“John, there’s a darling rabbit out there,” and the rabbit fled.
“Oh?”
“He’s gone now.”
“Oh?”
And they were silent. From the other side of the wood a ploughman cried to his horses. Then from in front came a rattling of machinery and the lock gates creaked, painfully slow.
“Why are you so silent to-day, John?”
“I must go, I must go away.”
“What do you mean, away from here?”
“No, to the towns.”
“Yes, I know. You do want to get off sometimes. So do I. Minnie is getting very tiresome, he’s been making messes all over the house, an’ father does hate messes. I really don’t know what to do.”