The effect was magical.
No sooner did the great animal see the boy running forward than it stopped short, and began to paw up the ground and shake its head, the drove following the example of their leader, while, to Helen, as she stood motionless with horror, it seemed as if the boy’s fate was sealed.
For a few moments the bullock stood fast, but by the time Dexter was within half a dozen yards, he flung his cap right in the animal’s face, and, with a loud snort, it turned as on a pivot, and dashed off toward the upper part of the field, now driving the whole of the rest before it.
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed Dexter, picking up his cap, and coming back panting. “That’s the way to serve them. Come along.”
Helen was very white, but the colour began to come in her cheeks again as she saw the boy’s bright, frank, animated face; and, as they crossed the second stile, and rambled on through the pleasant meads, it began to dawn upon her that perhaps it would not prove to be so unpleasant a task after all to tame the young savage placed in her hands.
Chapter Twelve.
A Pleasant Lesson.
One minute Helen Grayson was delighted at the freshness of nature, and the genuine delight and enthusiasm displayed by her companion, the next there came quite a cloud over everything, for it seemed to her that here was a bright young spirit corroded and spoiled by the surroundings to which it had been accustomed.