CHAPTER VIN THE WOODS
It was a glorious autumn morning—one of those mornings when the wind seems to have swept the world very clean, the sky is very blue and clear of clouds, the sun shines on the red-and-gold leaves, and you feel happy just to be alive. The boys woke up feeling almost good, but, remembering the campaign of frightfulness against Miss Prince which they were determined to carry out, they asked each other what they should do to-day.
“I’ll tell you what,” said David. “She said she was going to start a new plan for lessons this morning. It would annoy her awfully if we ran away all the morning, and she couldn’t start her precious plan! It’s such a ripping day, why should we sit in a stuffy schoolroom?”
“Right you are!” said Bill. “I vote we go and play wild buffaloes with Farmer Tomkinson’s calves. He’s just bought a lot of new ones, and if we let them out on to the heath, we could have some jolly good sport—especially if we take the dogs and the long carriage whip.”
“Hush,” said David. “Squat down before he sees us.”[To face page 23.
“Hush,” said David. “Squat down before he sees us.”[To face page 23.
[To face page 23.
“I shan’t come with you,” said Nipper. “I have a plan of my own.”
“Out with it, kid!” said Bill, twisting his small brother’s arm till he started his siren-shriek.
“Let go!” he yelled, “and I’ll tell you. I’m going to explore Prior’s Wood. Don’t you remember that story she told us? And she said we might find the Scout if we went in Prior’s Wood.”
“I think,” said Bill, “we’ll leave the calves for to-day, and go to Prior’s Wood. It’s probably all a pack of lies, but we might as well go and see.”
And so, after breakfast, before Miss Prince had time to call them for lessons the three boys ran out across the fields to the wood. They had not gone far when David stopped short.
“Hush!” he said. “Squat down before he sees us—quick!”
The other two followed his example, and squatted down, peering cautiously over a clump of bracken.
They had reached a little clearance in the wood, where the ground was carpeted with soft green moss, and a small stream gurgled noisily along. On the banks of the stream was a little hut, built of branches and bracken, between the trunks of three trees.
A little distance from this a bright wood fire burned, sending a steady column of blue smoke up into the sunny air. A billy-can boiled away, standing on a thick piece of wood, whilst on a big, moss-covered log sat a boy. He had bare, brown knees and bare, brown arms and a khaki shirt, his red neckerchief making a bright splashof colour among the greens and browns of the wood. He had a knife in his hand, and he was carving wonderful patterns on a straight ash stick he had cut for himself. As he worked he whistled softly.
The three boys, squatting in the ferns, watched him. Presently he got up and added some wood to his fire, and peeped into the boiling pot. Then he fetched an apple out of his hut, and sat down again on the log. Suddenly a robin swooped down on to a twig quite close, and stared with big, bright eyes at this boy who had come to share his own particular corner of Prior’s Wood.
The boy, just as if he knew the language of robins, began to whistle, very softly, in little trills. The robin cocked his head on one side and answered with much the same kind of whistle. Then he swooped down on to the end of the very log Danny was sitting on, and they went on with their whistling conversation.
“I believe he can talk to the birds!” whispered Nipper, with round eyes.
Just then an enormous water rat appeared on the opposite bank of the stream, and began swimming across. Bill’s hand shot out instinctively for a stone.
“Shut up, you ass!” said David.
“But I could just hit him on the head beautifully,” said Bill.
“Sh—sh! The Scout will kill him, I expect, when he gets nearer. Let’s see how he does it,” whispered David.
But, strange to say, the Scout, after watchingthe big rat land, moved noiselessly across to his hut, and came out with a bit of cheese, a little piece of which he poked softly across to the bank with the end of his stick. The rat had vanished. But before long he came out, fetched the piece of cheese, and ran back to his hole. The Scout put another crumb, nearer this time. The rat came out and fetched that. Gradually he came nearer and nearer.
Presently he got so bold that he stayed and ate the crumbs of cheese quite close to Danny—and then sat up and cleaned his whiskers with his little pink hands, and seemed to be combing his fur and brushing his little round ears.
The three boys watched, fascinated. They had never before thought of making friends with a water rat and watching his habits. Their first thought had always been to kill the happy little creature, who was out enjoying the morning sunshine.
Suddenly Nipper could sit still no longer; he stretched his legs, which broke a rotten twig and made such a noise that Danny looked round and saw the three heads watching him through the bracken.
“Hullo!” he said. “Come and see my little camp.” He smiled and looked so friendly that the three boys got up and came half-shyly out into the open space.