Mrs. Ensor was a short, dark woman, with pretty eyes and a distinct
moustache. Besides the moustache she owned six little boys, in ages
ranging from eight down to eighteen months. This last--an important
member of the Ensor family--was staggering about among the rebellious
chickens, like them, he had no particular bed-time, and fought against
it whenever it was decreed. As Hughie watched, drawn away from his
intention of questioning Mrs. Ensor about Pam, a small pig charged
through the mêlée, upset the Ensor baby, scattered the chickens and
caused an uproar that brought more little Ensors to the scene of action.
One of these saw Hughie, and pulled his mother’s skirt to make her
notice the visitor. Hughie therefore pushed open the gate, and advanced
rather gingerly, because the noise was deafening and Mrs. Ensor was
shaking the baby--as an example to its brothers of what happens when
people are naughty enough to fall over a pig.
"Mother," urged Reube Ensor, who was six, and very small, "here be
Master Hughie."
The tumult ceased as by magic, and Mrs. Ensor advanced to meet her
visitor, with the baby surprised into silence.
Hughie shook hands politely. Then he asked if his sister had just been
to the farm.
"I thought I saw her," he explained, "she was in the road, and I thought
she might have come up for eggs."
This idea had occurred to him when he saw the hen-coops as a very
possible explanation for Pamela’s conduct. Her gesture to him might
have meant that she was going on to Clawtol Farm in a hurry.
Mrs. Ensor had not seen anybody. Miss Pamela had not called for eggs.
She turned to the row of listening little boys and demanded of them,
"had anybody seen Miss Pamela?"
There was a certain amount of whispering and nudging, from which the
farmer’s wife seemed to gather that Pamela had been seen. It was "young
Reube" who volunteered information, twisting his cap round and round in
very small nervous hands.
Hughie looked at him with shy sympathy. He liked Reube, but could not
explain why.
"Did you see my sister?" he asked gravely.
"Yes, I seen the young lady," admitted Reube.
"Where did she go?" asked Hughie again.
"She went down along Crown Hill. She was running."
That was all Reube said, or knew apparently. As he gave this answer he
looked from Hughie to his mother with a puzzled expression which neither
interpreted to mean anything but shyness.
"I think I’d better go home now, Mrs. Ensor," said the visitor rather
ceremoniously. "I shall be rather late for our tea, shan’t I? I expect
my sister has gone to Crown Hill to see Miss Ashington, so I shan’t go
that way--it’s much longer."
Mrs. Ensor and family--with an inquisitive escort of chickens and little
pigs--came to the gate with Hughie and let him out.
"Good-night, Mrs. Ensor," said Hughie, and lifted his cap with
precision.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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