Corporal Sam and Other StoriesQuiller-Couch, Arthur
General
Corporal Sam and Other Stories
Quiller-Couch, Arthur
Short stories, English
'"Somewheres hangin' about the stable at this moment," she told him,
with a kind o' sob.
'So my grandfather went out to the back. He could not find the
prisoner in the stable, but by-and-by he caught sight of him on the
slope of the stubble field behind it. The poor lad had taken a hoe,
and was pretending to work it, while he edged away in the dimmety
light.
'"Hallo!" sings out my grandfather across the gate; and goes striding
up the field to him. "If I were you," says he, "I wouldn't hoe
stubble; because that's a new kind of agriculture in these parts, and
likely to attract notice."
'"I was doin' my best," twittered the prisoner. He was a
delicate-lookin' lad, very white just now about the gills.
"I come from Marblehead," he explained, "and, bein' bred to the sea,
I didn't think it would matter."
'"It will, you'll find, if you persevere with it. But come indoors.
We'll stow you in the cider-loft for to-night, after you've taken a
bite of supper. And to-morrow--well, I'll have to think that out,"
said my grandfather.
'For the next few hours he felt pretty easy. He and his wife had a
good reputation with the agent, who would take a long time before
suspecting them of any hand in an escape. The three ate their supper
together in good comfort, though from time to time my grandfather
pricked up his ears as though he heard the sound of a gun. But the
wind blew from the south-west that night, and if a gun was fired the
sound did not carry.
'When supper was done my grandmother made a suggestion that the lad,
instead of turning out to the cider-loft, should sleep in the garret
overhead; and my grandfather, after a look at the lad's face, shut
his lips, and would not gainsay her, though--as in bed he couldn't
help reminding her--it would be difficult to pass off a visitor in
the garret, with two blankets, for a housebreaker.
'As it happened, though, they were not disturbed that night. But my
grandfather, for thinking, took a very little sleep, and in the
morning he went up to the garret with the best plan he could devise.
'"I've been turnin' it over," he said, "and there's no road will help
you across the Moor for days to come. You must bide here till the
hue-an'-cry has blown over, and meantime the missus must fit up some
disguise for you; but you must bide in bed, for a man can't step out
o' this house, front or back, without bein' visible from all the tors
around. So rest where you be, and I'll just dander down along
t'wards Walkhampton, where the Plymouth road runs under Sharpitor,
an' where I've been meanin' to break up a taty-patch this long time
past. There's alway a plenty goin' and comin' 'pon the road, an'
maybe by keepin' an eye open I'll learn what line the chase is
takin'."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account