“Sam, Sam, where’s the master?” shouted Poll, in a reedy-weedy tone, like a cracked clarionet, as soon as the lads came in sight. “Stealing the grapes. Stealing the grapes,” she shouted again. “Rogues, rogues, rogues! Two in the morning, hi! hi!” And then she gave a shrill whistle, and burst out into a loud hearty laugh, that made Fred stare, it was so natural.
“There,” said Philip, proudly, “you haven’t got such birds as that in London.”
“Oh yes, we have,” said Fred, “but Papa don’t care about buying them. Poor Polly,” he continued, putting his finger in to stroke the parrot.
“Don’t do that,” shouted the boys together; but it was too late, for almost at the same moment Fred gave utterance to a most doleful “Oh–h–h!” Poll had made a snap at his finger, and hooked a piece of flesh out sufficient to make it bleed pretty freely.
“What a beast!” said Fred, angrily, and binding his handkerchief round the place; “I’d kill it if I had my way.”
“But it was your fault,” said Harry, quietly, “for trying to touch it; wasn’t it?”
“Ah! but he didn’t know it would bite,” said Philip, “or he would not have done so: but never mind, come along, and let’s go down the garden.”
The abundance of the fruit made Fred forget his pain; and, having seen the boys’ gardens, the next thing was to have a look at the little pond with the rock-work fountain, which they had made, and which played by means of a barrel of water hid in the shrubbery behind, the stream being conveyed through a piece of small piping. Here it was that Harry and Philip kept all the finny treasures they captured, and the little pond was rich in carp, roach, dace, and perch; while, amongst other valuables, Fred was informed of the existence of an eel a foot long, which had been put in two months before, and never seen since, but was no doubt fattening in the mud at the bottom.
Neddy had been seen, but round in the stable-yard there was Dick, the terrier, who could catch rats, rabbits, or anything, so Harry said; and then there was Tib, the one-eyed, one-winged raven, which hopped about with his head on one side, and barked at the visitors, and then began to dig his beak into Fred’s leg, and could only be kept at a distance by Philip poking at him with the handle of the stable broom, when he hopped off, and sat upon the dog-kennel, every now and then giving a short angry bark; but nothing like such a bark as Dick the terrier gave when he found that, in spite of all his leaping, whining, and howling, he was not to be let out that afternoon, but left straining at the end of his chain, with his eyes starting out of his head, while the boys went to see Harry’s pigeons and Philip’s rabbits.
Just then Harry went to a box in the stable, and pulled out a long, lithe, scratching and twisting thing, that looked more like a short snake than a quadruped, and offered it to Philip to hold.