The Voyage of the Hoppergrass

imed Jimmy To

on, "sailed away and l

'The Angel

looked at hi

e said, "you can fall back on the consola

"he wouldn't sail off and leave us l

ss'!" He got us to shout the same phrase. The sail

'On board' of anything, when the whol

ulting echo-which repeated the phrase, or rather the last

dles, "but I don't like to be t

ked at one another, and w

e, in a strange plac

said Ed

y," I

," sai

ey," remarke

had it," Jimmy Toppan gloomily reflected, sho

n o'clock,"

," said

thought

tain went treasure-hunting himself, and has got lost in the fog. This has been a busy little

ed the back which was n

Scott! That e

at's the

en there is a house, and maybe things to eat, a

he

e's, of

t's

bully! C

None at all. I was brought up to believe that it's all wrong,-many's the time my poor old grandmother told me: 'Never be a burglar.' And the effect of that teaching has not worn off. I still believe that it's wrong to be a burglar. Besides, they put you in jail for it. But this,-they can't object to our breaking

again, and the air and earth were damp with it. Great drops of moisture gathered on the wood-work of the wharf, and on the burdock leaves that grew between gaps in th

ait a minute-there's no sense in being burglars way off at this distance

ng us in single file

e, and Ed Mason b

e are smugglers till we get to the t

e usual manner. Besides, it gets tiresome to walk on your tip-toes after a few minutes. But Mr. Daddles kept on that way almost to the end of the journey.

it to 'em luke warm. Give it to 'em somehow, anyhow. Remember, it's them as try to keep us honest fellows from a livel

s solemnly too

you read

e all wh

ith an agonized expression; "you must say 'A

y,-heave ahead," but we didn'

e ought to have rehearsed this before we started. It's embarrassing to do

our leader said we h

deep-sea roll. See-this way. And pull your hats down low

lse," Ed remarked, "until I g

se, and took off one shoe. As he did so,

t this hour,-and we coves should be in the lugger, too. Ha! how like ye the pleasantry? 'Tis a pretty wit I have, as no less a ma

of the Sunday School at home, and that if he knew any smugglers he had kept

u ready

,-heave

side- walks. The buildings were fishermen's and clammers' huts, boat- houses, and small shops,-all dark and deserted. The

is

dles st

r of the old

ho

minions-that killed old Diccon, our messmate, but a hundred paces f

We decided not to go in and slit his weazand. Suddenly he looked up, as if he had heard us, and then rising, started for the door. We all darted bac

e, and the street broader. We were soon past most of the shanties, and following a country road, where the buildings were far apart. They

lk right up the front path when you're going to crack a crib. We'll have to get in a back window, anyway, so

og, and all we could see in its direction was a white cloud of vapor. The road we had just left wound on, down the hill again, and toward what might have been a dark cl

ward us. It seemed to be humped up, like a man crawling forward on his hands and knees. Almost as soon as we stopped, it-whatever it was-stopped too. It wa

that open field, on his hands and knees, was something I could not understand. Unless,-and this gave me another chilly feeling- unless he were a real burglar. I wanted to run, but I was asham

group. At last Mr. Daddle

ant?" he said,

s getting terrible. I could feel my heart thumping away, and my tem

Daddles again; "come, who a

suddenly jumped back. The thing seemed to sway

o-o-o

or two before

laimed Mr. Daddles, "you nearly sc

n to feed again, and slapped her fat side. She paid

ought we were attacked by

a man without any

was a real bur

was," said Ed Mason, "and

be frightened by an old cow, it is because you have never met

behind the house and barn. We crossed a v

opped Mr

r look out

er keeps one,-he

k of the house, we paused t

he others on the veranda. I don't want to break one if we can help it

and tip-toed along the veranda to another. No sooner had he started to raise the sash than he

great luc

ndow without any

anny,-but it saves us fr

n he had closed the window, and pulled

y!" we all

it turned low,-that's right. Now, let's see. We won't find much,-family's gone

ing amongst the sh

uch. Not much choice between 'em. What's this? … Starch. Nice lot of nutritious food Aunt Fanny leaves for her burglar

had a bottle of vanilla extract, while Ed Mason ex

ked,-she wanted burglars to come in, and choke to death. I never saw such a lot of foolish food. Here's some r

are!" said

glass tumblers whose contents seemed promising. Sure enough,-their labels bore the fascinating words: "Raspberry Jam." Jimmy Toppan presently discovered a can

rest. Come on,-softly, now. Turn out the light. … Here's the kitchen … no, it isn't, either,- it's a laundry. … That's funny … been making improvements, I guess. Here we are-give me another match. No, don't light the gas,-no need

led a water-pitcher in the butler's pantry, and Jimmy brought some tumblers from a closet. I opened the jam, and got some plates and knives. Then w

Daddles held

h-h-

wo we had quite forgotten that we were midnight burgl

Mr. Daddles again, "don

ing I can think of. Except that toward the end of the stroke it seemed to run into some tough knots in the wood, for it made two or three funny

t's another cow?

in for silence. The noise continued with perfect reg

ggested, pointing. "P'r'

a buffalo gnawin

le before we began to eat. I think that's only the branch of a tree, or something

The candle which he carried flickered, and cast a dim light into two rooms which opened off the landing. One was a nursery, with children's blocks, stuffed elephants, and Noah's Ark animals on the floor, and on a couch. The moon, which had come out of the fog, shone in at a win

Here were two more large bed-rooms. The beds were smooth

d Mr. Daddles, "we'll go

was all painted white, some little moonlight came in through the glass over the front door, and that, with the candle, made it fairly clear. The stairs were broad, and they sloped gradually. There were two big portraits on the wall, one of them over the stairs.

is going,"

t day clock," he

oise began again. The long-drawn, sawing sound, and then the "yop, yop, yop" so loud that it nearly made us fall over b

smouldering embers of a fire on the hearth. Seated in an arm chair in front of the fire, with his feet up in another chair, was a big, fat policeman. He was sound asleep, with his coat unbuttoned, his gray helmet on the floor beside him, an

op," he would go. And then he would beg

conds. Then we all turned around, and tip-toed

les, "I think we'd bette

om all the rest of

all. Mr. Daddles and Ed Mason sta

hes," whispered Jimmy; "they might find

anxious to get out of the house as quick as possible, it did not seem likely that anything would wake up those policemen for hours to come. So we put the dishes back into the butl

well have t

ght I felt someone grab my arm. I looked up, expecting to see Mr. Daddles. But it was not he. Instead, I looked into the face of a big man, with a long beard. He had a pitc