“Hoe, Master Nic, hoe,” whispered Pete excitedly; “he’s been watching us, and he’s sent the dogs at us for not being at work.”
As proof thereof the two fierce-looking brutes came rushing down one of the rows, open-mouthed, and Pete raised his hoe as if to strike.
“Me first, Master Nic,” panted Pete. “I aren’t afeared. Let him do what he likes after; I’ll kill one or both on ’em before they shall touch you.”
At that moment there was a savage growling from the dogs not thirty yards away, and they came rushing at the poor fellows as hard as they could tear.
Chapter Twenty Five.
A Lurking Peril.
In obedience to the order which had despatched them, the two well-trained bloodhounds of the overseer tore on till they were about to bound upon the prisoners, when a sharp, shrill whistle arrested their rush on the instant, and they stopped, growling fiercely, their white teeth menacing, and their eyes red, as with a smouldering fire.
The next moment a different note was blown from a distance, a shrill, chirruping note which made the dogs turn and bark. Then one of them set off at a steady trot, while the other, as if its duty were done, approached Nic in the most friendly way, with its tail waving from side to side.