“You’d better leave off laughing,” said Philip, taking Harry’s part, “or we’ll stop here all the morning.”
Sam grew serious in a moment, for the boy couldn’t have uttered a more dire threat against his peace of mind.
“Ah! I ain’t laughing, Master Phil, only it is good fun to see the wopses make any one run. If I was you, I should go and have a look at Bramble Dyke; they say as the water’s nearly all dried up, and you can get fish out of it.”
“It’s too far,” said Philip, “because we are going out with Papa directly after dinner.”
Sam was done for a moment; but a bright thought flashed across his brain. “Ah,” said he, “if I was a young gentleman, I should go down the north planting hedge, close to the dung-heaps; they do say there is a sight of snakes there; but in course you young gentlemen won’t go, for as you’re afraid of wopses, in course you won’t like to go where there’s snakes.”
“Who’s afraid?” said Harry; “I’m not; come on, boys,” and away they scampered again on their new expedition; while Sam leaned upon his broom with which he was brushing the velvet green lawn, and chuckled again at the success of his ruse.
The boys armed themselves with stout sticks, and let Dick loose to take with them; and then away down by the big fence to the north planting Dick industriously hunting along the hedges and ditches as they went.
“Keep back, Dick!” said Harry, when they reached the manure heaps; “keep back, sir; quiet; down, dog, down!”
But Dick was not a well-trained dog at all. He did not often come out, and when he did he seemed to make the most of it; so every command given by his master Dick answered by a leap, a scamper, and a bark, and doing everything but what he was told.
“Catch hold of him, Phil; he’ll frighten all the snakes away before we see them.”