FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79  
80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   >>   >|  
t' lane." "T' church clock's always hafe-an-hour fasst, thee knows." "It isn't!" "It is." "T' church clock's t' one to go by, anyhow," the sexton's son maintained. His friend guffawed aloud. "And it's a reight 'un to go by too, my sakes! when thee feyther shifts t' time back'ards and for'ards every Sunday morning to suit hissen." "To suit hissen! To suit t' ringers, ye mean!" said the sexton's son. "What's thou to do wi' t' ringers?" was the reply, enforced apparently by a punch in the back, and the two lads came cuffing and struggling up the field, much to my alarm, but fortunately they were too busy to notice us. Meanwhile, the rest had not been idle at the wall. Jem had climbed on the cart, and peeping through a brick hole he could see that they had with some difficulty disengaged a very heavy stone. As we were turning our heads to watch the two lads fighting near our hiding-place, we heard the stone strike with a heavy thud upon the rotten ice below, and it was echoed by a groan of satisfaction from above. ("Ready!" I whispered.) "You'll break somebody's nose when it's frosted in," cried Bob Furniss, in a tone of sincere gratification. "Eh, Tim Binder! there'll be a rare job for thee feyther next spring, fettling up this wall, by t' time we've done wi' it." "Let me come," we heard Tim say. "Thou can't handle a stone. Let me come. Th' ice is as soft as loppered milk, and i' ten minutes, I'll fill yon bit they're so chuff of skating on, as thick wi' stones as a quarry." ("Now!" I said.) Our foes considerably outnumbered us, but I think they were at a disadvantage. They had worked off a good deal of their steam, and ours was at explosion point. We took them by surprise and in the rear. They had had some hard exercise, and we were panting to begin. As a matter of fact those who could get away ran away. We caught all we could, and punched and pummelled and rolled them in the snow to our hearts' content. Jem never was much of a talker, and I never knew him speak when he was fighting; but three several times on this occasion, I heard him say very stiffly and distinctly (he was on the top of Tim Binder), "I'll fettle thee! I'll fettle thee! I'll fettle thee!" The battle was over, the victory was ours, but the campaign was not ended, and thenceforward the disadvantages would be for us. Even real warfare is complicated when men fight with men less civilized than themselves; and we had
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79  
80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

fettle

 

church

 

Binder

 
fighting
 
ringers
 

sexton

 
feyther
 

hissen

 

considerably

 

outnumbered


quarry
 

disadvantage

 

worked

 

complicated

 

warfare

 
loppered
 

civilized

 

handle

 

skating

 
minutes

stones

 
thenceforward
 

distinctly

 

punched

 

pummelled

 

caught

 

stiffly

 
rolled
 

content

 

talker


hearts

 

occasion

 

battle

 

surprise

 

campaign

 

disadvantages

 

explosion

 

victory

 

matter

 

panting


exercise

 

whispered

 

cuffing

 

struggling

 

apparently

 

enforced

 
climbed
 

peeping

 

fortunately

 

notice