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aggrieved to talk, Ranulph buried too deep in dreams, and the little herdsmen
far too shy. There were nothing but rough cattle paths in the valley heavy
enough going by day, and doubly so by night, and before they had yet gone half
the way Ranulph's feet began to lag.
"Would you like to rest a bit and then go back?" said Luke eagerly.
But Ranulph shook his head scornfully and mended his pace.
Nor did he allow himself to lag again till they reached their destination a
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little oasis of rich pasturage, already on rising ground though still a mile
or two away from the hills.
Once here in their own kingdom, as it were the little herdsmen became
lively and natural;
laughing and chatting with Ranulph, as they set about repairing such breaches
as had been made in the huts by the rough and tumble of twelve odd hours. Then
there was wood to be collected, and a fire to be lit and into these tasks
Ranulph threw himself with a gay, though rather feverish, vigour.
At last they settled down to their long watch squatting round the fire, and
laughing for sheer love of adventure as good campaigners should; for were
there not marching towards them some eight dark hours equipped with who could
say what curious weapons from the rich arsenal of night and day?
The cattle crouched round them in soft shadowy clumps, placidly munching, and
dreaming with wide-open eyes. The narrow zone of colour created by the
firelight was like the planet Earth a little freak of brightness in a
universe of impenetrable shadows.
Suddenly Luke noticed that each of the three little herdsmen was, like
himself, wearing a sprig of fennel.
"I say! why are all you little chaps wearing fennel?" he blurted out.
They stared at him in amazement.
"But you be wearing a bit yourself, Master Hempen," said Toby, the eldest.
"I know" and he could not resist adding in an offhand tone "it was a
present from a young lady.
But do you always wear a bit in these parts?" he added.
"Always on this night of the year," said the children. And as Luke looked
puzzled, Toby cried in surprise, "Don't you wear fennel in Lud on the last
night of October?"
"No, we don't," answered Luke, a little crossly, "and why should we, I should
like to know?"
"Why," cried Toby in a shocked voice, "because this is the night when the
Silent People the dead, you know come back to Dorimare."
Ranulph looked up quickly. But Luke scowled; he was sick to death of western
superstitions, and into the bargain he was feeling frightened. He removed the
second sprig of fennel given him by Hazel from his button-hole, and holding it
out to Ranulph, said, "Here, Master Ranulph! Stick that in your hatband or
somewhere."
But Ranulph shook his head. "I don't want any fennel, thank you, Luke," he
said. "I'm not frightened."
The children gazed at him in half-shocked admiration, and Luke sighed
gloomily.
"Not frightened of . . . the Silent People?" queried Toby.
"No," answered Ranulph curtly. And then he added, "At least not to-night."
"I'll wager the widow Gibberty, at any rate, isn't wearing any fennel," said
Luke, with a harsh laugh.
The children exchanged queer little glances and began to snigger. This aroused
Luke's curiosity: "Now then, out with it, youngsters! Why doesn't the widow
Gibberty wear fennel?"
But their only answer was to nudge each other, and snigger behind their
fingers.
This put Luke on his mettle. "Look here, you bantams," he cried, "don't you
forget that you've got the
High Seneschal's son here, and if you know anything about the widow that's . .
. well, that's a bit fishy, it's
your duty to let me know. If you don't, you may find yourselves in gaol some
day. So you just spit it out!"
and he glared at them as fiercely as his kindly china-blue eyes would allow.
They began to look scared. "But the widow doesn't know we've seen anything . .
. and if she found out, and that we'd been blabbing, oh my! wouldn't we catch
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it!" cried Toby, and his eyes grew round with terror at the mere thought.
"No, you won't catch it. I'll give you my word," said Luke. "And if you've
really anything worth telling, the Seneschal will be very grateful, and each
of you may find yourselves with more money in your pockets than your three
fathers put together have ever had in all their lives. And, anyhow, to begin
with, if you'll tell me what you know, you can toss up for this knife, and
there's not a finer one to be found in all
Lud," and he waved before their dazzled eyes his greatest treasure, a
magnificent six-bladed knife, given him one Yule-tide by Master Nathaniel,
with whom he had always been a favourite. At the sight of this marvel of
cutlery, the little boys proved venal, and in voices scarcely above a whisper
and with frequent frightened glances over their shoulders, as if the widow
might be lurking in the shadows listening to them, they told their story.
One night, just before dawn, a cow called Cornflower, from the unusually blue
colour of her hide, who had recently been added to the herd, suddenly grew
restless and began to moo
, the strange moo of blue cows that was like the cooing of doves, and then
rose to her feet and trotted away into the darkness.
Now Cornflower was a very valuable cow and the widow had given them special
injunctions to look after her, so Toby, leaving the other two to mind the rest
of the herd, dashed after her into the thinning darkness and though she had
got a good start of him was able to keep in her track by the tinkling of her
bell. Finally he came on her standing at the brink of the Dapple and nozzling
the water. He went close up to her and found that she had got her teeth into
something beneath the surface of the stream and was tearing at it in intense
excitement. Just then who should drive up in a cart but the widow and Doctor
Endymion Leer. They appeared much annoyed at finding Toby, but they helped him
get Cornflower away from the water. Bits of straw were hanging from her mouth
and it was stained with juices of a colour he had never seen before. The widow
then told him to go back to his companions, and said she would herself take
Cornflower back to the herd in the morning. And, to account for her sudden
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