“Oh, see!” cried Nan, in great excitement, “he’s down here still, he’s not dead. His hand is moving!”
Gabriel tried to get up, but fell back again.
“Oh! what hellish pain!” he moaned.
“What can we do for you, sir?” said Nan.
“Who is it?” he asked, looking up in a dazed way. “Where?”
“We be Farmer Chadd’s children, sir, and this is our orchard nigh to Bosbury,” replied the little girl.
“How far from Bosbury?”
“’Tis but a little way across the hop-yards, sir.”
“If I could see Hilary before I die!” he muttered. “I will see her! I will see her! What became of Harkaway? Children, do you see a riderless horse near?”
They ran off and soon returned with beaming faces.