Chapter IX: A Slight Accident

ALTHOUGH Dick had decided that it would not benefit either him or any one else if he found the secret passage, yet he could not put the matter out of his mind. It fascinated him; and he thought of it the first moment he opened his eyes in the morning, and the last thing at night; it haunted him in his sleep, and more than once he awoke screaming and shaking with excitement after a vivid dream that he was being chased by smugglers armed with pistols and knives. On one of these occasions he shrieked so loudly that he awoke Miss Warren, who rushed to his room to see what was amiss. "Good patience, child!" she cried, as she bent over him. "What is wrong? Don't scream like that! Don't you know me? It's only Aunt Mary Ann!"

"Oh, oh!" gasped the little boy. "They're after me!"

"Nonsense! You're only half awake yet! Who's after you, pray? There's no one here but me! You've no real cause to be frightened!"

"I am very sorry," Dick said apologetically "I think I've had a bad dream!" and he shuddered at the remembrance of it.

"A bad dream," Miss Warren echoed. "Nightmare, most likely! Bless the child, you're shaking like an aspen leaf!"

"I'm very sorry," murmured Dick again. "I know I've been very silly. I'm not frightened now."

"There is nothing to be frightened at," Miss Warren told him reassuringly. "Who did you think was after you, my dear?"

"The smugglers. I was dreaming of the secret passage, and—"

"There, now!" Miss Warren interposed vexedly. "I guessed as much! You have had your head filled with tales of smugglers, and secret passages, and nonsense of that kind till you've let your imagination run away with you! I'll sit by your side till you go to sleep, and then you'll feel perfectly safe, will you not?"

Dick assented gratefully. He was very ashamed of himself for having disturbed his aunt's rest; but it was a comforting thought that she was near. She was as good as her word, and remained patiently watching him till he fell asleep.

The next morning, at the breakfast-table, she told her brother of the scene which had been enacted during the night, and gave him a description of Dick's terror at his dream.

"A fine fright he gave me too!" she said in conclusion; "I thought something dreadful had happened, and was quite relieved to find he had only been dreaming!"

"He could not help it," the doctor replied with a glance of sympathy at his little nephew's pale face. "I remember when I was a boy, I used to have nightmare myself, and imagine I was falling out of a window, or down a precipice, or being chased by a wild animal, or something equally ridiculous. You shall have your supper a little earlier for the future, Dick. So your nightmare took the shape of smugglers, eh?"

"Yes," Dick said; "and awful-looking men they were, with dreadful, wicked faces. I thought I was in the secret passage, and they were running after me; then I suppose I screamed, and Aunt Mary Ann heard me, for when I woke up, there she was standing by the bed. Oh, wasn't I glad to see her."

"I believe I was almost as much frightened as Dick," Miss Warren acknowledged.

"Well, you have both recovered from your fright now," the doctor remarked; "and I daresay last night's scene will never be enacted again. I am not going to take you with me this morning, Dick, because I am going to visit a patient who lives five miles distant, and may have to remain there some time."

"Perhaps Dick and I may spend our morning on the beach," Miss Warren suggested. "I could take my needlework with me, and Dick would find his own amusements."

"Oh, yes!" Dick agreed delightedly. "The tide will be out, and it's always nicer then!"

"Mind you do not fall on the rocks," Dr. Warren said warningly; "some of them are as slippery as glass, covered as they are with sea-weeds. Be careful—there's a good boy."

An hour later found Miss Warren and Dick wending their way to the sea-shore. The latter carried a camp-stool which, upon their arrival on the beach, he set up in the shade of a rock for his aunt to sit upon.

"Now, my dear," said Miss Warren, as she took her seat and proceeded to unfold a parcel of plain needlework which she had brought with her, "you need not stay with me, you know; only keep within sight and I shall be easy in my mind about you."

"All right, Aunt Mary Ann; I will," Dick answered, truly meaning what he said.

He ran off towards the edge of the water, Miss Warren glancing after him with a bright smile. She had grown to love her little nephew very dearly; he added to the happiness of her life, and she was quite grateful to his grandfather for having declined to take charge of him.

"How we should miss him if he left us!" she reflected. "I do not believe his parents would allow Sir Richard to have him now! Theophilus says he believes the old man is growing really to like the boy. Oh, I hope he will never want to take him away from us! Good gracious!"

The last exclamation broke from her lips as a large black dog bounded past her, and made for the little figure at the water's edge. It was Nero. Miss Warren recognised him immediately, and glanced around nervously, expecting to see his master near; but the dog was apparently quite alone. She drew a sigh of relief, and watched Nero with some amusement as he sprang around Dick, barking with delight at having discovered his new friend.

"Dear Nero! Good dog!" Dick cried, his face aglow with pleasure.

Nero allowed himself to be patted and caressed with exemplary patience for a few minutes; then he bounded into the sea, and back to Dick's side again, evidently inviting him to throw something into the water for him to fetch. The little boy at once complied with the dog's request, and soon he and Nero were having a most enjoyable time together. Dick tired of throwing stones long before Nero tired of fetching them. The sagacious creature never made the mistake of bringing another stone instead of the one thrown.

Miss Warren watched the boy and the dog for some while, her face wreathed in smiles, then she turned her attention to her needlework.

Meanwhile, Dick having wearied of throwing stones, wandered away between the rocks. He took off his shoes and stockings, and placed them in a spot where he thought he would have no difficulty in finding them again; and then, rolling up his knickerbocker above his knees, paddled in and out of the little pools between the rocks. He forgot all about his aunt's desire that he would not go out of sight, and his promise, and presently found himself walking beneath the shade of the high cliffs which surrounded the coast at that point. How he wished he could find the entrance to the secret passage! Fired with the ambition to do so, he peered hither and thither into every nook and cranny he came across, totally regardless of how the time was passing. Nero kept by his side, every now and again picking up lumps of sea-weed and offering them to Dick as though he realised the boy was looking for something, and desired to assist him if he could. At length Dick, for the first time, glanced behind him, and saw that he had wandered much further than he had intended. Holton beach, with Miss Warren seated on her camp-stool, the fishing-boats drawn up out of reach of the incoming tide, and the nets spread to dry in the sun, were out of sight; only a strip of rock-strewn sand beneath overhanging cliffs was to be seen. Suddenly remembering that he had disobeyed his aunt, and not kept his word, Dick hastily retraced his footsteps. When he reached the spot where he considered he had left his shoes and stockings, they were nowhere to be seen; he glanced hastily around, and lo! there they were apparently floating out to sea. For one moment Dick was in despair of ever getting them again; but then he remembered Nero, and, pointing them out to him, the intelligent animal grasped the situation at once and fetched them immediately.

"Nero, you are the dearest, cleverest dog I know!" cried Dick, with mingled enthusiasm and gratitude in his voice.

One trouble over, Dick hastened on, and had nearly turned the corner of the cliff which would bring him within sight of Holton beach, when he slipped on a piece of sea-weed and fell into a pool of water on his face and hands. He emerged sputtering and dripping, whilst Nero barked as though he thought it the best joke in the world.

Dick was in despair. What would Aunt Mary Ann say when she saw his deplorable condition? She would have every right to be very angry. Whilst he was thinking thus Miss Warren herself came upon the scene, having missed him, and become uneasy as to his safety.

"Dick!" was all she could find voice to say, as her astonished eyes fell upon the little, dripping figure; "Dick!" she repeated, and positively gasped with dismay.

"I'm rather wet, Aunt Mary Ann," Dick acknowledged with a slight shiver. "I fell into a pool. I don't quite know how it happened. Oh, it wasn't Nero's fault!" he added quickly, as he saw her eyes turn to the dog. "Nero has been so good! The tide came in and carried my shoes and stockings out to sea, and he fetched them back. Wasn't that clever of him?"

"You had better put them on at once," Miss Warren said, the vexation she felt sounding in her voice.

Dick obeyed; but it was a difficult task, for his shoes and stockings were perfectly sodden with seawater; at last, however, it was accomplished.

"Now, come home!" said Miss Warren. "I don't know what the villagers will think of you, I'm sure! Fortunately salt water does not, as a rule, induce cold; still, we had better hurry home."

"Shall I carry your camp-stool, Aunt Mary Ann?" Dick asked, in a meek voice.

"No, thank you; I prefer to carry it myself!"

Miss Warren marched on in front looking extremely dignified, and Dick followed with Nero at his heels. It would have been difficult to say if the boy or the dog was the wetter.

Dick walked with great discomfort, for his garments were sticking to his skin; and he was fully conscious of the looks—half-astonished, half-amused—on the faces of those he met. He knew his aunt was angry, and not without cause. He was feeling extremely miserable and dejected; so that when he saw his grandfather's figure emerge from a shop doorway, his first impulse was to take to his heels and run away. Instead of acting thus foolishly, however, he continued to advance, though he could not help growing uncomfortably red.

"Good-morning, Miss Warren!" Sir Richard said; and she was obliged to stop and shake hands with him. He seemed in a particularly genial humour, and viewed his grandson with a twinkle of amusement in his keen dark eyes.

"Have you met with an accident, Dick?" he inquired. "You look—well, to put it mildly—a trifle moist!"

"Moist!" echoed Miss Warren. "He is dripping, simply dripping!"

"Has he been bathing with his clothes on?" Sir Richard asked. "Why, here's Nero!" he continued, without waiting for a reply to his question. "He deserted me an hour ago! Where have you been, you bad dog?"

"He has been with Dick for the last hour," Miss Warren explained.

"Did he lead you into mischief, Dick?" Sir Richard questioned. "He loves the water, I know."

"It was not Nero's fault," the little boy declared. "I fell into a pool; that's how it is I happen to be so wet. It was very careless of me; but really I couldn't help it!"

"I shall not mind if he does not take cold," Miss Warren said, looking relentingly at the offender's abashed countenance. "You will excuse us, Sir Richard—Dick must get home as quickly as possible."

"Certainly, certainly. Good-morning, Miss Warren! Good-morning, Dick! Come with me, Nero!"

The dog followed his master obediently, now and again pausing a moment to look wistfully after Dick's retreating figure.

As soon as Miss Warren and her little nephew reached home, she insisted on putting him to bed—not for punishment, as she explained, for she had regained her good-humour, and had accepted Dick's apologies—but because she considered such treatment would prevent his feeling any ill effects from his accident.

So Dick lay patiently in bed with the blinds of his room drawn to exclude the brilliant sunshine, and with his aunt by his side refusing to talk, for fear, as she said, of unduly exciting him after the shock she persisted he must be suffering from on account of his unexpected ducking. In vain did Dick protest he felt quite well; he had to remain in bed till the doctor returned, when he was permitted to get up and come downstairs for tea. Seeing Aunt Mary Ann was vexed no longer, he was perfectly willing to give an account of his morning's adventure, and owned that he had been so intent in searching for the entrance to the secret passage that he had forgotten the flight of time.

"I quite forgot I had promised not to go out of sight," he said in conclusion with a deprecating glance at Miss Warren.

"Ah, but you should never forget a promise, my boy," the doctor told him gravely, "even if it seems only a trifling matter. I do not know that you could have come to any great harm among the rocks; but you must be more cautious for the future, or I know your aunt will be always fussing when you are out of her sight, and it ought to be unnecessary to keep a watch on a boy of your age. You are old enough to take care of yourself."

"I'm afraid I'm always rather inclined to anticipate misfortune," Miss Warren acknowledged with a sigh. "I well remember how anxious I used to be about your dear mother, Dick, when she was a little girl. Dear me, how vexed I was this morning to meet Sir Richard!"

"Ah, I saw him later on," Dr. Warren said. "He told me of Dick's sad plight, which seems to have caused him some amusement, by the way. I learnt from him that Mrs. Compton and her children are expected to-morrow evening; he is desirous that Dick should see as much of his cousins as possible. I said I was sure Dick would be glad of the company of children of his own age."

"Oh, yes," cried Dick eagerly; "that is, if I like them! I wonder if I shall," he added reflectively.

"I do not doubt you will; but you will soon find that out. I daresay your cousins are as anxious and curious to meet you as you are to meet them. Sir Richard said he should expect to see you at the Manor House the day after to-morrow, and I promised to drop you at the lodge as I did the last time you were there."

"I wish you would tell me more about my aunt and cousins, Uncle Theophilus," Dick requested; "I want to know what they are really like, and—"

"You will be able to form your own opinion of them shortly," the doctor interposed; "I am not good at descriptions of people."

With that answer the little boy had to be satisfied; for Miss Warren knew even less of the Comptons than did her brother. She had seen them in church on Sundays during previous summers, but had never spoken to either mother or children. Dick was more and more surprised to find how little intercourse there had been between the Manor House and No. 8 Fore Street. It puzzled him greatly, and worried him too; but Aunt Mary Ann looked so unhappy when he spoke to her about it that he let the subject drop, and determined never to mention it to her again. He had grown much attached to dear, fussy Aunt Mary Ann, and would not willingly have troubled her for the world.