Freaks on the Fells | Page 7

then that poor Jacky rushed into his father's knees, being too
small to run into his arms. But these seemingly ferocious dogs were in
reality the gentlest and meekest of animals.
"Down, Topper, down! down, Lively, lass; come into heel, Swaney,"
cried Donald McAllister, as he approached his tenants. "Good-mornin',
miss; mornin', gentlemen. The Ben has on its nightcap, but I'm thinkin'
it'll soon take it off."
Donald McAllister's English was excellent, but he spoke in a slow,
deliberate manner, and with a slightly nasal drawl, which sounded very
peculiar in the ears of the Sudberrys,--just as peculiar, in fact, as their
speech sounded in the ears of McAllister.
"Ah! you call the white cloud on the mountain-top a nightcap?--good,
very good," cried Mr Sudberry, rubbing his hands. "What a charming
place this is, a paradisaical place, so to speak. The dogs won't bite, will
they?" said he, patting the alarmed Jacky on the head.
"No fear o' the dogs, sir," returned McAllister; "they're like lambs. It's
just their way. Ye'll be for a row on the loch the day, no doot." The
Highlander addressed this remark to George and Fred.
"What!" exclaimed the former, "is there a boat that we can have the use
of?"
"'Deed is there, a good safe boat too, that can hold the whole of ye. I'll
show you where the oars lie after breakfast."
"Capital," cried Mr Sudberry, rubbing his hands.
"Charming," exclaimed Lucy, with sparkling eyes.

Master Jacky expressed his glee with a characteristic cheer or yell, that
at once set fire to the easily inflamed spirits of the dogs, causing them
to resume their excited gambols and furious barking. This effectually
stopped the conversation for five minutes.
"I delight in boating," observed Fred, when McAllister had quelled the
disturbance.
"So do I," said his father; "but fishing is the thing for me. There's
nothing like fishing. You have fine trout in the lake, I believe?"
"Ay, an' salmon too," answered McAllister.
"So I've heard, so I've heard," said Mr Sudberry, with a glow of
excitement and pleasure on his round visage. "We must get our rods
and tackle unpacked at once, George. You are a great fisher, no doubt,
Mr McAllister?"
"Well, not just that, but I do manage to fill a basket now and then, an'
whiles to land a g'ilse."
"A gilse!" cried George in surprise, "what is that?"
"It is a small salmon--"
"Oh! you mean a grilse," interposed Mr Sudberry.
"Yes, I mean that, an' I said that," returned McAllister, slowly and with
emphasis. "Scienteefic men are not agreed whether the g'ilse is a small
salmon or not; I'm of opeenion that it is. But whether or not, it's a
famous fish on the table, and lively enough on the line to delight the
heart of every true disciple of Isaac Walton."
"What, you have read that charming book?" exclaimed Mr Sudberry,
looking at the rugged Highlander in some surprise.
"Yes," replied the other, in the grave quiet manner that was peculiar to
him; "I took to it one winter as a sort o' recreation, after readin' through
`Paley's Evidences.'"

"What!" cried Mr Sudberry, "whose Evidences did you say?"
"Paley's; ye've heard o' him, dootless."
"Why, yes," replied Mr Sudberry, "I have heard of him, but I--I must
confess that I have not read him."
At this point, Jacky's eye fell on a shaggy little cow which had strayed
near to the party, and stood regarding him with a stern inquisitive
glance. Remembering the fright he had received so recently from a
similar creature, he uttered a tremendous roar, and again sought refuge
in his father's knees. The discussion on Paley was thus cut short; for the
dogs--whose chief delight was to bark, though not to bite, as has been
libellously asserted of all dogs by Dr Watts--sprang to their feet,
divided their forces, and, while two of the oldest kept frisking round
and leaping upon the party in a promiscuous manner, as if to assure
them of protection in the event of danger, the remainder ran
open-mouthed and howling at the cow. That curly-headed, long-horned
creature received them at first with a defiant look and an elevated tail,
but ultimately took to her heels, to the immense delight of Jacky, whose
soul was imbued with a deep and altogether unutterable horror of cattle,
especially black cows.
The service which the dogs rendered to him on this occasion induced
the boy to make advances of a friendly nature, which were met more
than halfway, and the result was the establishment of a good
understanding between the Sudberrys and the collie dogs, which
ultimately ripened into a lasting friendship, insomuch that when the
family quitted the place, Lucy carried away with her a lock of Lively's
hair, cut from the pendent