“Please, Dick—just this wance—’tis awnly a li’l tiny feesh—first ever I took, too. An’ I swear I’ll not feesh no more—honour bright. Please—for mother never won’t believe I ackshually catched one if her doan’t see it.” “Give it to me, or I’ll take it, I tell you, you dirty little thief.” Davey’s lip went down. “’Tis a damn, cruel shame. You’m always against me. I wish you was dead, I do. I never knawed no chap in all my days what have got such a beast of a brother as I have.” “Give up that feesh, else I’ll throw you in the river, you lazy li’l good-for-nought.” “You’m a gert bully,” began the boy; then he fell upon a happy thought, and braced himself to sacrifice his most treasured secret. To let it go into his brother’s keeping was bad, but anything seemed better than that his first trout should be lost to him. “Look ’e here, Richard,” he said, “will ’e let me keep this feesh if I tell ’e something terrible coorious ’bout these auld mills?” The keeper laughed sourly. “A lot more you’m likely to knaw ’bout ’em than I do!” “Ess fay, I do. ’Tis a wonnerful secret as I found out all to myself, an’ never yet told to a single soul. It comes in my games—my Robinson Crusoe game; but I never play that wi’ any other chap—not even they boys from Postbridge. I be the only living soul as knaws; an’ I’ll tell you if you’ll let me keep my feesh.” “What’s this ’mazin’ secret, then?” “You’ll swear?” “Ess, if the thing be any good.” “Good! I should just reckon ’twas good. Come an’ see for yourself—I was awful ’feared at first. Now I doan’t care nothin’, an’ many a time I’ve took a gert handful an’ lighted it, an’ seen it go off ‘pouf’!” He led the way to a low building with a dull red roof. It was windowless, but had a door that swung at the will of the wind. This erection was lined inside with matchboarding, and it contained a board of regulations that prohibited all metal within the shed. Even a nail in a boot was unlawful. “’Tis Case House No. 4.—used once for storing powder,” said Richard Daccombe; “that’s a pile of sulphur in the corner.” “Ess, but theer’s mor’n you can see, Dick. Look here. Another floor lies under this, though nobody minded that, I reckon, else they’d have took what’s theer.” Davey moved two boards, and beneath them—dry and sound as when there deposited—he revealed some tons of black blasting powder. His brother started, swore in sudden concern, hastened from the building, and, taking his pipe out of his mouth, carefully extinguished it. Then he returned and accosted Davey. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before, you little fool?” “Why for should I? ’Twas my gert secret. But you’ll not let it out, will you, Dick? If chaps comed to hear, they’d steal every atom.” This Richard knew very well.