"Hah! aha! That's right. Young scoundrels. Spoilt a basket of pears
that were not ripe. Young dogs! I'll put glass bottles all along the
walls, and see how they like that. There, be off to bed."

I hesitated.

"Well," he said, "what is it?"

"You don't think it was I who went to steal the pears, sir?" I said
uneasily.

"My good boy, no!" he said. "Pooh! nonsense! Looked like it at first.
Caught you dirty-handed. Good night!"

He turned away, and I ran into the yard, where Shock was slowly going
back to his hole in the straw.

"Good night, Shock!" I said.

He stopped without turning round, and did not reply. It was as if the
sulky morose fit had come over him again, but it did not last, for he
half turned his head and said:

"I hit one on 'em such a crack on the nut."

Then he went to the ladder and climbed up into the loft, and I stood
listening to him as he nestled down in amongst the straw. Then Old
Brownsmith came to the back-door with the lantern and called me in to go
up to my room.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

LEARNING MY LESSONS.

Next morning the old gentleman talked at breakfast-time about the
police, and having the young scoundrels sent to prison. Directly after,
he went down the garden with me and nine cats, to inspect the damages,
and when he saw the trampling and breaking of boughs he stroked a
tom-cat and made it purr, while he declared fiercely that he would not
let an hour pass without having the young dogs punished.

"They shall be caught and sent to prison," he cried.

"Poor old Sammy then.--I'll have 'em severely punished, the young
depredators.--Grant, you'd better get a sharp knife and a light ladder,
and cut off those broken boughs--the young villains--and tell Ike to
bring a big rake and smooth out these footmarks. No; I'll tell him.
You get the knife. I shall go to the police at once."

I cut out the broken boughs, and Ike brought down the ladder for me and
smoothed over the footmarks, chatting about the events of the past night
the while.

"He won't get no police to work, my lad, not he. Forget all about it
directly. Makes him a bit raw, o' course," said Ike, smoothing away
with the rake. "Haw! haw! haw! Think o' you two leathering of 'em. I
wish I'd been here, 'stead of on the road to London. Did you hit 'em
hard?"

"Hard as I could," I said. "I think Shock and I punished them enough."

"So do I. So do he. Rare and frightened they _was_ too. Why, o