CHAPTER VIII.
THE END OF THE VOYAGE.
When Wilfred went below to get materials for a barricade, he found theladies kneeling or sitting calm and quiet, although very pale and white,round the table, while Mrs. Renshaw was praying aloud. She concluded herprayer just as he came down. There was a general chorus of questions.
"Everything is going on well," Wilfrid said cheerfully; "but we want tomake a breastwork, for the spears are flying about so, one cannot standup to fire at them. I have come to ask you all to carry up mattrassesand pillows and cushions and portmanteaus, and anything else that willmake a barricade. The steward will open the lazaret and send up barrelsand things. Please set to work at once."
Not a moment was lost; the ladies carried the things rapidly up thecompanion, two of the passengers passed them outside, and others lyingin a line pushed them forward from one to another until they arrived atthose lying, rifle in hand, twenty feet aft of the poop rails. There wassoon a line of mattrasses four deep laid across the deck.
"That will do to begin with," Mr. Atherton said. "Now, let us push thesebefore us to the end of the poop, and we can then commence operations.The sailors, Wilfrid Renshaw, the Allens, and myself will first openfire. Will the rest of you please continue to pass things along to addto the height of our barricade? I wish we knew how they are getting onon shore." For almost immediately after the struggle had begun on boardthe sound of musketry had broken out from that quarter, and they knewthat the watering party had been attacked directly the natives knew thattheir chiefs had commenced the massacre on board ship.
Several times, in spite of the danger from the flying spears, Mr.Atherton had gone to the stern and looked towards the shore. The boatslay there seemingly deserted, and the fight was going on in the wood. Anumber of canoes had placed themselves so as to cut off the return ofthe boats should the sailors succeed in making their way to them.
As soon as the line of mattrasses was pushed forward to the edge of thepoop a steady fire was opened upon the natives, who had already takenoff the hatches, and were engaged in bringing their plunder up on deck,deferring the dangerous operation of carrying the poop for the present.
As soon, however, as the fire opened upon them they seized their spearsand tomahawks, and, led by one of their chiefs, made a rush at the twopoop ladders. Mr. Atherton gave a shout, and the whole of the passengersseizing their muskets sprang to their feet and ran forward to thebarricade, and so heavy a fire was poured into the natives as they triedto ascend the ladders, that they fell back again and contentedthemselves with replying to the fire with volleys of spears. Thepassengers at once renewed their work of passing the materials for thebarricade forward, and this was continued until it rose breast high.They then took their places closely together behind it, and joined itsdefenders in keeping up a heavy fire upon the natives. So deadly was itseffect that the latter began to lose heart and to jump over into thecanoes alongside.
A cheer broke from the passengers as they saw the movement of retreat.It was no longer necessary for any to reserve their fire, and this wasredoubled. The natives were discouraged by the want of leaders; theirprincipal chiefs had all been killed on the poop, and any other whoattempted to rally them and lead them again to an attack was instantlyshot down by Mr. Atherton, who, as Wilfrid, who was standing next tohim observed, never once failed to bring down the man he aimed at.
"I think we might go at them, sir, now," the second officer said to Mr.Atherton; "the fight is all out of them."
"I think so too, Rawlins. Now, gentlemen, give them one last volley andthen pull down the barricade across the ends of the ladders and chargethem." The volley was given, and then with a ringing cheer the barricadewas thrust aside, and, led on one side by Mr. Atherton and on the otherby the second officer, the defenders of the poop sprang down the laddersand rushed forward. The natives did not stop to await them, but sprungoverboard with the greatest precipitation, and the _Flying Scud_ wasonce again in the hands of its lawful owners.
"Now, Rawlins, do you and the sailors work the guns, we will pepper themwith our rifles," Mr. Atherton said. "Mr. Renshaw, will you go aft andtell the ladies that all is over?"
But this they had already learned. Marion, after the things had beenpassed up, had taken her place at the top of the companion, occasionallypeering out to see what was going on, and running down with the news tothem below, and as the loud cheer which preceded the charge had brokenfrom those on deck, she had called out to the ladies below that thenatives were beaten. The shower of spears from the boats had ceased assoon as the natives saw their friends leaping overboard, and as Mr.Renshaw ascended the poop to deliver the message the ladies wereflocking out on deck, each anxious to ascertain whether those most dearto them had suffered in the fray. Marion run forward and threw herselfinto his arms.
"Not hurt, father?"
"No, my dear, thank God. Some of us have got spear wounds more or lessawkward, but nobody has been killed except those who were struck down atthe beginning." As he spoke the four cannon boomed out one afteranother, for they had been loaded some days before, and a hail ofbullets and pieces of iron with which they had been crammed tore throughthe canoes, while terrible yells rose from the natives. Three of thecanoes were instantly sunk, and half the paddlers in the large boat ofthe chief were killed or disabled. Almost the same instant a droppingfire of musketry was opened, the passengers firing as soon as they hadreloaded their pieces.
"Give another dose to that big fellow!" the second officer shouted tothe men at the two guns at that side of the ship. "Shove a ball in, men,and a bagful of bullets--take steady aim, and remember the poorcaptain!" A minute later the guns were fired. A terrible cry was heard,and almost instantaneously the great canoe disappeared below the water.
"Get the other two guns over to this side," Mr. Rawlins said; "we mustlend a hand now to the party ashore. Load all the guns with grape, andaim at those canoes between us and them." These, following the exampleof those around the ship, were already moving towards the shore, and thedischarge of the four guns sunk two of them and sent the others off inheadlong flight.
"What had we better do now, Mr. Atherton?"
"I should load with round shot now, Rawlins, and open fire into the woodon both sides of the landing-place. The sound of the shot crashing amongthe trees will demoralize the scoundrels even if you do not hit anyone."
Three or four rounds were fired, and then those on board gave a cheer asthey saw the sailors issue out from among the trees and take theirplaces in the boats. Half a minute later they were rowing towards thevessel, unmolested by the natives. Mr. Ryan stood up in the stern of hisboat as soon as they were within hailing distance and shouted--"How hasit gone with you?"
"We have beaten them off, as you see," the second officer shouted back;"but the ship was pretty nearly in their hands for a time. The captainis killed, I am sorry to say; four of our men, and two of thepassengers. How have you done?"
"We have lost three men," Mr. Ryan replied, "and most of us arewounded."
The boats were soon alongside, and Mr. Ryan, after hearing what hadtaken place on board, related his experience. "We had got about half thecasks filled when we heard a rifle shot on board a ship, followeddirectly by the yells of the black divils. I ordered the men to drop thecasks and take to their guns, but I had scarcely spoken when a volley ofspears fell among us. Two men were killed at once. I had intended totake to the boats and come off to lend you a hand, but by the yellingand the shower of spears I saw that the spalpeens were so thick round usthat if we had tried we should pretty well all be killed before wecould get fairly out, so I told the men to take to the trees and keep upa steady fire whenever the natives tried to make a rush at us. I was, ofcourse, terribly anxious about you all at first, and I knew that if theship was taken they must have us all sooner or later. After the firstfew shots there was silence for a time, and I feared the worst."
"The spears were flying so thick we could not stand up to fire," thesecond officer put
in.
"Ah! that was it. Well, I was afraid you had all been massacred, and youmay imagine how relieved I was when I heard a dropping fire of musketrybegin; I knew then that they had failed to take you by surprise. Thefire at last got so heavy I was sure that most of you had escaped thefirst attack, and we then felt pretty hopeful, though I did not see howwe were to get down to the boats and get off to you. When we heard thefirst cannon shot we gave a cheer that must have astonished the natives,for we knew you must have cleared the deck of the scoundrels. I had seta man at the edge of the trees by the water to let us know how you weregoing on, and he soon shouted that the canoes were drawing off! Then weheard the big canoe was sunk, and that you had driven off the craft thatwere lying between us and the ship. A minute later the round shot camecrashing among the trees, and almost immediately the yelling round usceased, and we felt sure they must be drawing off. We waited until youhad fired a couple more rounds, and then as all seemed quiet we fellback to the boats, and, as you saw, got off without a single spearbeing thrown at us. I am awfully sorry for the poor captain. If he hadbut taken your advice, Mr. Atherton, all this would not have happened;but at last he got to trust these treacherous scoundrels, and this isthe result."
"Well, Mr. Ryan, you are in command now," Mr. Atherton said, "and we areall ready to carry out any orders that you will give us."
"First of all then, Mr. Atherton, I must, in the name of the owners ofthis ship, of myself, the officers and crew, thank you for having savedit and us from the hands of these savages. From what Mr. Rawlins tellsme, and from what I know myself, I am convinced that had it not been foryour vigilance, and for the part you have taken in the defence of theship, the natives would have succeeded in their treacherous design ofmassacring all on board almost without resistance."
A cheer broke from the passengers and crew, and Mr. Renshaw said when ithad subsided: "I, on the part of the passengers, endorse all that Mr.Ryan has said; we owe it to you, Atherton, that by God's mercy we andthose dear to us have escaped from death at the hands of these savages.It was you who put some of us on our guard; it was your marvellousshooting with the revolver that first cleared the poop; and yourextraordinary strength, that enabled you single-handed to check theonslaught of the natives and give us time to rally from our firstsurprise, and saved the ship and us."
"Do not let us say anything more about it," Mr. Atherton said; "we haveall done our duty to the best of our power, and have reason to beheartily thankful to God that we have got out of this scrape withoutheavier loss than has befallen us. Now, Mr. Ryan, please give yourorders."
"The first thing, undoubtedly, is to clear the deck of these bodies,"Mr. Ryan said.
"What about the wounded?" Mr. Renshaw asked, "no doubt some of the poorwretches are still alive."
"They do not deserve any better fate than to be tossed overboard withthe others; still, as that would go against the grain, we will see whatwe can do." He looked over the side. "There is a good-sized canoefloating there fifty yards away. I suppose the fellows thought it wouldbe safer to jump overboard and swim ashore. Four of you men get out thegig and tow the canoe alongside. We will put any wounded we find into itand send it adrift; they will come out and pick it up after we arefairly off."
The bodies of sixty natives who had been killed outright were thrownoverboard, and eighteen who were found to be still alive were loweredinto the canoe. "I do not think we are really doing them much kindness,though of course we are doing the best we can for them," Mr. Athertonsaid to Mr. Renshaw. "I doubt if one of them will live. You see, all whowere able to drag themselves to the side jumped overboard, and wereeither drowned or hauled into the canoes."
As soon as the operation was over the casks of water were got on boardand the boats hoisted to the davits. The anchor was then hove up andsome of the sails shaken out, and with a gentle breeze the vessel beganto draw off the land. As soon as this was done all hands set to workwashing down the decks; and in two or three hours, except for the bulletmarks on the deck and bulwarks, there were no signs left of thedesperate conflict that had raged on board the _Flying Scud_. At sunsetall hands gathered on the poop, and the bodies of the captain and twopassengers, and of the sailors who had fallen, were reverently deliveredto the deep, Mr. Ryan reading the funeral service.
The ladies had retired below after the boats had come alongside, and didnot come up until all was ready for the funeral. Mrs. Renshaw and threeor four of the others had been employed in dressing the wounds of thosewho had been injured. Four out of the six sailors who had survived themassacre on board had been more or less severely wounded before they wontheir way on the quarter-deck, and six of the watering party were alsowounded. Eight of the passengers had been struck with the flying spears;but only two of these had received wounds likely to cause anxiety. Afterthe funeral was over more sail was hoisted, the breeze freshened, andthe _Flying Scud_ proceeded briskly on her way.
The rest of the voyage was uneventful. Thankful as all were for theirescape, a gloom hung over the ship. The death of the captain was muchfelt by all. He had been uniformly kind and obliging to the passengers,and had done everything in his power to make the voyage a pleasant one.One of the passengers who was killed was a young man with none on boardto mourn him, but the other had left a widow and two children, whosepresence in their midst was a constant reminder of their narrow escapefrom destruction.
The voyage had produced a very marked change in Mr. Renshaw. It hadbrought him in far closer connection with his children than he had everbeen before, with results advantageous to each. Hitherto they hadscarcely ever seen him except at meals, and even at these times histhoughts were so wholly taken up with the writings on which he wasengaged that he had taken but little part in the general conversationbeyond giving a willing assent to any request they made, and evincing nointerest whatever in their plans and amusements.
Now, although for four or five hours a day he worked diligently at hisstudy of the Maori language, he was at other times ready to join in whatwas going on. He often walked the deck by the hour with Wilfrid andMarion, and in that time learned far more of their past life, of theiracquaintances and amusements at their old home, than he had ever knownbefore. He was genial and chatty with all the other passengers, and theastonishment of his children was unbounded when he began to take alively part in the various amusements by which the passengers whiledaway the long hours, and played at deck quoits and bull. The latter gameconsists of a board divided into twelve squares, numbered one to ten,with two having bulls' heads upon them; leaden discs covered with canvasare thrown on to this board, counting according to the number on whichthey fall, ten being lost for each quoit lodged on a square marked by abull's head.
On the evening of the day before the shores of New Zealand came insight Mr. Renshaw was sitting by his wife. "The voyage is just finished,Helen," he said. "It has been a pleasant time. I am sorry it is over."
"A very pleasant time, Alfred," she replied, "one of the most pleasant Ihave ever spent."
"I see now," he went on, "that I have made a mistake of my life, andinstead of making an amusement of my hobby for archaeology have thrownaway everything for it. I have been worse than selfish. I have utterlyneglected you and the children. Why, I seem only to have made anacquaintance with them since we came on board a ship. I see now, dear,that I have broken my marriage vows to you. I have always loved you andalways honoured you, but I have altogether failed to cherish you."
"You have always been good and kind, Alfred," she said softly.
"A man may be good and kind to a dog, Helen; but that is not all that awife has a right to expect. I see now that I have blundered miserably. Icannot change my nature altogether, dear; that is too late. I cannotdevelop a fund of energy by merely wishing for it; but I can make thehappiness of my wife and children my first thought and object, and myown pursuits the second. I thought the loss of our money was a terriblemisfortune. I do not think so now. I feel that I have got my wife againand have gained two children, and whatev
er comes of our venture here Ishall feel that the failure of the bank has brought undeserved happinessto me."
"And to me also," Mrs. Renshaw said softly as she pressed her husband'shand. "I feel sure that we shall all be happier than we have ever beenbefore. Not that we have been unhappy, dear, very far from it; still youhave not been our life and centre, and it has been so different sincethe voyage began."
"He is not half a bad fellow, after all," Mr. Atherton said, as leaningagainst the bulwark smoking his cigar he had glanced across at thehusband and wife seated next to each other talking in low tones, andevidently seeing nothing of what was passing around them. "He hasbrightened up wonderfully since we started. Of course he will never be astrong man, and is no more fit for a settler's life than he is for ahabitation in the moon. Still, he is getting more like other people. Histhoughts are no longer two or three thousand years back. He has become asociable and pleasant fellow, and I am sure he is very fond of his wifeand children. It is a pity he has not more backbone. Still, I think thegeneral outlook is better than I expected. Taking it altogether it hasbeen as pleasant a voyage as I have ever made. There is the satisfactiontoo that one may see something of one's fellow-passengers after we land.This northern island is not, after all, such a very big place. That isthe worst of homeward voyages. People who get to know and like eachother when they arrive in port scatter like a bomb-shell in everydirection, and the chances are against your ever running up against anyof them afterwards."
Somewhat similar ideas occupied the mind of most of the passengers thatevening. The voyage had been a pleasant one, and they were almost sorrythat it was over; but there was a pleasurable excitement at the thoughtthat they should next day see the land that was to be their home, andthe knowledge that they should all be staying for a few days atWellington seemed to postpone the break-up of their party for somelittle time.
No sooner was the anchor dropped than a number of shore boats came offto the ship. Those who had friends on shore and were expecting to be metwatched anxiously for a familiar face, and a cry of delight broke fromthe two Mitfords as they saw their father and mother in one of theseboats. After the first joyful greeting was over the happy little partyretired to the cabin, where they could chat together undisturbed, as allthe passengers were on deck. Half an hour later they returned to thedeck, and the girls led their father and mother up to Mrs. Renshaw.
"I have to thank you most heartily, Mrs. Renshaw, for your greatkindness to my girls. They tell me that you have throughout the voyagelooked after them as if they had been your own daughters."
"There was no looking after required, I can assure you," Mrs. Renshawsaid. "I was very pleased, indeed, to have them in what I may call ourlittle party, and it was a great advantage and pleasure to my own girl."
"We are going ashore at once," Mr. Mitford said. "My girls tell me thatyou have no acquaintances here. My own place is hundreds of miles away,and we are staying with some friends while waiting the arrival of theship, and therefore cannot, I am sorry to say, put you up; but in anyother way in which we can be of assistance we shall be delighted to giveany aid in our power. The girls say you are thinking of making thisyour head-quarters until you decide upon the district in which you meanto settle. In that case it will, of course, be much better for you totake a house, or part of a house, than to stop at an hotel; and if so itwill be best to settle upon one at once, so as to go straight to it andavoid all the expenses of moving twice. It is probable that our friends,the Jacksons, may know of some suitable place, but if not I shall beglad to act as your guide in house-hunting."
Mr. Renshaw here came up and was introduced to Mr. Mitford, who repeatedhis offer.
"We shall be extremely glad," Mr. Renshaw replied; "though I reallythink that it is most unfair to take you even for a moment from yourgirls after an absence of five years."
"Oh, never mind that," Mr. Mitford said; "we shall land at once, andshall have all the morning to talk with them. If you and Mrs. Renshawwill come ashore at four o'clock in the afternoon my wife and I willmeet you at the landing-place. Or if, as I suppose you would prefer todo, you like to land this morning and have a look at Wellington foryourselves, this is our address, and if you will call at two o'clock, orany time later, we shall be at your service. I would suggest, though,that if you do land early, you should first come round to us, becauseJackson may know some place to suit you; and if not, I am sure that hewill be glad to accompany you and act as your guide."
"I should not like to trouble--" Mr. Renshaw began.
"My dear sir, you do not know the country. Everyone is glad to help anew chum--that is the name for fresh arrivals--to the utmost of hispower if he knows anything whatever about him, and no one thinksanything of trouble."
"In that case," Mr. Renshaw said smiling, "we will gladly availourselves of the offer. We should all have been contented if the voyagehad lasted a month longer; but being here, we all, I suppose, want toget ashore as soon as possible. Therefore we shall probably call at youraddress in the course of an hour or so after you get there."
Wilfrid and Marion were indeed in such a hurry to get ashore that a veryfew minutes after the Mitfords left the side of the ship, the Renshawstook a boat and started for the shore. Most of the other passengers alsolanded.
"We shall go in alongside the quays in an hour's time," the captain saidas they left; "so you must look for us there when you have donesight-seeing. We shall begin to get the baggage up at once for thebenefit of those who are in a hurry to get away to the hotels; but Ishall be glad for you all to make the ship your home until to-morrow."
For an hour after landing the Renshaws wandered about Wellington, whichthey found to be a pretty and well-built town with wide streets.
"Why, it is quite a large place!" Wilfrid exclaimed in surprise."Different, of course, from towns at home, with more open spaces. Iexpected it would be much rougher than it is."
"It is the second town of the island, you see," Mr. Renshaw said; "andis an important place. Well, I am glad we did not cumber ourselves bybringing everything out from England, for there will be no difficultyin providing ourselves with everything we require here."
After wandering about for an hour they proceeded to the address Mr.Mitford had given them. It was a house of considerable size, standing ina pretty garden, a quarter of a mile from the business part of the town.They were warmly received by the Mitfords, and introduced to Mr. andMrs. Jackson.
"Mr. Mitford has been telling me that you want to get a house, or partof a house, for a few weeks till you look about you and decide where youwill settle down," Mr. Jackson said. "I am a land and estate agent,besides doing a little in other ways. We most of us turn our hands toanything that presents itself here. I have taken a holiday for thismorning and left my clerk in charge, so I am quite at your service. Youwill find it difficult and expensive if you take a whole house, so Ishould advise you strongly to take lodgings. If you were a large partyit would be different, but you only want a sitting-room and threebed-rooms."
"We could do with a sitting-room, a good-sized bed-room for my wife andmyself, and a small one for my daughter," Mr. Renshaw said; "and take abed-room out for a few nights for Wilfrid, as he will be starting with afriend to journey through the colony and look out for a piece of land tosuit us."
"Then there will be no difficulty at all. You will find lodgings rathermore expensive than in England. I do not mean more expensive than afashionable watering-place, but certainly more expensive than in a townof the same kind at home. House rent is high here; but then, on theother hand, your living will cost you less than at home."
After an hour's search lodgings were found in a house at no greatdistance from that of Mr. Jackson. It was a small house, kept by thewidow of the owner and captain of a small trading ship that had beenlost a year previously. The ship had fortunately been insured, and thewidow was able to keep on the house in which she lived, adding to herincome by letting a portion of it to new arrivals who, like theRenshaws, intended to make a stay
of some little time in Wellingtonbefore taking any steps to establish themselves as settlers.
"I think," Mr. Jackson said when this was settled, "you are doing wiselyby letting your son here take a run through the colony. There is nogreater mistake than for new-comers to be in a hurry. Settle in hasteand repent at leisure is the rule. Mr. Mitford was saying that he hopedthat you might settle down somewhere in his locality; but at any rate itwill be best to look round first. There is plenty of land at present tobe obtained anywhere, and there are many things to be considered inchoosing a location. Carriage is of course a vital consideration, and asettler on a river has a great advantage over one who has to send hisproduce a long distance to market by waggon. Then, again, some peopleprefer taking up virgin land and clearing it for themselves, whileothers are ready to pay a higher sum to take possession of a holdingwhere much of the hard work has already been done, and a house standsready for occupation.
"At present no one, of course, with a wife and daughter would think ofsettling in the disturbed district, although farms can be bought therefor next to nothing. The war is, I hope, nearly at an end, now that wehave ten British regiments in the island. They have taken most of theenemy's pahs, though they have been a prodigious time about it, and wecolonists are very discontented with the dilatory way in which the warhas been carried on, and think that if things had been left to ourselveswe could have stamped the rebellion out in half the time. The red-coatswere much too slow; too heavily weighted and too cautious for this sortof work. The Maoris defend their pahs well, inflict a heavy loss upontheir assailants, and when the latter at last make their attack andcarry the works the Maoris manage to slip away, and the next heard ofthem is they have erected a fresh pah, and the whole thing has to begone through again. However, we need not discuss that now. I take itthat anyhow you would not think of settling down anywhere in thelocality of the tribes that have been in revolt."
"Certainly not," Mr. Renshaw said. "I am a peaceful man, and if I couldget a house and land for nothing and an income thrown into the bargain,I should refuse it if I could not go to bed without the fear that theplace might be in flames before the morning."
"I am bound to say that the natives have as a whole behaved very well tothe settlers; it would have been easy in a great number of cases forthem to have cut them off had they chosen to do so. But they have foughtfairly and well according to the rules of what we may call honourablewarfare. The tribesmen are for the most part Christians, and havecarried out Christian precepts.
"In one case, hearing that the troops assembling to attack one of theirpahs were short of provisions, they sent down boat-loads of potatoes andother vegetables to them, saying that the Bible said, 'If thine enemyhunger feed him.' Still, in spite of instances of this kind, I shouldcertainly say do not go near the disturbed districts, for one cannotassert that if hostilities continue they will always be carried on inthat spirit. However, things are at present perfectly peaceablethroughout the provinces of Wellington and Hawke Bay, and it may behoped it may continue so. I have maps and plans of all the variousdistricts, and before your son starts will give him all the informationI possess as to the advantages and disadvantages of each locality, thenature of the soil, the price at which land can be purchased, and thereputation of the natives in the neighbourhood."
The next day the Renshaws landed after breakfast and took up their abodein the new lodgings. These were plainly but comfortably furnished, andafter one of the trunks containing nick-nacks of all descriptions hadbeen opened, and some of the contents distributed, the room assumed acomfortable home-like appearance. A lodging had been obtained close byfor the two Grimstones. The young fellows were heartily glad to be onshore again, for life among the steerage passengers during a long voyageis dull and monotonous. Mr. Renshaw had looked after them during thevoyage, and had supplied them from his own stores with many littlecomforts in the way of food, and with books to assist them to pass theirtime; still they were very glad the voyage was over.
When he now told them it was probable that a month or even more mightpass after their arrival in the colony before he could settle on a pieceof land, and that during that time they would remain at Wellington, theyat once asked him to get them work of some kind if he could. "We shouldbe learning something about the place, sir; and should probably get ourfood for our work, and should be costing you nothing, and we would muchrather do that than loiter about town doing nothing."
Mr. Renshaw approved of their plan, and mentioned it to Mr. Jackson,who, on the very day after their landing, spoke to a settler who hadcome in from a farm some twenty miles in the interior.
"They are active and willing young fellows and don't want pay, only tobe put up and fed until the man who has brought them out here with himgets hold of a farm."
"I shall be extremely glad to have them," the settler said. "This is avery busy time with us, and a couple of extra hands will be very useful.They will learn a good deal as to our ways here in the course of amonth, and, as you say, it would be far better for them to be at workthan to be loafing about the place doing nothing."
Accordingly, the next morning the two Grimstones went up country and setto work.