The New Forest Spy | Page 9

gentleman, after all," muttered the boy. "He's gone. It
was just in there that I told him to crawl, and--no, it was farther on, by
that next beech--no--oh, I say, how much alike all these places are! I
believe I must have passed it."
He stood still and whistled. There was no reply. Then he whistled again,
and, after glancing about him, hazarded a call.
"Hi! Hullo! Where are you?--It's all right; no soldiers near."

There was a faint rustling then amongst the bracken, and the stranger's
head was slowly raised some thirty yards away.
Waller hurried to him.
"What made you change your place?" he said, as he came up.
"Change my place? I have not moved."
"Never mind. There, sit down now. Here's something to take off the
hunger. There, if I didn't forget a knife! Never mind; mine will do. It's
quite clean. That's right. Nobody's likely to come by here. Take a good
drink of this first."
He placed the jug in the lad's hand as he seated himself between the
great buttress-like roots of a huge beech: and after that long, deep drink
there was an interval of time during which Waller watched, with a
feeling of wonder, the ravenous manner in which his new friend--or
enemy--partook of food.
"I am ashamed," he muttered; "I am ashamed. But eat some, too."
"Oh, no; go on," said Waller.
"I can't eat another mouthful unless you join."
"Oh, very well; there is plenty," said Waller, "and seeing you eat has
made me hungry, too."
No more words were spoken for a time, and at last, with the hunger of
both pretty well assuaged, Waller began to note the humour of the
position, and in a half-bantering way exclaimed:
"Here, I say, you ought to leave a snack for the soldiers when they
come."
The lad's hand dropped, and he turned, with a wild look, to fix his eyes
on Waller's.

"Ah," he said, the next moment, with his face softening, "you are
laughing at me."
"Well, suppose I am. It's because I am pleased to see you better now."
"Better! Yes. I think you have saved my life," said the lad softly. "I say,
I wish we could be friends--but no; impossible. You could not be, with
one like me."
"I don't see why not," said Waller. "We are good enough friends now.
There, I am sorry I knocked you about so much and treated you as I did.
I didn't know you were so weak and hungry. Will you shake hands?"
"Will I shake hands?" cried the lad, with all the effusion of a young
Frenchman, and catching the one which Waller stretched out, he held it
tightly for a few moments between his own, holding it until Waller
drew it away.
"There," he said, "I must be going back now. There isn't much left, but
I must have the empty basket. You had better lie down here and have a
good rest, and I will come back to you in the evening and see if I can't
think out some way of helping you to get down to Lymington."
"To Lymington? Yes!" cried the boy eagerly; for now that he was
somewhat refreshed the light seemed to come back into his eyes, and a
certain eagerness into his whole aspect. "But, look here," he said, "a
little while ago I thought I had nothing to do but lie down and die; now
you have made me feel as if I want to live. Could you--can you find out
whether there are any soldiers near?"
"I don't know, but I'll try," said Waller. "But I say, talk about
soldiers--we never picked up that pistol, and I don't believe we could
find it now."
"Here it is," said the lad, pointing to his breast. "I crawled about till I
found it after you had gone."
"Then you had better give it to me to put away. Pistols are nasty

things."
Waller held out his hand, but the lad shrank back, with a suspicious
look.
"Oh, very well," said Waller, rising; "don't trust me unless you like."
"I do trust you," cried the lad eagerly; and, snatching out the pistol, he
pressed it into the other's hand.
"There, they will be wondering what has become of me," cried Waller.
"I will come back and see you in the evening, and by then I shall have
thought of somewhere for you to hide to-night. Good-bye."
Waller hurried off, thinking deeply to himself, and making the best of
his way for about a hundred yards.
"I wish I hadn't brought away his pistol," he said. "He will be thinking
again that I am going to betray him. Here, I shall take it back."
He made his way as fast as he could to