Jeremy

orld will understand the part that the sea used to pl

he bluest of seas, and would not be persuaded that it was merely wrack of clouds. That may be or no; the fact remains that Polchester sniffed the sea from afar, was caught with sea breezes and bathed in reflected sea-lights; again and again of an evening the Cathedral sailed on dust and shadow towards the horizon, a great white ghost of a galleon, and the young citizens of the town with wondering eyes, watched it go. But there were more positive influences than mere cloud and light. We

ations, or simply stopping for an hour or so to gaze open-mouthed at the Cathedral and the market-place and the Canons and the old women. These men had someti

emy's, Rafiel, and a better, more beautiful place, in the whole world you will not find. And each place has its own legend: at Rafiel the Gold lured Pirates, and the Turnip-Field; at Polwint the Giant Excise Man; at Borhaze the Smugglers of Trezent Rock; at St. Borse the wreck of "The Golden Galleon" in the year 1563, with its wonderful treasure; and at St. Maitsin Cove the famous Witch of St. Maitsin Church Town who turned men's bones i

, or dandelion seeds, or smell of sea-pinks, we children lifted our noses and sniffed and sniffed and saw the waves curl in across the

of it; he had been able to swim since he could remember, and he simply lived for those days at the end of July when they would all, in a frantic hurry and confusion, take the train for Rafiel and arrive at Cow Farm in the evening, with the roar of the sea coming acro

, walking away confidently down the market-place, his hand in the huge grasp of a villainous looking mariner. He was exceedingly happy in his home, but he did often wonder whether he would not run

speak to a sailor, Miss Jones. There are some horrible men in the to

e always on her guard, and Fate

w and leaning out, he could see the leaves of the garden still shining with their early glitter and the earth channelled into fissures and breaks, dark and hard under the silver-threaded frost; beneath the rind of the soil he could feel the pushing, heaving life struggling to answer the call of the sun above it. Far down the road towards the Orchards a dim veil of gold was spreading behind the walls of mist; the sparrows on the almond tree near his window chattered like the girls of the

in the Meads. Jeremy informed Miss Jones, and Miss Jones was,

eshire, and they are finally bounded by the winding path of the Rope Walk that skirts the river bank. Along the Rope Walk in March and April the daffodils first, and the primroses aft

te of "To be continued in our next" that Miss Jones had only the vaguest idea of what it was all about. Her mind therefore wandered, as indeed, did always the minds of Mary's audiences, and Mary never noticed but stared with the rapt gaze of the creator through her enormous glasses, out into

egend were it not that certain scents and odours were for ever tantalising his nose that could, his instinct told him, mean Rabbit and only Rabbit. These scents met him at the most tantalising times, pulling him this way and that, exciting the wildest hopes in him, afterwards condemned to sterility; as ghosts haunt the convinced and trusting spiritualist, so did rabbits haunt Hamlet. He dreamt of Rab

and thither, barked and whined, scratched the soil, ran round the trees, lay cautiously motionless waiting for his f

himself, lost in a chain of ideas that included food and the sea and catapults and a sore finger and what schoo

ed almost into the little wood that lies at the foot

a thing as a match upon yo

looked up and said politely: "No, I'm afraid I haven't." Then how his heart whacked beneath his waistcoat! There, standing in front of him, was the very fi

and a yachting cap, faded this last and the white of it a dirty grey but set on jauntily at a magnificent angle. He saw a suit of dark navy blue, this again faded, spotted too with many stains, ragged at the trouser-ends and even torn in one plac

s and yet not fat, mind you, simply muscle, all of it. One could see in a minute that it was all muscle, the chest thrust forward, the legs spread wide, the bull-neck bursting the handkerchief, everything that Jeremy himself most w

d lest the vision should fade, then flung a hurried look around him to see whether

match," he said. "I'm not all

pounds lying around my room at 'ome careless as you please, and then held up for a blo

st; he took in, as Jeremy realised, e

ppers they was. Both dead-'ere to-day and gone to-morrer,

ld! There is a governess, but she's over there talking to Mary. She's m

a nurse of course-big chap like you. Thought you might 'ave a baby brother or such.

. The man was l

now," he said, "and I'm goi

to school, and I can't see that I'm much the worse for not 'aving been there. Contrariwise-I've seen many a fine pr

never go to scho

Indies and left to shift for myself-and 'ere I am to-day a Captain of as fine a craft as you're ever l

rned from his rabbit hunting and sat with his tongue out and a wild adventurou

nt on hurriedly: "Would you mind-you see, Miss Jone

what?" asked

nakes and ships and things, like a gardener once we had? He

in smiled

n't everybody I'd do it for neither. But I've taken

played a wall of deep brown chest. This fine expanse had no hair upon it, but was illuminated with a superb picture of a ship in full sail against a setting sun, all worked in the most handsome of blue tat

algar on the middle of my back. P'raps I'll show 'em you one day. It wouldn't be decent

said Jeremy. "Didn'

eth to prevent myself from screaming. But that's nothing. What do you say to being tortured

h are all ther

ngs they'll do to your toenails-it 'ud make your 'air cre

id Jeremy. "And wher

e that is. I can trust you, I know; I'm a great judge o' character, I am, but not even with my own mother, g

ret?" asked Jere

the Captain, dr

e Minister 'imself, to say nothing of the jewels-rubies, pearls, diamonds. My word, if you could see them diamo

ant a cabin-boy?" gasped Jeremy,

ain. "It's one of the very things. But I'm afrai

y lifted his finger t

. I'll be round agai

emy, we couldn't find you anywhere. It's turning cold-tea-time-" Wi

I

unhappy human beings as Dostoieffsky's young hero in "Podrostok," or the unpleasant son and heir of Jude and Sue. Nevertheless, eight years old is not too early for stranger impulses and wilder dre

e village, and step out, under the heavy grey clouds, upon the little shingly beach. He was aware then that out at sea a dark, black ship was riding, slipping a little with the tide, one light gleaming and swinging against the pale glow of the dusky horizon. The church clock struck four below the hill; he was still on the high road waiting, his eyes straining for figures... He was prepared for some journey, because he had at his feet a bundle. And he knew that he ought not to be there. He knew that something awful was about to happen and that, when it had occurred, he would be committed always to something or someone... A little cold breeze then would rise in the hedges and against the silence that followed the chiming of the clock he could hear first the bleating of a sheep, then a sudden pounding of the sea as though the breakers responded to the sudden rising of the wind, then the hoofs of a horse, clear and hard, upon the road... At that moment the picture clouded and was dim. Had this been a dream? Was it simply a confusion of summer visits to Rafiel, stories told him by Mary, pictures in books (a fine illustrated edition of "Redgauntlet" had been

or only gleamed like little sharp points of light from under his heavy, shaggy eyebrows. Then, although he tried to make his voice pleasant, Jeremy felt that that complaisant friendliness was not his natural tone. Sometimes there would be a sharp, barking note that made Jeremy jump and his cheek pale. The Captain told him no more fascinating stories, and when Jeremy wanted to know about the ship with the diamonds and rubies and the little sea village where she lay hid and the Caribbees natives, and the chances of becoming a cabin boy, and the further exploitation of the tatooes-all these things the Captain brushed aside as though they no longer interested him in the least. He, on the other hand, wanted now to know exactly where Jeremy lived, what the house was like, where the back doors were, how the windows opened, where Jeremy slept, and so on. Jeremy, pleased at this interest in his daily life, told him as many things as he could, hoping to pass on afterwards to more excitin

tainly afraid and would jump at the slightest sound, he was also certainly excited beyond all earlier experience. He longed, as he lay awake at night, to see the Captain. He seemed to have al

him one day-"When you come to my little place I'll teach yer a thing or two"-and Jeremy would wonder for hours what this little place would be like and what the Captain would teach him. Meanwhile, he saw him everywhere, even when he was not there-behind lamp-posts, at street corners, behind the old woman's umbrella in the market-pla

, and partly to her natural short-sightedness. Once Mary said that she had noticed "a horrid man with a red face" staring at them; but Miss Jones, although sh

not doubt what he would do; he would go. And he would go, he knew, with fear and dread, and with a longing to stay, and be warm in the schoolroom, and have jam for tea,

the sound of steps. His sleep now was broken with horrid dreams, and he would jump up and cry out; and one night he actually dreamt of

oned him, and this made it appear all the more a dream, as though the Captain were invisible to everyone save himself. He began to hate him even more than he feared him, and yet with that hatred the pleasure and excitement remained. I remember how, years ago in Polchester, when I could not have been more than six years old, I myself was haunted with exac

ey were returning from their walk, Jere

o' these nights. Keep yer eyes o

s Jones and his sisters pass

or?" he

ntic against the white light of the fadin

use I've taken a fancy to yer." The

y desolate road behind him, then r

did not know. Only the Captain was d

Jeremy, at ordinary times, loved the sound of the wind about the house, when he himself was safe and warm and cosy; but this was now another affair. Lying in his bed he could hear the screams down the chimney, then the tug at his window-pane, the rattling clutch upon the wood, then the sweep under the bed and the rush up the wallpaper, until at last, from behind some badly

be half

know. Come just as you are-no time to dress," and poor Jeremy would feel the gre

nt to bed a little reassured and comforted. Perhaps the Captain had

would crash against the glass, then fall back and hang waiting for a further attack; next the results of the first attack would slip and slide like the crawling of a thousand snakes, then fall a

then one a very thin one; but the gate stood at the bottom of a little hill, so that it was very difficult for the poor creatures, who jumped and slipped back o

blue light, he was once more conscious of the rain. Yes, there it was with its sweeping rush, its smash upon the pane, its w

utely silent, but between the attacks of the rain there was a wound, something that had not to do with the house nor with the weather. He str

nts, and his eyes were wide with terror. He was helpless. The Captain would only say "Come," and go he must, leave his warm house and his parents whom he loved and Mary and Helen and Hamlet, yes, and even Miss Jones. He would be dragged down the long white road, through the lighted village, out on to the shiny beach, in a boat out to the dark ship-and then he

ttering. That decided him: better to go and face it than to wait there, so as though he

a strange familiar voice in this awful world, then suddenly, although th

n as he did so that well-remembered hand was upon

antern, and above the lantern was the dark body of the Captain. Then as he looked up he was indeed near his last moment, for had

like candle-points. Jeremy uttered no sound. Then catching the Captain's coat because he trembled so, he said:

ce in the air where were his eyes. "You move one inch from 'ere

to stop during this terrible dialogue, beat with friendly comfort once more upon the pane. Jeremy stood there, his body held together as th

tain did not want him. The Captain had gone and not taken him with him

erribly cold, and little spasms of shivers seized him, but he did

th-water was running, the canary was singing and Hamlet was scratching upon his door.

'e couldn't 'ave made more mess, I say, not if 'e'd come to do nothin' else. Grease everywhere, you never see nothin' like it, and all the drawers open and the papers scattered about. Thank 'Eaven 'e never found Cook's earrings. Real gold they was, ever so many carat and give to Cook ever so many ye

re. As Hamlet sprang about him and licke

gone! He was free! The Captain had n