e cut, and rested for
half an hour. This greatly eased the pain and discomfort, and they
trudged on strongly for a couple of hours.

Suddenly the scouts raised a cheer. Above a grove of limes a short
distance ahead, a church steeple sprang into sight.

'Half-way!' cried Dick. 'We've done half the journey, Chippy. Here's
Little Eston steeple.'

The Raven nodded. 'We'll halt t'other side,' he said.

In the village they bought a small loaf and a quarter of a pound of
cheese, and those were put into Chippy's haversack. At a cottage
beyond the hamlet they lent a hand to a woman who was drawing water
from her well, and filled their billy with drinking-water at the same
time. They made another three hundred yards, then settled on a shady
bank under a tall hawthorn-hedge for their midday halt.

'How's yer foot, Dick?' queried the Raven anxiously.

'A bit stiff,' replied Dick; 'but that vaseline has done it a lot of
good. I'll peg it out all right yet, Chippy, my son. Now for bread
and cheese. It will taste jolly good after our tramp, I know.'

It did taste very good, and the scouts made a hearty meal, and then lay
for a couple of hours at ease under the pleasant hawthorns, now filled
with may-blossom.

CHAPTER L

THE OLD HIGGLER

Before they started again Dick gave his foot another rubbing with
vaseline, but found it hard going after the rest.

'Look here, Chippy,' he said, 'I mustn't halt again for any length of
time. If I do, my foot may stiffen up till I can't move. We must make
one long swing in this afternoon.'

The road that ran from Little Eston in the direction of Bardon had a
broad strip of turf beside the way, and Dick found this a great ease to
his aching foot. But after a time the road narrowed, and was dusty
from hedge to hedge. They passed a sign-post which said, 'Two miles to
Little Eston.'

'That's a couple scored off,' said Dick; 'the miles are less than
double figures now, Chippy.'

'Yus,' said the latter; 'an' we'll get to Shotford Common soon.
That'll be easier walkin' than the road.'

A short distance beyond the sign-post an old man leading a small donkey
in a little cart met them, and they passed the time of day.

'Mortal hot, ain't it?' said the old man; and the scouts agreed with
him. The heat was, indeed, sweltering. It was one of those days of
early summer which seem borrowed from the dog-days, and the scouts,
tough as they were, were dripping with sweat as th