CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
A LAST WORD.
There was a warning shriek from the engine's steam-whistle, as if itwere impatient to be off, and angrily wanting to know why it was keptthus unnecessarily waiting.
Following up the scream of the whistle came the last cling! clang! ofthe railway-porter's bell, telling belated passengers that "time" was"up."
Next ensued the scrambling and scurrying of the aforesaid belatedpassengers, who always appear to put off making up their minds as towhether they shall start or not until the last moment of grace hasexpired.
Then, finally, after much clanging of doors upon the backs of those thusnearly left behind, with a snort of indignation and defiance of thingsin general, and late passengers in particular, the panting, puffing,fuming iron horse metaphorically and practically "put his shoulder tothe wheel," lugging the rolling, rumbling, heavy train out of thestation Londonwards, with a "puff-puff, pant-pant!" from his hoarsethroat, answered by the groans and creaks of sympathy from the ladencarriages and the clinking rattle of the coupling-chains, as they drewtaut from the tension, lending a sort of cymbal-like accompaniment tothe noisy chorus.
Bob and Nellie watched their aunt and the Captain standing on theplatform, waving their handkerchiefs from the window of theircompartment, which they found it a hard matter to shove their headsthrough two at a time, until a bend in the line swept aunt PollysCaptain Dresser, platform and all out of sight.
Then, sitting down disconsolately in their seats, Bob, who, of course,thought it unmanly to cry, screwed himself up in a corner in default ofthat alleviation of his misery, looking the very picture of woe; whilepoor Nell, being a girl and freed from such Spartan obligations, soughtrefuge from her sorrow in silent tears.
"Now, Nellie dear," said her mother reprovingly, "you mustn't be sofoolish! Of course, I can make allowance for your sorrow at leavingSouthsea, where you have been so happy; but these partings, dearie, willcome some time or other, and, besides, you know, both aunt Polly andCaptain Dresser have promised to come up to us at Christmas, so you'llsee them again soon."
This made poor Nell try to compose herself; and presently she smiledthrough her tears, exchanging reminiscences of the past few weeks oftheir enjoyment by the sea with Bob, who also, after a time, shook offhis grumpiness--the feeling that they were going "home" again, by and byovercoming their depression at leaving, perhaps for ever, the scene ofso many delights and such a terrible ordeal at the last!
"I wonder how old Blinkie will look?" said Bob, trying to picture thejackdaw as he would appear when conscious of his owner's return; andthen, deciding in his own mind that the only tribute of affection whichhe might expect would, most probably, be a sharp peck from Blinkie'sbeak, he added, "I dare say he won't remember me at all!"
Nellie's thoughts were directed to Snuffles the asthmatic cat, her greatpet; and she believed that highly-trained animal would not only know heragain after her long absence, but would certainly express hersatisfaction in a much more endearing manner, if not quite so touchingor pointed!
Thus the two beguiled the tedium of their journey; and, such was theirjoy on the train's arrival in town at last, that no one would havebelieved them to be the same Bob and Nell who had given way so greatlyto their grief on leaving the seaside!
Naturally, Rover's pleasure at being released from his temporaryimprisonment in the guard's van could be easily accounted for; but, theway in which, when he got back to his old home, he walked deliberatelyto the bottom of the garden in perfect remembrance of the spot where hehad buried his last bone before going away, showed that he, at least,did not forget so easily.
The dog's memory, too, was equally green concerning his old friendsSnuffles and Blinkie, as that of his young master and mistress; for heso sniffed and snuffed Snuffles in his exuberance at seeing her again,that he seriously disarranged her fur, while he allowed the jackdaw topeck at his legs and even his nose, without the slightest attempt atretaliation!
Not long after their getting back, Bob and Nell had a great joke all tothemselves.
Their father and mother were sending down an invalid chair for MrsCraddock's daughter, one in which she could be taken out into the open-air--it was a thing for which the poor girl had always been longing, asaunt Polly managed to find out for them when they were thinking of whatsort of return they could make for the kind way in which the old lady'sson had rescued Bob, Jim himself refusing any recompense whatever,despite all the barrister's and Captain Dresser's efforts.
So, this parcel being about to be dispatched "Down the line," Master Boband Miss Nell bethought them that they would send a present too; notonly to Dick, who was always in their minds, but one also for--whom doyou think?
Why, for Sarah, "the good Sarah!"
And, what do you think the present was, eh?
You would never guess.
Well, a nice little loaf of bread and an ounce packet of the best blacktea, both packed up in a very pretty box that also contained aremarkably smart cap, with ribbons of a colour such as the soul of Sarahloved.
Nor was this all,
On the lid of the box was an elaborate device in hieroglyphiccharacters, which could be readily understood when properly explained bythe young designers, detailing the leading incidents of a celebratedpicnic in the woods which once occurred; although, possibly theuninitiated might experience some little difficulty at first indiscriminating between what were meant for the figures of the principalpersonages of the story and the objects of still life depicted in thedrawing, though otherwise it was an admirable work of art.
Regarding the copy of verses also pinned on to the box, which the devicein question was intended to illustrate, there could be no mistake; theverses, indeed, being a replica of an original poem, preserved in theBobo-Nellonian archives and entitled, "Sarah's forget-me-nots,"wherewith the reader has been already made acquainted.
The parcel was duly dispatched down to Southsea; but, though Nelliesubsequently wrote a nice little letter to the Captain in her own nicehandwriting, large and legible, such as the old sailor could readcomfortably without spectacles, wherein she mentioned all the latestnews of her aquarium tenants, telling how the hermit crab had distrainedfor his rent on a young lobster who had cast-off his shell, and that asmall skate objected to the ice, she could learn nothing of how "thegood Sarah" received her present.
Nor could Bob gain any information on the subject from aunt Polly, towhom he sent a long epistle bearing on the same momentous theme.
Both had to wait to have their curiosity satisfied until their auntPolly and Captain Dresser came up to London at Christmastide; when atlength the two of them managed to worm the secret out of the Captain.
The old sailor had been giving them all the news about those they hadknown down at Southsea; how Dick had at last been accepted for the navyand entered as a second-class boy on board the _Saint Vincent_, beingbound to make a full able-bodied sailor in time; and how Hellyer had gota little pension in addition to his pay, as he was now "chief officer"of the coastguard; after which, the Captain at last referred to Sarah,"the good Sarah!"
"By Jove!" said he, "I shall never forget that night your box came! Iwas playing cribbage with your aunt Polly--and she cheated me, too, bythe same token, in the fuss that occurred on opening the parcel, byscoring `two for his heels,' when it only should have been `one for hisnob.' You never saw such a disgraceful thing done in your life, reallya most barefaced piece of cheating!"
"Oh!" exclaimed Mrs Gilmour. "Sure, I'm listening to all those storiesyou are telling! Won't I pay you out, too, by and by, when you comeround to `the Moorings' again. You just wait and see!"
"I assure you, ma'am, it's a fact," persisted the Captain unblushingly,his little eyes blinking with fun under his bushy eyebrows, which weregoing up and down at a fine rate, I can tell you. "I saw you move thepegs, ma'am, when you thought I wasn't looking!"
"But, what did Sarah say?" asked Nellie, clinging to the old sailor andtrying to attract hi
s attention to the point at issue, from which heseemed sadly inclined to stray. "What did the good Sarah say?"
"Eh?" said he, cocking his head on one side in his most bird-likefashion and pretending not to understand his questioner. "Eh?"
"Oh, do tell us!" cried Bob, catching hold of him by the other arm."How did `the good Sarah' look?"
"Why," chuckled the Captain, bringing down his old malacca cane with athump on the floor. "Jolly, my boy, jolly!"
THE END.
Bob Strong's Holidays Page 29
