The Island School — page 314: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

after dinner. CHORKER GRAVITATES TOWARDS OLD ACQUAINTANCES. 261 them good.” : Morse said this in a jesting spirit, but if he had Jmown what was likely to result from his delaying taking the rations to the schoolmasters, he might have seriously thought of doing it at once. But, with all his talent, Morse was not endowed with second-sight, or the power of diving into the future. CHAPTER CXLI. CHORKER GRAVITATES TOWARDS OLD ACQUAINTANCES. N_ getting into the wood, where the shelter of the trees gave him a sense of security, Chor- ker stopped for a time to bethink himself on the road he ought to take. The comparatively Ay ie. a4; ita ay oar ae ° Cy ea ~~ > oe ine me - rs = = ® > 2 ce SOS ‘ -~ . a ro ld ma - == RARCRAES we SI ut rs : SoS 4 . PT) . te - , 4 omens . “, <a d @| are i/ - 4 r ’ TT PS 2 Ay 1 4 ‘1 a — L a -; ms. rt \ a ey 3 HPs" e +) Peed a 7 cry .) 2 eee Tre Yr ry ae re Oy boys in that quarter had driven away the wild game, and the place was a solitude. Hogs are as cunning creatures as one can find anywhere, and they know when danger is in the air. They feel that the scent of powder indicates danger, even if they have never previously nosed it. Now Chorker had no intention to go far away. it was his firm belief that in a very short time the enemy would be in the castle, “settling that lot,” as he mentally put it; and having done that, they would naturally go away jubilant and satisfied. Then he would have what was left of the castle and the island to himself, His proper course, then, would be to hover in the neighbourhood, and the cave in the chine came back to his memory. It was a good hiding-place, handy to sleep in on account of the comparative warmth; and then there was the farm not so far away, where he knew many succulent tubers and other things eatable had been perforce left in the ground. Anything so left in that climate did not rot as it generally does at home, but is. kept in a state of preservation until the warm weather, comes again, and then, in due course, it sprouts and grows again. It was clear to him that he must make for the cave, At the outside it would take him two hours to veach it. The way wasrugged, but hard to be mis- 2 » - ¥ * @ OO Det ad ‘ ; re ey a OC ee eee | A little wholesome fasting wiil do recent shooting of the - taken. He would not lose himself, like an overgrown babe in the wood. So to the cave he wended his way, and in due time arrived at it. On entering he was amazed to find three blanket- beds not far from the mouth, and in the blankets he recognised a portion of the property of the school. For a brief spell he was utterly dumbfounded by this discovery. Then light broke in upon him. “It’s them three levanting varmints of school- masters,’ he muttered; “but what’s come of ’em 2” Had they been fallen upon and devoured by wild beasts P Hardly, for nothing wild and sufficiently ferocious | had ever been seen on the island. | | Were they out for a walk, or had they gone into the depths of the cave ? fe was musing on the possibility of their having done-so, sitting down with his eyes wandering about the chine, when he saw them returning from the direction of the farm. | They were coming along in a cautious, sneaky kind of way, each man carrying a bundle, which Chorker rightly guessed was farm-produce. The fact was they had had no breakfast, owing to the forgetfulness of Morse, whose mind was fixed on more important matters ; and Mr. Farrell, remember- ing the adjacent farm, suggested that they should go thither to procure something to sustain life. “ Here’s a find!” muttered Chorker; “and what am I to make of it ?” ! Face the three men whom he had so shabbily treated on a previous occasion he dared not; retreat from the cave he would not. His best course, evidently, was to hie away into its interior, to a sufficient distance to be out of the way of being seen, and there await the issue of events, But he was not going without the means of making himself comfortable. So he picked out two of the warmest blankets, kicked the rest of the things about, and beat a retreat. Halting fitty yards down, he watched for the return of the men. They soon came stealing in, and their eyes fell upon their disordered bedding.. A moment later they had discovered the loss of a portion of it. He could hear every word they said, for the cave transmitted ‘sounds with the facility of a speaking- tube. They were terrified beyond description, fearing that some human foe had been there. , But the idea was given up, and they talked of a wild hog having visited the cave to worry, in sheer playfulness or mischief, their private property. aa Cc 00 mn co cs (Gl @)