The Yale expositor., 1920-10-07

reached the crunDllnS dTcn WHERE tne
old gate used to be. / peeped through
and there was Bonaventure de Lapp,
standing inside the keep, and peeplng
out through the very hole at which
| had seen his face. He was turned
half away from me, and IL was clear
that he had not seen me at all, for he
was staring with all his eyes over in
the direction of West Inch. AS l ad-
vanced my foot ratified the rubble that
lay in the gateway, and he turned
round with a start and faced me.
"Hullo!" said I. "what are you doing
hereT
II may ask you that" said he.
II came up because 1 saw your
face at the window"
"And l because, as you may well
have observed, l have very much in
terest for all that has to do with the
military, and Of course castles are
among them. You will excuse me for
one moment, my dear Jack" and he
stepped out suddenly through the hole
in the wall, so as to be out of my sight
But 1 was very much too curious
to excuse him so easily. / shifted
my ground swiftly, 10 see what it was
that he was after. He was standing
outside. and waving his hand franti-
cally, as in signal.
what are you doing?" cried, and
then, running out TO his side, looked
across the moors to see whom he was
reckoning to.
grily; 81 didn't thought you would
have gone so far. A gentleman has
the freedom TO act as he choose. with
out your being the spy upon him. If
we are to be friends, you must not
interfere in my affairs"
II don't like these secret doings,"
said l, ''and my father would not like
them, either"
'Your father can speak for himself,
and there is no secret" said he CURLY.
ut is you, with your imaginings, that
make a secret. TIA, Ia, ia! l have
no patience with such foolishness."
And, without so much as a nod, he
turned his back upon me and started
walking swiftly to West Inch.
Well, 1 followed him, and In the
that there was some mischief in the
wind, and yet / could not for the
life OF me think what II all meant.
What could there be to spy about In
Berwickshire. And besides, Major FL
lott knew all about him, and he
would not show him such respect If
there was anything amiss.
l had just got as far as this in
my thoughts when l heard a CHEEKY
hail, and there was the major him
self, coming down the hill from his
house, with his big bulldog, Bounder,
held in leash. This dog was a savage
creature, and had caused more than
one accident on the countryside, but
the major was very fond of It, and
would never go out without IL, though
he kept II tied with a good, thick
thong Of leather. Well, just as / was
looking at the major, waiting for him
TO come up. he stumbled with his
lame leg over a branch of gorse, and
in recovering himself he let go his
hold of the leash, and In an instant
there was the beast of a dog flying
down the hillside in my direction.
l did not like 1t, l can tell you,
for there was neither stick nor stone
about, and l knew that the brute
was dangerous. AS 1t came at me
with bristling hair and Its nose
screwed back between its two red
eyes, cried out, "Bounder Bounder !"
at the pitch of my lungs. II had
Its effect, for the beast passed me
with a snarl, and flew along the path
on the traces of Bonaventure de Lapp.
He turned at the shouting. and
seemed to take In the whole thing
at a glance, but he str0lled along as
slowly as ever. My heart was in my
mouth for him. for the dog had never
seen him before, and l ran as fast as
my feet would carry me TO drag II
away from him. But somehow, as
1t bounded up and saw the twlttering
finger and thumb which De Lapp held
out behind him, its fury died suddenly
away, and we saw 1t wagging its
thumb of a tail and clawing at his
knee.
"Your dog, then, majori" said he,
as its owner came hobbllng up. "Ah,
IL is a fine beast-a fine, pretty thing"
The major was blowing hard, for
| he had covered the ground nearly as
fast as / had.
81 was afraid lest he might have
hurt you," he painted.
eta, ia, tai" cried De Lapp. "He
is a pretty, gentle thing. I always
love the dogs But ] am glad that
I have met you, major, for there is
this young gentleman. to whom owe
very much, who has begun TO think
that l am a spy. Is II not so, Jack?"
was so taken aback by his words
That could not lay my tongue TO an
answer. but colored up and looked