Hildegardes Neighbors | Page 5

me, and sometimes I think they listen to what I say; but they cannot
speak, you know."
"Ho! I should think not!" said Black-eyes, scornfully. "I mean what
KIND of fish are they, when you catch 'em,--minnows, or dace, or
sticklebacks, or what? What are their names?"
"I do not know that," said Hugh. "I never thought of their names; and I
don't catch them."
"Why not? Wouldn't you be let? Don't the people in the house allow
fishing? I thought you said they were nice people!" and my lord
showed a face of keen disgust.
"I don't want to catch them," said Hugh, quietly. "Why should I? They
swim about, and I see them shine like silver and purple under the
brown water. Sometimes they have crimson spots, like drops of blood,
or ruby stones. Look! there is one now, a ruby-spotted one!"
"Oh, my crickey!" cried the strange boy, jumping up, and dancing from
one foot to the other. "It's a trout, you idiot! Gimme a line! gimme a net,
or something! Gimme--" He snatched off his cap, and made a frantic

effort to catch the trout, which flipped its tail quietly at him, and
withdrew under a rock.
The boy sat down, breathless, and stared at Hugh with all his eyes.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked, at length "What kind of a
fellow ARE you, anyhow? Are you loony?"
Hugh pondered, the question being new to him.
"I--don't--know!" he announced, after sufficient thought.
There was a moment of silence, and black eyes and blue exchanged an
ardent gaze. Hugh's eyes were bright, with the brightness of a blue lake,
where the sunbeams strike deep into it, and transfuse the clear water
with light; but the eyes of the strange boy twinkled and snapped, as
when sunshine sparkles from ripple to ripple. He was the first to break
the silence.
"Where do you go to school?" he asked. "How old are you? how far
have you got in arithmetic? fractions? So am I! Hate 'em? so do I! Play
base-ball?"
"No!" said Hugh.
"Isn't there a nine here?"
"Nine?" Hugh turned this over in his mind. "I only know of three at
Roseholme. One is carved ivory, carved all over with dragons, and of
course one could not play with that; and there are two cricket balls that
the Colonel had when he was a boy, and he says I may play with those
some day, when I know enough not to break windows. Perhaps you
have learned that, if you are used to having nine balls."
The stranger stared again, with a look in which despair was dawning.
"You must be loony!" he muttered. And then, aloud, "Can't you play
anything? What can you do?"
"I can run," said Hugh, after another pause of reflection, "and swim, of
course, and box a little, and fence."
"Fence!" said Black-eyes; his voice took a more respectful tone.
"Where did you learn to fence? You're too young, aren't you?"
"I am nine!" said Hugh. "I began to learn two years ago, and I have
outgrown my first foil, and the Colonel has given me a new one, almost
full size."
"Who's the Colonel?"
"Colonel Ferrers, the gentleman I live with. My great-aunt is his
housekeeper; and he is my dearest friend, except my Beloved and her

mother AND my great-aunt."
"Who is your Beloved? What makes you talk so funny?"
The black-eyed boy no longer spoke scornfully, the fencing having
made a deep impression on him, but he looked more puzzled than ever.
"How do I talk?" asked Hugh, in return. "This is the way I DO talk, you
see. And my Beloved is Miss Grahame, and that is what you have to
call her; but I call her my Beloved, because she is that; and she is the
most beautiful--"
But here the young gentleman was interrupted; there was a hasty
putting aside of the branches, and Hildegarde, with pink cheeks and a
guilty conscience, stood before the two boys. They both jumped up at
once, having good manners; but Hugh's rising was calm and leisurely,
while the black-eyed lad scrambled to his feet, and darted swift looks
here and there, preparing for flight.
"How do you do?" said Hildegarde, coming forward quickly and
holding out her hand. "You are not going, are you? I think you must be
one of our new neighbours, and we ought to make acquaintance,
oughtn't we?"
The boy smiled, a little quick, frightened smile, "just the way a bird
would do if it could," Hildegarde thought, and laid a small brown paw
timidly in hers.
"This is my Beloved!" said Hugh, by way of introduction. "So you can
see for yourself."
"And am I not to hear my neighbour's name?" asked Hildegarde.
"I