Quicksilver: The Boy With No Skid to His Wheel

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

  DEXTER'S DUMB FRIENDS.

  Dexter went out into the hall feeling exceedingly miserable, for he hadleft the occupants of the study talking about him, and, as the sayinggoes, it made his ears burn. "I couldn't help it," he said dolefully:"I did try. I'll go and tell Miss Grayson all about it, and ask her totake my part."

  He went into the drawing-room, but Helen was not there, so he ranupstairs, and was in the act of tapping at her bedroom door, when Mariacame out of another room.

  It was a curious fact, but there it was: Dexter always had the effectupon Maria that a dog has upon a cat. The dog may be of the mostamiable disposition, and without the slightest desire to fight or worry,but as soon as he is seen, up goes the cat's back in an arch, the tailbecomes plumose and the fur horrent, while, with dilated eyes anddisplayed teeth glistening, puss indulges in the bad language peculiarto cats.

  Maria being of a different physique did not display these signs ofaggression exactly, but she invariably became vicious and metaphysicallyshowed her teeth.

  "It's of no use your knocking there, Master Dexter. Miss Helen isn't athome, and I'm quite sure if she was that she wouldn't approve of yourtrapesing up out of the garden in your muddy and dirty shoes. I've gotenough to do here without cleaning up after you."

  "But I haven't been in the garden, Maria," said Dexter, apologetically."I have just come out of the study."

  "Don't I tell you she ain't at home," said Maria spitefully.

  "Do you know when she will be back!"

  "No, I don't," said Maria, and then sarcastically: "I beg your pardon,_sir_--no I don't, _sir_."

  Maria went along the passage like a roaring wind, she made so much noisewith her skirts, and then hurried downstairs, as if in great haste toget hold of a door that she could bang; and as soon as she did reachone, she made so much use of her opportunity that a picture in the hallwas blown sidewise, and began swinging to and fro like a great squarependulum.

  Dexter sighed, and felt very miserable as he stole downstairs again, andpast the study door, where the murmur of voices talking, as he knew,about him made him shiver.

  He was obliged to pass that door to get his cap, and then he had to passit again to get to the garden door.

  Mr Limpney was talking, and Mr Limpney, being accustomed to lectureand teach, spoke very loudly, so that Dexter heard him say--

  "I must have more authority, sir, and--"

  Dexter heard no more, for he fled into the garden, but he knew thathaving authority meant the same as it meant with Mr Sibery, and itsounded like going backwards.

  He felt more miserable as he went out into the garden.

  "Nobody hardly seems to like me, or care for me here," he saiddolefully; and, led by his inclination, he began to make his way downthe long green path toward the river, half fancying that Bob Dimstedmight be fishing.

  But before he had gone far he saw Dan'l, who was busy doing up a bed,and his appearance seemed to be the signal for the old man to put downhis tools and take out his great pruning-knife, as if he meant mischief,but only to stoop from time to time to cut off a dead flower as anexcuse, so it seemed, for following Dexter wherever he went.

  It was impossible to go about the garden under these circumstances, soDexter went down a little way, passed round a large _Wellingtonia_, andwalked slowly back toward the house, but, instead of entering, went bythe open window of the study, where the voice of Mr Limpney could stillbe heard talking loudly, and, as it seemed to the listening boy,breathing out threatenings against his peace of mind. The voice soundedso loud as he went by that he half-expected to hear himself called in,and in great dread he hurried on by the conservatory, and round thehouse to the old stable-yard.

  As he reached this he could hear a peculiar hissing noise--that whichPeter always made when he was washing the carriage, or the horses'legs--to blow away the dust, so he said.

  For a moment Dexter felt disposed to go into the new stable and talk toPeter, but the opportunity was not tempting, and, hurrying on, the boyreached the old buildings, looked round for a moment, and, thussatisfied that he was not observed, he made a spring up to a little oldwindow, caught the sill, scrambled up directly, and, passing through,disappeared inside.

  He uttered a sigh as of relief, and crossing the damp stones of thegloomy old place he reached a crazy flight of steps, which led up to aloft, on either side of which were openings, through which, when thestable had been in use, it had been customary to thrust down thestored-up hay.

  Dexter stopped here in the darkness for a few minutes listening, but noone was following him, and he walked along to a second ladder which ledto a trap-door through which he passed, closed the trap, and then, inthe long roof a place greatly resembling in shape the triangle overwhose problem of squares he had that day stumbled, he seemed once morehimself.

  His first act was to run quietly along some boards laid over the loftceiling, and, making a jump that would not have disgraced an acrobat, hecaught at a rope, pendent from the highest portion of the rafters,twisted his legs about it, and swung easily to and fro.

  The motion seemed to give him the greatest satisfaction, and as theimpetus given died out, he dropped one foot, and with a few vigorousthrusts set himself going again till he was tired.

  But that was not very soon, and he did not leave off till there weresundry scratchings and squeakings, which drew his attention to his pets,all of which were eager for food.

  They were a heterogeneous collection, but, for the most part,exceedingly tame, and ready to allow themselves to be handled, constantfamiliarity with the gentle hand so often thrust into their boxes orcages having robbed it of its terrors.

  Dexter's happiest moments were passed here, saving those which Helencontinued to make pleasant to the boy; and as soon as his pets had drawnhis attention, he took off his jacket and vest, rolled up his sleeves,and began to attend to their wants.

  His rabbits--two which he had bought through Bob Dimsted, who made aprofit of a hundred per cent, by the transaction--were lifted out of thepacking-case they occupied, and in which they were kept by the lid beingclosed within half an inch, by their pink ears, and immediately stood upon their hind-legs, with drooping fore-paws, their pink noses twitchingas they smelt their owner's legs, till he gave them a couple of redcarrots, a portion of Dan'l's last year's store.

  The next to be taken out was a hedgehog, a prize of his own discovering,and captured one day asleep and tightly rolled up beneath one of thePortugal laurels.

  The minute before its box was open, the hedgehog was activelyperambulating its dark prison, but the moment it was touched it became aball, in which form it was rolled out on to the rough floor close to aflower-pot saucer of bread and milk, smuggled up directly afterbreakfast each morning.

  Next came the large grey rat, captured originally in the steel trap, andwhose first act might have been anticipated. It did not resent itsowner's handling; but the moment it was set down it darted under theloose boards, and remained there until tempted forth by the smell of thebread and milk, and a tempting piece of candle-end, the former of whichit helped the hedgehog to eat.

  The mice, which lived in the old cigar-box--not white mice, nor thosefurry little sleepers given to hiding away in nooks and corners forelongated naps, but the regular grey cheese-nibblers--next, after a gooddeal of scratching, took Dexter's attention. As soon as the lid wasopen, and the boy's hand thrust in, they ran up his fingers, and thenalong his arm to his shoulder, wonderfully active and enterprising withtheir sharp little noses, one even venturing right up the boy's headafter a pause by one ear, as if it looked like the cavernous entrance tosome extremely snug hiding-place.

  "Quiet! Don't tickle," cried Dexter, as he gently put up one hand forthe mouse to run upon; and every movement was made so gently that thelittle creatures were not alarmed, but rested gently upon the boy'shand, as he lifted them down to where he had placed some scraps ofcheese and a biscuit, all articles of provender being derive
d from thestores situated in his trousers-pockets, and that of his jacket.

  The list was not yet complete, for an old wire trap had been turned intoa cage, and here dwelt Dexter's greatest favourite--about theshabbiest-looking squirrel that ever exhibited bare patches upon itsskin, and a tail from which the plume-like hair had departed.

  It cost five shillings, all the same, at a little broker's shop down inthe most poverty-stricken part of Coleby. It had been bought by thebroker at a sale in company with a parrot, a cockatoo, and a canary, allbeing the property of a lady lately deceased. The canary died before hereached home, and the parrot and cockatoo, on the strength of being ableto screech and say a few words, soon found owners, but the squirrel,being shabby-looking, hung on hand, or rather outside the little shop,in a canary's cage, to which it had been promoted after its ownrevolving wire home had been sold, the purchaser declining to buy thesquirrel because he was so shabby.

  The poor little brute did not improve afterwards, for he rubbed the hairoff his face by constantly trying to get through either the seed orwater hole, and every time he--for the sake of exercise--whisked roundthe cage, it was to the disadvantage of his tail, which daily grew moreand more like that of Dexter's rat.

  This little unfortunate might have been bought for a shilling by such aboy as Bob Dimsted, but the superfine broadcloth of Dexter's jacket andtrousers sent it up to five, and pocket-money had to be saved for weeksbefore it finally came into the boy's possession, to be watched with thegreatest attention to see if its hair would grow.

  The squirrel's nose was thrust between the bars of the old wirerat-trap, and when this was not the case, the active little animalperformed a kind of evolution suggestive of its trying to make theletters SS in its prison, as skaters contrive them upon the ice, tillthe wire door was open, and with one bound it was upon its owner'sshoulder, then up in the rafters, along one beam and down another, tillthe first wild excitement of freedom was over, when it dropped upon thefloor, and began to forage for food.

  Dexter was so truly happy among his little subjects that he sat downupon the edge of an old box, forgetful of other claimants while heattended to the wants of these, calling them by endearing names, givingthe rabbits oats from his pockets, a handful of which grain came now andthen from Peter.

  The boy had intuitively discovered the way to tame his various pets.Fear will accomplish a great deal with dumb animals, but the real secretof winning their confidence is quietness, the art of never alarmingthem, but by perfectly passive behaviour, and the most gentle ofmovements, accustom the timid creatures to our presence. The rest wasmerely habituating them to the fact that their owner was the sole sourcefrom which food was to be obtained.

  No one told Dexter all this; he learned it in his solitary communingswith the animal world. For somehow it seems to be the law of naturethat every moving thing goes about in dread of losing its life fromsomething else which either preys upon or persecutes it. Thehouse-sparrow, the most domestic of wild birds, gives a look-out forsqualls between every peck, but it will soon learn to distinguish theperson who does not molest and who feeds it, even to coming at his call,while fish, those most cold-blooded of creatures, which in an ordinaryway go off like a silver flash at the sight of a shadow, will grow sofamiliar that they will rise to the surface and touch the whitefinger-tips placed level with the water.

  So Dexter sat smiling and almost without movement among his subjects,with the rabbits begging, the mice coming and going, now feeding and nowtaking a friendly walk up his legs and about his chest, and the squirrelbounding to him from time to time after nuts, which were carried up tothe beam overhead, and there rasped through with its keen teeth, the ratthe while watching it from the floor till furnished with another nut, asit had pounced upon one the squirrel dropped.

  There was yet another pet--one which had been very sluggish all throughthe winter, but now in fine sunshiny days fairly active, and ready uponthis occasion to come forth and be fed.

  Dexter rose very slowly, talking gently the while to the mice, which hecoaxed to his hand with a piece of cheese, and then placed them upon thefloor, while he went to a corner where, turned upside down upon a slate,stood one of Dan'l's large flower-pots, the hole being covered with apiece of perforated zinc.

  The pot was lifted, slate and all, turned over, and the slate liftedoff, to display quite a nest of damp moss, which, as the boy watched,seemed for a few minutes uninhabited, but all at once it began to heavein one part; there was an increasing movement, as if something wasgliding through it, and then from among the soft moss a smoothglistening head with two bright eyes appeared, and a curious littletongue darted out through an opening between the tightly-closed jaws.

  There was no doubt of the nature of the creature, which glided forthmore and more till it developed itself into a snake of a bright olivegreen, about thirty inches long, its singular markings and mottlingslooking as bright as if it had been varnished.

  Dexter watched the curious horizontal undulating movement of the littleserpent for some time before he touched it, and then taking it up verygently, its tail hung swinging to and fro, while the front portioncurved and undulated, and searched about for a place to rest till itfound one upon the boy's arm, up which it began to glide as if thewarmth were pleasant, ending by nestling its head in the hollow of theelbow-joint.

  Meanwhile there was another rustling and movement of the moss, butnothing showed for a time.

  Dexter smoothed and stroked the snake, which seemed to be perfectlycontent when it was moved, but soon after began to insinuate its bluntrounded head here and there, as if in search of something, till itsowner bore it to a large pickle-jar standing upon a beam nearly levelwith the floor, and upon his placing the reptile's head on a level withthe mouth, it glided in at once, inch by inch, over the side, andthrough Dexter's hands, till it disappeared, the finely-graduated tailpassing over the edge, and it was gone, the jar being its larder, inwhich were stored, ready for consumption, half a dozen of Dan'l'sgreatest enemies--the slugs.

  As Dexter turned to the heap of moss once more, at which one of therabbits was sniffing, there was another heaving movement, followed by asharp rap on the boards, the alarm signal of the rabbit which boundedaway, while a blunt, broad head and two glistening eyes slowly appeared;then what looked like a short sturdy arm with outstretched fingerspressed down the moss, then another arm began to work, and by slowdegrees a huge toad, which seemed to be as broad as it was long,extricated itself from the soft vegetable fibre, and crept away on tothe boards, all in the most deliberate manner, as if it was too fat tomove fast.

  "Hallo, Sam!" said Dexter, laughing. "Why, you've been asleep for amonth."

  The toad seemed to be looking up at him in an unblinking fashion, butdid not move, and Dexter stooped down to touch it, but the moment hishand approached, the reptile rose on its legs, arched its back, loweredits head, swelled itself up, and uttered a low, hissing sound.

  Dexter waited for a moment, and then softly began to scratch its side,the result evidently being so satisfactory to the toad that it began byleaning over toward the rubbing fingers, and then more and more, as ifthe sensation were agreeable in the extreme.

  A little coaxing then induced it to crawl slowly into its master's hand,which it more than filled, sitting there perfectly contented till it wasplaced in another pickle-jar to feed, this one being furnished withwood-lice, pill millipedes, and other luxuries dear to a toad.

  The striking of a clock roused Dexter from his communings with his pets,and hastily restoring them to their various habitations, he resumed hisjacket, and after a quick glance round descended the steps.

  "I couldn't take them with me," he said sadly, as he stood for a fewminutes in the old dark stable; "and if I left them without setting themat liberty they would all die."