Then he had a rope-trick or two contrived by means of a long piece of knotted together clothes-line, doubled, and hung from the rafters to form a swing or trapeze.
Dexter had paid his customary morning visit to his pets, and carefully fed them according to his wont; his plan, a very regular one among boys, being to give them twice as much as was good for them one day, and a starving the next—a mode said to be good with pigs, and productive of streaky bacon, but bad for domestic pets. Then he had returned to the house to go through his lessons, and sent long-suffering Mr Limpney, BA, almost into despair by the little progress he had made, after which he had gone down the garden with the expectation of meeting Dan’l at some corner, but instead had come upon Peter, busy as usual with his broom.
“Yer needn’t look,” said the latter worthy; “he’s gone out.”
“What! Dan’l has?”
“Yes; gone to see a friend who’s a gardener over at Champney Ryle, to buy some seeds.”
It was like the announcement of a holiday, and leaving the groom making the usual long stretches with his broom, Dexter went on aimlessly to the river-side, where, for the first time for many months, he found Bob Dimsted fishing.
“Hullo, old un!” was the latter’s greeting, “how are you!”
Dexter gave the required information, and hesitated for a few moments, something in the way of a collection of Helen’s warnings coming vaguely to his hand; but the volunteered information of the boy on the other side of the river, that he had got some “glorious red wums,” and that the fish were well on the feed, drove everything else away, and in a few minutes Dexter was sitting upon the crown of a willow pollard, ten feet out over the river, that much nearer to the fisher, and in earnest conversation with him as he watched his float.
Once more the memory of words that had been spoken to him came to Dexter, but the bobbing of the float, and the excitement of capturing a fish, drove the thoughts away—the fascination of the fishing, and the pleasant excitement of meeting a companion of near his own age, cut off, as he was, from the society of boys, being too much for him; and he was soon eagerly listening, and replying to all that was said.
“Ever go fishing in a boat?” said Bob, after a time.