the winds, scaled the 
 wall of the little cart-shed by the help of the hen- 
 ladder which served as a means of entrance to the 
 poultry which lodged within, and disappeared 
 through the window under the burning roof. Not 
 till Nick was out of sight did Meggie's fears awake 
 for him. 
 
 "Mebbe, he'll be burned and arl," she said to 
 herself in an agony ; " and he but new come back ! 
 Oh! what will I do wi'out Nick and Viper? I'll 
 away down the hill and tell the folk that's comin' 
 to mak' haste." 
 
 She sped away at the top of her speed, careless 
 now as to whether she were seen or not. 
 
 The little cart-shed was full of smoke. It would 
 have been impossible for Nick to have breathed in
 
 IN THE NICK O' TIME. 353 
 
 it at all, but that a part of the roof had given way 
 in one corner, leaving a space by which the smoke 
 of the burning thatch could in some measure escape 
 into the open air. For the thatch was burning 
 both inside and out, bits of it constantly falling on to 
 the stone floor, and smouldering there among the 
 peats and chicken-litter which lay about. 
 
 Fortunately the fire had not yet reached that 
 part of the roof which covered the pile of straw 
 where the terrier had her bed. It was at the same 
 place where Nick had slept on his last arrival at 
 the farm, and, instinctively, he made his way towards 
 it. For, by this time, Viper had ceased to bark, 
 and there was no sound to guide him to her 
 whereabouts. Nor were his eyes much more useful 
 than his ears, because of the blinding smoke which 
 came from the burning thatch. 
 
 " Viper ! " he called, as well as his half-suffocated 
 condition would allow him "Viper!" 
 
 At the sound of his voice there was a feeble 
 rustling among the straw, and something seemed 
 to drag itself painfully to his feet. 
 
 " Is't thoo, Viper ? " 
 
 Nick stooped, and a hairy bundle threw itself 
 upon him, licking his face, and making little 
 strangled noises of joy and relief. It was Viper, 
 sure enough. He took the little creature into his 
 arms and made a rush with her back to the little 
 window by which he had entered. But the fire 
 had got the start of him, and was licking with its 
 fierce red tongues all round the opening. 
 
 2 A
 
 354 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 There was no longer any way out there. Nick 
 felt his very heart turn sick within him. 
 
 The terrier lay still in his arms. The little spark 
 of life which she had shown on recognizing him 
 seemed to have been choked out of her by the 
 suffocating smoke, which was, notwithstanding the 
 fact that the roof at the further end of the shed 
 had fallen in, fast exhausting the air of the build- 
 ing. 
 
 For the second time that evening Nick felt his 
 head whirl and his limbs reel. If he did not soon 
 escape from the burning shed he felt that all would 
 be quickly over with him. 
 
 Hardly knowing what he did, yet, all the while, 
 keeping his hold on the dog, he staggered across 
 the floor and made for the door. 
 
 What did he care whether or not there were men 
 around it ready to knock him down when he ap- 
 peared ! Anything was better than this awful 
 pressure on brain and throat and chest, which took 
 from him thought and voice and breath. Only to 
 be out out of this suffocation into the fresh, cool, 
 open air. Only to be out out ! 
 
 After what seemed to him like crossing miles of 
 scorching desert, though it was but a few feet of 
 stone floor, Nick reached the door and fell against 
 it. His ears were full of a roaring, as of the sea. 
 He could see nothing. 
 
 Still mechanically holding the dog against 
 him with one hand and arm, he fumbled for 
 the fastening with the other. Found it. Shook
 
 THE BEST BEDROOM. 355 
 
 it ill frantic agony with all his remaining power. 
 In vain. The door held. It was locked on the 
 outside ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THE BEST BEDROOM. 
 
 AFTER that moment of awful, suffocating despair 
 at the door of the little cart-shed, when he believed 
 that life was over for him, Nick knew no more till 
 he opened his eyes in the best bedroom of Bellister 
 Castle Farm. 
 
 He did not know at first that it was the best 
 bedroom. Indeed, the idea of himself in that sacred 
 apartment was not to be entertained without con- 
 vincing proof. To be found peeping into "the 
 best bedroom " had been a crime in Mrs. Ridley's 
 eyes in the old days. Nick never forgot one un- 
 fortunate occasion, on which, when he and Meggie 
 were playing hide-and-seek, he found her ensconced 
 behind the sage-green curtains of the bed, and was 
 found by Mrs. Ridley, in his turn, before he could 
 withdraw from the sacred precincts. And, yet, now, 
 on recovering from his unconscious state, it was those 
 very sage green moreen hangings on which his 
 eyes first rested. He looked at them with wonder. 
 He could see the yellowish stripes which the sun 
 had painted in the folds. He could see the satin-
 
 35" UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 patched quilt, that triumph of Mrs. Ridley's art, 
 in the making of which all her cronies had assisted 
 in the days when he was a boy. He remembered 
 it quite well, and how it had looked in the frame, 
 when he had admired it at such a respectful dis- 
 tance as could alone be permitted to a boy, espe- 
 cially when the boy was such a waif of society as 
 himself. 
 
 There, too, was the big mahogany chest-of- 
 drawers, with the case of wax flowers on the top. 
 There, over the chimney-piece, was the gaudy picture 
 he had once looked on as the highest of high art 
 Moses in the Bulrushes. Such a pink Moses, such 
 blue water, such green rushes, as, surely, Nature could 
 never equal, let alone surpass ! And there could 
 there anywhere else but in the Bellister best bed- 
 room be a sampler such as he saw hanging up in 
 a black frame on the opposite wall ? He knew 
 every stitch of it, for he had watched Meggie put 
 them in, every stitch of those peacocks and palm- 
 trees, which were, next to the Moses, in Nick's 
 estimation, the greatest masterpieces at Bellister. 
 
 Yes, it looked like the best bedroom, and, yet, if 
 it were, how came he, Nick, to be lying there, en- 
 throned on the couch of state ? 
 
 Could he be dead ? and had they laid him out 
 here as the last and greatest honour that could be 
 paid him ? 
 
 Just for a moment this terrible solution of the 
 mystery seemed the most likely one to Nick, and a 
 cold dew broke out on his forehead at the thought.
 
 THE BEST BEDROOM. 357 
 
 The next it was dispelled, for, raising his head, he 
 caught sight of Viper lying by the bedside. 
 
 The terrier, whose brown eyes were open and 
 vigilant, caught sight of him at the same instant, 
 and in the frantic ecstasy of a devoted dog who 
 recognizes a long-lost master, she made one bound, 
 and was on to the satin quilt, utterly reckless of 
 all its glories, and of the risks which they were 
 running of being dimmed by contact with her 
 smutty coat. 
 
 She barked, she howled with excess of joy, 
 wagging her ropy tail, licking Nick's face with her 
 rough little tongue, and nearly suffocating him 
 again with the fervour of her caresses. 
 
 " Here, doctor, step this way," Nick heard some 
 one say at the door ; and then it opened, and in 
 came Dr. Shield of Haltwhistle, followed by John 
 Ridley himself. 
 
 "Why, Nick, my lad!" exclaimed the farmer 
 heartily, as he saw that the young man was con- 
 scious. "Hast coom roond ? Doctor" he turned 
 to the man of medicine "y'e're not wanted after 
 arl! Eh, but he must hev a fine constitution, 
 must Nick. If ye'd been at hame and cud hae 
 come yesterday, ye'd have seen a vara different 
 sight. We had Dr. Billow here, and he said he 
 would meet you this mornin', but he hadn't muckle 
 hopes. Hey, Dr. Billow, is that you, sir ? No need of 
 a consultation now ; yer patient'll do, I guess. Eh ? " 
 
 The farmer rubbed his hands, while Nick looked 
 on in wonder.
 
 358 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Could this be the stern, old John Ridley he used 
 to know the man who could not even bear the 
 mention of his name ? If so, what could have 
 changed him to such an extent ? 
 
 This question was almost as puzzling as the why 
 and wherefore he, Nick, was lying in Mrs. Ridley's 
 best bedroom. Both were beyond the patient's 
 power to solve just then. 
 
 Meantime, however, it was a delightful novelty to 
 feel himself of so much consequence in the house- 
 hold at Bellister. 
 
 The fact of his lying in the best bedroom was 
 merely the type of all the attentions he enjoyed. 
 He who had been before a wageless servant, driven 
 about from pillar to post, and treated no better 
 than a dog, was now dealt with as an honoured 
 guest. 
 
 John Ridley was constantly looking in to see how 
 he did. Mrs. Ridley, though her pursed-up lips and 
 set expression showed that the present arrangement 
 was no doing of hers, and had been duly protested 
 against beforehand, fell in with it sufficiently to 
 fail in no care which was necessary for the patient's 
 recovery. And Meggie ? Well, Meggie, was the 
 indefatigable nurse, the guardian-angel, as Nick 
 thought, of the sick-room. 
 
 Weak and puzzled, yet happy and at rest, he 
 watched this new Meggie moving about him, 
 smoothing his pillow, giving him beef-tea, looking 
 at him, when she thought he slept, with tender 
 solicitude in her pretty eyes.
 
 THE BEST BEDROOM. 359 
 
 She had still the same plump little figure, still 
 the same curly hair, still the same apple-blossom 
 face ; and the little dimple in the soft cheek showed 
 that smiles and roguery still lurked within, ready 
 to be called up when the gravity of the nurse could 
 be relaxed and the natural Meggie allowed to re- 
 appear. 
 
 The old Meggie had always been the admiration 
 of poor down-trodden Nick, and he had been 
 fonder of her than of any one in the world. But 
 as he lay and watched her, this new Meggie 
 seemed to him more admirable still, more worthy 
 of reverent love. 
 
 "Happy the lad that gets her!" sighed poor 
 Nick, and a little sadness soured even the sweet- 
 ness of the best bedroom, as he thought that this 
 dainty little blossom of Bellister could never be 
 reached by such as he. 
 
 " Yes, yes, Mr. Ridley, the lad'll do well enough," 
 the doctors had said to the farmer, as they followed 
 him downstairs. " That blow on his head, followed 
 by the dose of smoke, was enough to make an end 
 of most men. But this fellow must have the skull 
 of an elephant and the digestion of an ostrich. He 
 only wants rest and care, and in a few days he'll 
 be as good as ever. He's led a healthy, sober 
 life, has that lad, it's evident to see, or he'd never 
 have come round as he has. Ay, he's a fine-grown 
 fellow, and his constitution seems sound as a bell. 
 You wouldn't say that he was picked out of the 
 gutter if you hadn't known. Eh, Mr. Ridley ? "
 
 360 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Ye're reet, sir," answered John. " I always said 
 there was the makin's of a good un in pier Nick. 
 But then, ye see, we did weel by him here." 
 
 Both doctors glanced at each other with an 
 amused smile. For the Ridleys' treatment of 
 their "servant lad" was pretty well known in Halt- 
 whistle. 
 
 "Well, well, it's to be hoped you'll reap the 
 equivalent," remarked one of them. 
 
 " Reap as you've sown, eh ? " said the other. 
 
 John Ridley's shrewd grey eyes twinkled. He 
 was not going to be hoodwinked by any doctors. 
 
 "Well, sirs," he said dryly, "the proof o' the 
 puddin's in the eatin'. Yon lad's shown arlready 
 that he kens his freends. I'd hae been a ruined 
 man this day if it hadna been for him. He cam' 
 in the vara nick o' time to save us, did Nick, as 
 I've telt them arl. Ha ! ha ! Twae ricks and a 
 byre, and the roof o' a cart-shed is bad enough to 
 lose, but a hale onstead wad hae been a deal 
 worse. Nay, nay, he's not ungrateful, is Nick. 
 He's a credit to our upbringin', sir. What d'ye 
 think ? " He lowered his voice and nudged his 
 family-doctor with his elbow. "They tell me he's 
 a bit place o' his ain, besides a thrivin' business, 
 and he but one-and-twenty." 
 
 "He's profited by your lessons, Mr. Ridley." 
 
 "Ay, ye may say sae," said the farmer, with a 
 chuckle of satisfaction. 
 
 "And, yet, that fellow's made a useless wreck of 
 the son of the house," remarked one doctor to the
 
 THE BEST BEDROOM. 361 
 
 other as they went down the hill. " Small blame to 
 him, poor fellow, of course, for he was vilely treated, 
 whatever Ridley may say. But I never thought 
 the old man would have forgiven the blow and the 
 shame of the discovery. Young Ridley's a ruined 
 man, both in body and character, and he's the only 
 son." 
 
 " Maybe, old Ridley is thinking of getting 
 another," was the answer, in an amused tone of 
 voice. " He's an eye to business, has John. And 
 though this Nick's a nobody, he's a fine fellow, 
 nevertheless, and would be very useful in many 
 ways. You heard what Ridley said about the little 
 fortune ? Ay, depend on it, it's not only gratitude 
 for the timely warning that saved Bellister which 
 is at the bottom of our friend's tactics." 
 
 " But he's hardly a match for bonnie Meggie, is 
 he ? There's many a young chap of a good stock 
 who would jump at being John Ridley's son-in-law, 
 little as the man is liked. Why should she take 
 up with a workhouse lad ? " 
 
 " Why ? " The other doctor pursed -up his lips 
 and gave vent to a low whistle. "Don't ask me 
 why, my friend. Why has the lass refused such 
 good matches as young Bates of Bewcastle, and 
 Lambert of Low Row, but for very good reasons 
 of her own ? She knows what she's about, does 
 Meggie Ridley, I fancy, just as her father does. 
 Though, I take it, her reasons are a bit different. 
 Did you see how she looked at that lad just 
 now ? No ? Well then, / did, and I've drawn my
 
 362 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 conclusions. Only a child when she saw him last ? 
 Yes, yes, I grant you that. But a childish heart is 
 not always a fickle one, my dear sir ; and when lads 
 and lasses have been bairns together there's many 
 a seed sown that's quick to spring up when they 
 meet each other in after-years. Consider, too, the 
 romantic conditions under which these two have 
 met again. A fire danger the lad risking his 
 life to save the girl's favourite the rescuer appa- 
 rently dead she nursing him back to life gratitude 
 pity. You can understand what is likely to 
 come next ? No ? Well, well, you've no young 
 people of your own as / have." 
 
 So the doctors talked, and doctors, as you know, 
 are generally supposed to have keen eyes, and more 
 than the usual ability for seeing things which lie 
 just under them. Listening to their grave gossip, 
 therefore, may help us to forecast the future of our 
 two friends Meggie and Nick, which, indeed, even 
 for those who were not behind the scenes it was 
 not hard to do. 
 
 The doctor, it is true, was no longer wanted by 
 our hero ; but the nurse was. Nay, the stronger he 
 grew the more he wanted her, which is not always 
 the case between nurse and patient. In a very 
 few days Nick was downstairs again, and quite 
 convalescent. Yet he still stayed on at Bellister, 
 occupying its best bedroom, and making large 
 demands on the t>me of its pretty little mistress. 
 
 In spite of Mrs. Ridley's pursed-up mouth and 
 protesting air, the two old comrades wandered
 
 THE BEST BEDROOM. 363 
 
 again through the ruins and reminded each other 
 of the adventures of long ago. Nick helped Meggie 
 to milk, with Viper lying beside them in the empty 
 stall, and the cows clanking their chains and chew- 
 ing the cud of sweet recollection in those which 
 were occupied, just as the milkers were doing, as 
 they drew down the milk into the frothing pails. 
 And if neither the lad nor the lass said a word 
 which might not have been said when they were 
 bairns, it was not for want of wishing it on Nick's 
 side, at least. 
 
 For, happy though he was amidst the scenes of 
 long ago, Nick dared not look ahead. He could 
 speak glibly enough of the past, but his tongue was 
 tied on the subject of the future. He looked at 
 and longed for the bonnie blossom which, it seemed 
 to him, hung high over his head above the old grey 
 walls of Bellister. He took delight in her fragrant 
 shadow, but still he said to himself that she was far 
 above his reach. 
 
 How should the son of Greyhound Geordie and 
 Tramping Sal wear such a blossom in his button- 
 hole ? She might put up with him, indeed, as a 
 friend, for the sake of "Auld Lang Syne." But 
 that he should ever be anything nearer and dearer 
 was not to be expected. Nor would her father, 
 Nick was certain, ever allow it. 
 
 And there was another bar between them which 
 was still more unsurmountable, as Nick felt, and 
 this was Teddy. Every time his eyes rested on the 
 handsome, dark-haired young man, crouched in the
 
 364 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 chimney-corner, with his bent back and his vacant 
 face, a pang went through the heart of the lad 
 whose hand had been, not, certainly, the first cause, 
 but, at all events, the direct instrument in bringing 
 about this human wreck. 
 
 That he should have so forgotten himself as to 
 strike down Meggie's brother was a terrible thought 
 to Nick. And he felt that as he could never forgive 
 himself when he looked on Teddy, neither would 
 the Ridleys ever really be able to forget what he 
 had done. 
 
 Mrs. Ridley, he knew well enough, had not for- 
 given him, and, kind though Ridley and Meggie 
 were, even though they seemed to have forgiven 
 him in consideration of what he had done and 
 suffered in their service, he could not but feel that 
 Teddy must be always a standing reproach. He 
 said nothing, therefore, which could be construed 
 into courtship ; but, probably, his eyes spoke in- 
 stead of his tongue, and those of bonnie Meggie 
 answered him. 
 
 Anyhow Meggie's father thought so. 
 
 " Weel, weel," he said, one day, to his wife, as he 
 stood at the kitchen door with his pipe in his mouth, 
 watching the two young people as they crossed 
 the yard on their way to the milking "what- 
 iver ye may be pleased to say, missus, if it wasn't 
 for yan thing, I'd gie them my blessin', for Nick 
 suits me and Meggie down to the ground, now he's 
 got a name and a position as weel. I'll hev to 
 chuck up the viewing now, and him and me could
 
 THE SWALLOWING OF TRAMPING SAL. 365 
 
 mak' a gey bit brass if I gave him a hand wi' 
 cattle-dealin.' He'd come in handy, there's nae 
 denyin' it, and Meggie likes him as she's niver 
 liked ony yan else. 'Deed, missus, say what ye 
 like, I'd give my consent but for yan thing, as I 
 said afore, and that's Trampin' Sal, if as folks sez, 
 she's the moother o' this lad. Quid sakes, but she'd 
 be a mouthful ! It wad tak' a wider throat than 
 maist men's made wi' to swally Trampin' Sal. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE SWALLOWING OF TRAMPING SAL. 
 
 " IF it wasn't for Trampin' Sal." These words of 
 John Ridley's had been spoken pretty loud, and 
 they had reached the ears of Sal's son, as he crossed 
 the yard a little behind his companion. " If it wasn't 
 for Trampin' Sal, I'd gie them my blessin'." 
 
 This speech of Meggie's father buzzed on in 
 Nick's ears like the haunting burden of some song 
 to the accompaniment of the frothing milk, all that 
 evening milking-time, and made him so silent and 
 distraught that Meggie wondered what could be 
 the matter with her companion. 
 
 "If it wasn't for Trampin' Sal." The bugbear 
 of his boyhood had risen up before him again and 
 was barring his way to better things, just as she 
 had done in the old days. Although he had now
 
 366 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 but little doubt that she was his mother, Nick felt 
 that he hated Tramping Sal. His mother, and yet 
 the bane of his life ! It was terrible, but it was 
 true. 
 
 Nick looked round the tail of the cow that he 
 was milking, and stole a glance at the dainty fair 
 head of Meggie, her sweet brow resting against 
 the side of the hornless black Galloway which she 
 was busy with, her fresh young voice crooning away 
 at some old song, such as cows love to hear when 
 they are being milked. Then he thought of the 
 coarse, red face and squalid head, and the loud, 
 rough voice of Tramping Sal. " Look here, upon 
 this picture, and on this." The very comparison 
 seemed an insult to the girl beside him, and made 
 him shudder as he looked. 
 
 Tramping Sal and Meggie Ridley ! The two 
 could hardly be thought of together. And, yet, the 
 one was separating him from the other. The 
 thought filled Nick with rage. 
 
 Was it, then, possible that, but for Tramping Sal, 
 John Ridley was ready to overlook all other im- 
 pediments and take him, the once despised servant- 
 lad, as his son-in-law ? Was it possible ? 
 
 The bare idea of such a thing seemed like a 
 glimpse of Heaven to a man who has thought of 
 himself irrevocably shut out. 
 
 It was rapture ; but it made his position yet more 
 unendurable. For Tramping Sal barred the way 
 to bliss, and Tramping Sal could not be done away 
 with.
 
 THE SWALLOWING OF TRAMPING SAL. 367 
 
 She had recovered, as Nick had heard, from her 
 accident, and was now much the same woman as 
 before, only, if possible, still less desirable as a re- 
 lation. But she had not lately been seen in Halt- 
 whistle ; and Nick began to wonder how it would 
 be if she never turned up again. 
 
 No one seemed to know for certain that she was 
 his mother. Haltwhistle people knew less about it 
 than he, Nick, did. He had refused to own her in 
 the old days. Why should he own her now when 
 the claim of kinship would damage his prospects 
 more than ever ? 
 
 Was it necessary that he should tell John Ridley of 
 that death-bed revelation of Greyhound Geordie's ? 
 
 As these questions put themselves in Nick's mind, 
 the byre-door opened and a boy looked in. 
 
 Nick got up and went to him. 
 
 Meggie paused in her milking to listen. 
 
 " Ye're wanted at t' Union," said the boy. " It's 
 aboot the woman they ca' Trampin' Sal," he added, 
 as Nick looked at him blankly. 
 
 " Trampin' Sal ! " cried Meggie. " She's niver 
 turned up again ! Dinna gan, Nick. Ye needna 
 be feared on her now ; but ye'd better not gan 
 near her. She'll fasten on ye like a leech if ye 
 gie her the chance. / ken Sally ! " 
 
 Still the young man said nothing. He stood 
 looking at the messenger, with the blood in his 
 cheeks and his lips compressed. 
 
 " Whae sent ye, laddie ? " asked Meggie. " Was 
 it Sal ? "
 
 368 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 " Nay, it was the Union-maister," answered the 
 boy. "But it's aboot Sal, for arl that. He's akin 
 to her, folks says." 
 
 He nodded his head towards Nick as he spoke. 
 
 "What folks says is nothin'," answered Meggie, 
 with some heat. "She's nae claim on ye, Nick. 
 Ye always said she hadn't," she went on, turning 
 to the tall young man who was hanging his head 
 by the door, just as he used to do in former days 
 when Tramping Sal appeared. 
 
 It vexed Meggie to see the old shamefaced look 
 upon the face of the man who was now her hero. 
 
 "But she's vara bad. Ye maun joost gan," 
 persisted the boy. "The maister said I was to 
 fetch you back." 
 
 "Ye winnot dae that, onyhoo," cried Meggie, hotly. 
 " Gan aboot yer business this meenit, Willy. If 
 Maister Grant gans at arl, which he winnot dae if 
 he tak's ma advice, ye can tell the Union folks to 
 wait his pleasure." 
 
 The boy ran off quickly, for Meggie, sweet though 
 she usually was, had inherited some of her father's 
 and mother's temper, and could show it when roused. 
 
 When the messenger was gone, she got up from 
 her milking-stool and came and stood by Nick. 
 
 " Lad," she said, and all the anger had gone out 
 of her voice while she laid a hand softly on his 
 arm "lad, thoo's nae carl to mind Trampin' Sally 
 now, nor naebody owther. Thoo's above such as 
 her, Nick, and I diven't believe I never did that 
 she's moother to such as thoo."
 
 THE SWALLOWING OF TRAMPING SAL. 369 
 
 There was a tender familiarity in her touch and 
 in the use of the homely northern "thoo" which 
 went to Nick's heart, revealing, as it did to him, 
 that he stood near to the heart of his old play- 
 mate. But he found nothing to say in return. The 
 struggle which had been going on within him since 
 he had overheard those words of John Ridley's had 
 reached a painful crisis. 
 
 Nick felt that this was a turning-point in his life ; 
 that his whole future hung in the balance, dependent 
 on the way he acted now. Therefore, though he 
 longed to take the little hand which rested on his 
 arm, and tell its owner that no Tramping Sals 
 should ever stand between him and her, his hands 
 were chained. 
 
 Meggie said no more, but she looked distressed. 
 She took her hand from his arm, picked up her 
 milking-pail, and hastily left the byre, leaving Nick 
 to fight his battle alone with the cows and 
 Viper. 
 
 Poor Nick ! He had been many a time tempted 
 before ; he had fought many a hard battle only 
 those like him, who are the inheritors of a double 
 portion of evil, know how hard but this was the 
 sorest strife of all. 
 
 There are times in each life, generally when that 
 life has, through much tribulation, been raised to 
 a high standard, that a specially strong temptation 
 is sent to test it. Common temptations have been 
 resisted again and again. The devil has learnt 
 that they are useless, and he makes a final effort 
 
 2 13
 
 3/0 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 to drag the nature down by a temptation which 
 is as subtle as it is strong. 
 
 It was such a cunning trick of the great wrestler 
 that Nick had now to abide. 
 
 Would it be so very wrong to repudiate this 
 wretched mother of his, who had never treated him 
 as a mother should treat her son ? No one knew 
 what Greyhound Geordie had told him. No one 
 need ever know. 
 
 To obey this summons would be to acknowledge 
 her openly ; and to acknowledge her meant to give 
 up all hope of Meggie. 
 
 It was a choice between drunken, reprobate 
 Tramping Sal, and bonnie, white-souled Meggie 
 Ridley. Could any man hesitate which to choose ? 
 It was, indeed, a hard struggle, and strangely did 
 the forces within him range themselves. The 
 good within him sided with Tramping Sal, the 
 evil with Meggie Ridley. Nick felt his soul torn 
 in two. 
 
 But it was not in vain that on other occasions 
 he had wrestled and thrown his foe. The habit 
 was there. 
 
 And besides, there were other wrestlers there on 
 the ground of his soul besides Tramping Sal and 
 Meggie Ridley, besides Repulsion and Inclination, 
 besides his own worse and better natures. There 
 was Satan, and there was One who is stronger 
 than he. 
 
 Old Colin Campbell, also, rose up, and stood on 
 the side which seemed at first the weaker ; and
 
 THE SWALLOWING OF TRAMPING SAL. 371 
 
 again, in the dim light of the lantern in Bellister 
 byre, Nick heard the whisper which had helped 
 him before: " Spak' the truth, laddie. It's the 
 only way." 
 
 He listened. The struggle within him gradually 
 ceased. Satan and Inclination were vanquished 
 and fled away, and Nick resolutely turned from the 
 bonnie face which had sided with them. Yes, he 
 would do right. He would cast aside the grapes 
 which looked so fair. Not because he could not 
 reach them would he call them sour, but because 
 they were forbidden fruit. He would do his duty, 
 cost him what it might. And his duty was to go 
 to Tramping Sal, own himself her son, and do the 
 best he could for his wretched mother. 
 
 "Virtue," the copy-books tell us, "is its own 
 reward." But however true this may be in the long 
 run, it is not always so at once. And, when Nick 
 returned, two hours later, he was not feeling at all 
 as the virtuous who have done their duty are sup- 
 posed to feel. His immediate sensations were those 
 of a patient who has just swallowed a very nasty 
 dose of medicine, and who has another in prospect 
 before he has time to get the taste of the first out 
 of his mouth. Medicine, of course, as we all know, 
 does good in the end, but the immediate results are 
 by no means pleasant. And, it seems to me, that 
 the immediate effects of doing a disagreeable duty 
 are much the same. You may swallow it bravely, 
 but you cannot prevent the wry face and the nasty 
 after-taste.
 
 3/2 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 Tramping Sal, as John Ridley had truly said, 
 was a difficult mouthful to swallow. 
 
 Nick had found her particularly difficult, and as 
 he again mounted the hill to Bellister she was still 
 sticking in his throat and threatening to disagree 
 with him in the near future. He had found her 
 even worse than he had expected ; for four more 
 years of drink and disorder had brought her to 
 a still lower state of degradation than that in which 
 he had last seen her. He pitied the diseased and 
 shattered object she had become. But, though 
 the story she told him fitted in with that of Grey- 
 hound Geordie and left Nick no doubt that he was 
 their son, he could in no wise feel towards her as 
 a son should towards his mother. 
 
 She had cried maudlin tears over her "dear 
 bairn," her "bonny jewel." She had shaken her 
 feeble fist at the mention of her husband, and re- 
 ceived his dying message with an exclamation of, 
 "Brave words and brutal deeds that's Geordie 
 Grant arl over ! I'm weel shot on him. I nobbut 
 wish he'd got his deserts, and tried the gallows, as 
 I arlways said he wad." 
 
 The two exhibitions of affection and hatred on 
 the part of the wife and mother had equally re- 
 pulsed and disgusted the son. 
 
 But he had done his duty by her, nevertheless, 
 as the Union authorities were willing to allow, and 
 had paid for her keep like a man. And now he 
 was on his way back to Bellister to make a clean 
 breast of it to Meggie's father, and to say good-bye,
 
 THE SWALLOWING OF TRAMPING SAL. 3/3 
 
 as he said to himself, for the last time, to the old 
 castle and its inmates. 
 
 Poor Nick ! He felt as though with his own hand 
 he were shutting the gates of Paradise against him, 
 after that short peep of the glories within. And, 
 oh ! it was bitter, bitter, deliberately to go out once 
 more into the outer darkness ! He set his teeth 
 and breathed hard, but he had made his choice 
 now and he must go through with it. 
 
 John Ridley's face fell as Nick got out his con- 
 fession. It was evident to see how disappointed 
 he was, and when Nick spoke of leaving imme- 
 diately, he half rose from his chair, as though to 
 stop him. But he restrained himself. 
 
 " Ye're reet, lad " with a sigh. " It goes again' 
 me to part wi' ye ; but, after what ye've telt me, I 
 see nae ither way. I didn't mair nor half believe 
 the clash aboot ye and that hizzy, Trampin' Sal, 
 but since ye've owned her yersel', why then " 
 
 He stopped short, for his daughter Meggie had 
 stolen into the room and was standing behind his 
 chair. 
 
 "Nick's gannin', lass," he said to her. " It seems 
 what folks says aboot him and Trampin' Sal is over 
 true. He's owned up to her, like an honest lad, and, 
 like an honest lad, he's made up his mind to the 
 consequences. Say good-bye to him, Meggie, since 
 go he must. And" John Ridley looked round 
 to make sure that his wife was nowhere near "if 
 ye've a mind to gie him a buss ahint the door, I 
 winnot deny 't him, since it's t' last time ; for ye're
 
 3/4 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 auld playmates, and he's an honest lad, is Nick, 
 whatever his faither and moother may be." 
 
 But Meggie was not the lass to own her love 
 behind doors. She came forward openly, took the 
 young man's offered hand, and held up her cheek 
 for his kiss. 
 
 "It's not good-bye, lad," she said softly but 
 firmly ; "neither, if thoo's pleased to have 't sae, is it 
 for t* last time. Gan if thoo must, and bide awa' as 
 lang's thoo pleases, thou'lt find me waitin' on thee 
 when thoo comes back to Bellister." 
 
 What could Nick do then but take the offered 
 kiss, and vow that if ever her father should send 
 for him he would come on the instant. 
 
 Nor did John Ridley make any opposition. Per- 
 haps he was too much taken by surprise. As for 
 Nick, when he went away he carried with him the 
 feeling that there is a reward for virtue after all, 
 and that the gates of Paradise could never quite 
 shut behind him so long as one loving hand was 
 there to hold them ajar. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Is it necessary to tell you the end of the story after 
 what has been said in the last chapter ? I hardly 
 think it is, for have you not already guessed it ?
 
 CONCLUSION. 375 
 
 Yet, as there are some readers still remaining, 
 even at this late hour of the rapid nineteenth cen- 
 tury, who object to being left to finish a story for 
 themselves, we will respect their wishes and cut off 
 the threads of the web that we have been weaving 
 neatly at the ends. 
 
 Tramping Sal did not trouble either Haltwhistle 
 or this world much longer after her final return to 
 her native town. Fortunately for her son, that first 
 visit to her as his mother was, also, the last, and 
 she retired from the scenes within the year after 
 she ceased to tramp. 
 
 Nick, meanwhile, had been steadily following his 
 business, which grew daily, and putting by a little 
 hoard, spite of what he had to spend on his mother, 
 in the hope that it might one day help to keep a 
 wife. 
 
 Nor was that day so very long in coming, after 
 all. For, shortly after Tramping Sal had taken 
 herself out of the way, the summons which he was 
 awaiting with what patience he might, arrived from 
 Bellister. 
 
 Meggie and her father were at one in wanting the 
 exile home, and together they proved too strong 
 for Mrs. Ridley. 
 
 " Ye'll please yersel', I reckon," she said to Ridley, 
 when he wrote the summons, and, "Ye can please 
 yersel', since yer father's pleased," she said again 
 when her consent was asked to the wedding. It 
 was her usual formula when her husband over- 
 ruled her will. She purstd up her lips, indeed, and
 
 3/6 UNDER THE DOG-STAR. 
 
 sighed loudly as she looked at her son, but both 
 John Ridley and Meggie were too well used to such 
 demonstrations to heed them much. After all, Mrs. 
 Ridley's bark was known to be worse than her 
 bite. 
 
 So the young couple settled down beside the old 
 in the ancient nest, which had sheltered both human 
 beings and jackdaws for so many generations. 
 Room was, also, found for Kelt and the Laird o' 
 Cockpen beside the original canine inhabitants of 
 Bellister, And it can, at least, be said that the 
 four dogs agreed together quite as well as did their 
 masters and mistresses. As time went on, the Laird 
 and Viper especially came to be looked on with 
 almost superstitious reverence by the members of 
 the rising generation. For the' young Grants asso- 
 ciated them with the adventures of their father, and 
 with the story of a certain bright star which they 
 were never tired of pointing out. But the story 
 these youngsters told was a different version to 
 that of their grandfather, old Greyhound Geordie. 
 
 "Yen's the Dog-star," they were wont to say. 
 " It's a lucky star for us. Daddy was born under 
 that ; and the Laird and Viper, and arl good tykes 
 '11 go there when they die." 
 
 And Nick, when he heard the bairn ies chatter, 
 laughed, well pleased. 
 
 John Ridley is of the same opinion as his grand- 
 children. He, also, thinks that it was a lucky day 
 for Bellister when he took in the friendless waif. 
 
 " If we've lost yan son," he sometimes says, as
 
 CONCLUSION. 377 
 
 he watches the tender patience with which Nick 
 treats his poor fretful brother-in-law, " we've gained 
 a better nor yon pier chap would ever hae been. 
 He's kind and cliver and guid, is oor Nick, and 
 whativer his forbears may have been and naebody 
 minds them now there's not a mair well-respected 
 mon in arl the country-side." 
 
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