Esther's Charge: A Story for Girls Read online

  CHAPTER V.

  AT THE CRAG.

  "You must come, Tousle; you must, you must, you must!"

  The boys were dancing round her like a pair of wild Indians, and Esthergave up the unequal struggle.

  "I'll come if you want me very much," she said rather wearily, "but Ithink you'd enjoy yourselves just as much without me."

  "Well, it's not so much that we couldn't do without you ourselves,"returned Puck, with his habitual candor; "but Old Bobby says he won'thave us without our keeper, and that means you, though I'm sure I don'tknow why he should call you that."

  "Nor I," answered Esther, shaking her head. She felt very little powerover the mercurial pair whom she had vainly tried to make her charge.They were fond of her, in a fashion, and she was fond of them. Theirarrival had brought a new element into her life; and there were manyhappy hours when they played together joyously, and Esther forgot hergravity and grown-up ways, and laughed and raced about and shoutedgleefully, as other children do.

  Yet it could not be denied that the boys brought many new anxieties intoher life, and the uncertainty as to what they would do next kept herupon tenter-hooks from week's end to week's end.

  They did not want to give trouble and pain; they only wanted to amusethemselves and to be left alone. They were accustomed to liberty andindependence, and were on the whole very well able to take care ofthemselves. But they were full of spirit, and they delighted inmischief; and something in the prim and proper methods prevailing inthis little place stirred up the spirit of mischief within them, and ledthem to commit more pranks, perhaps, than they would otherwise havethought of.

  Mrs. St. Aiden took things easily, fortunately for Esther. The boysamused her. She did not see very much of them, and on the whole theybehaved nicely towards her, having received rather explicit commands onthis point from their father.

  They could not always restrain their mischievous devices even where shewas concerned. One morning when her breakfast-tray was brought up, andshe uncovered the plate where some little hot dainty generally reposed,behold there was a large toad sitting upon an empty plate, and gazing ather with its jewel-like eyes; and the shout of laughter which followedupon her startled scream betrayed the presence of the lurkingconspirators, who had deftly made an exchange of plates whilst Esther'sback was turned, just before she took the tray up-stairs.

  Still, in spite of sundry tricks of this sort, Mrs. St. Aiden did notobject on the whole to the presence of the boys in the house. She likedto hear their racy accounts of what they did from day to day, and therewas always Mr. Trelawny to fall back upon if they threatened to becometoo much for her.

  A long afternoon at the Crag had been promised to the boys for somewhile, on the first half-holiday when their conduct through the week hadwon them the right to the treat.

  Mr. Earle was to be the judge on this point, and it was some time beforehe could honestly say it was deserved. Mr. Earle was exciting Esther'sadmiration by the way he was obtaining the upper hand of the restlessand obstreperous boys.

  At first they had obviously regarded lesson hours as so much time forthe invention of tricks for the interruption of study, and the playingoff of practical jokes. But gradually they had come to an understandingthat their tutor regarded matters differently, and that he had just asdefinite ideas as they upon the subject. Then had come a certain battleof wills between the belligerents, and little by little it becameevident that the tutor was becoming the victor. He did not often have toresort to corporal chastisement, though he had once given Pickle a soundcaning for insubordination, and Puck had had two or three good cutsacross his grubby little hand. But he had other ways of showing that hemeant to be master in study hours; and Esther had come to have a greatadmiration for him, and a sense of confidence in his presence, althoughthe halo of dread which surrounded all persons connected with the Cragstill continued to cling about him.

  It had been a great relief to her when Saturday after Saturday Mr. Earlehad looked through his mark book and had shaken his head at the proposalof the promised treat. She did not want Pickle and Puck to be naughty,but she did not in the least want to go up with them to spend theafternoon at Mr. Trelawny's house. And yet it was understood that shewas to accompany the boys, "to keep them in order," as the master of thehouse said, though Esther knew perfectly that if anybody succeeded inkeeping the pair in order it would be himself or Mr. Earle.

  "He likes you, Tousle," said Pickle shrewdly; "he likes you a lot betterthan us. I don't think he cares for us a bit; but he's fond of you. Ican't think why you don't like him."

  "I never said I didn't like him," said Esther nervously.

  "No; but anybody not a fool could see it with half an eye. I can'tthink why you don't. He's an awfully jolly old boy, for all he's sogruff and such an old tyrant. He'd like you to like him I'm sure. Ican't think why you don't."

  "You'd much better," advised Puck, "or perhaps you'll make him angry,and then he might put you into one of his tanks and use you for hisexperiments. I think it's silly of you always to run away and hide whenhe comes. He's always asking where you have gone to, and when we tellhim you're hiding away from him, he looks as if he didn't quite like it,though he always laughs his big, gruff laugh."

  "O Puck! why do you tell?"

  "Well, we must speak the truth," said Puck with an air of virtue; "andyou know you do always scuttle away when he comes."

  "Never mind," cried Pickle, who was in a mighty hurry to be off; "comealong now, and let's go up. We may go any time after dinner, you know."

  "It's so hot!" said Esther with a little sigh. "Would it do if I came alittle later? The sun makes my head ache."

  "Oh, but it's all in the wood, and I don't believe he'll have us withoutyou. Do come along. Boys never have headaches. I don't see why girlsshould have either."

  Esther yielded. She did not want to spoil the boys' holiday afternoon,but she did wish that her going with them had not been a condition. Herfears of the Crag and its master did not diminish from the things sheheard dropped by older people about the things going on there, now thatMr. Trelawny had an assistant in his experiments. The scientific namesshe heard spoken sounded terrible in her ears; and she pictured the twomen in their gloomy cave, sitting up all the night through pursuingwonderful and mysterious researches, and her books of historicalromance, which told of the secret machinations of wizards and magicians,acquired for her a new fascination and a new terror.

  The three children started off through the pine woods, but Esther wassoon left far behind. The boys clambered hither and thither, rushingabout with the inexhaustible energy of children; but Esther's feetlagged wearily, and her small face was pale. There were shadows beneathher eyes, and she pulled off her hat and fanned herself with it,thinking the way to the Crag had never seemed so long before.

  Esther's head had taken to aching a good deal of late. At night shecould not always sleep. Her lessons seemed to dance before her eyes, andshe would dream about them even after she got off to slumber-land.

  It had been a great pleasure to Esther to have regular lessons withsomebody like Mr. Earle, who could explain everything she wanted toknow, and who never reproved her for asking questions; but perhaps thestrain of regular work, in addition to that of the two boys in the houseand the anxiety she was often in about them and their doings, was rathermuch for her. At any rate, she had been feeling her head a good deal forthe past fortnight, and would so much rather have spent the afternoonquietly at home than have faced first the long walk up the hill and thenall the tremors and excitements of the Crag.

  But Esther was not accustomed to think first of herself, and she plowedher way bravely upwards, till at last they arrived in front of thegrim-looking old house perched upon its crag, and saw the two gentlemensitting out on the terrace, rather as though waiting for their guests.

  The boys gave a whoop and a bound, and dashed towards them. When Estherreached the terrace they were both swarming about Mr. Trelawny like apair of young monkeys. He was laugh
ing in his rather grim fashion, andEsther heard him saying in his deep voice,--

  "No, I won't have that impudence from you, you young jackanapes. If yourfather lets you behave so, he ought to know better. When I was a boy wewere made to respect our elders, and if we couldn't do it, we had tokeep it to ourselves. You may call me Uncle Bob, if you like, as my namehappens to be Robert; but every time you call me Old Bobby you'll get agood sound box on the ear--so now you understand."

  The boys laughed, but they knew perfectly that Mr. Trelawny was inearnest, and that he would be as good as his word. They had found outthat from Mr. Earle, who had absolutely forbidden the use of nicknamesin school hours, and had insisted that they should speak of Esther byher proper name, and address him as Mr. Earle--a thing that seemed toastonish them not a little.

  Out of school hours, however, they considered that they had full libertyof speech, and the next minute Puck exclaimed,--

  "Here's Tousle coming along. She didn't want to come a bit. We had tobully her into it. She can't bear the Crag."

  A quick flush mounted to Esther's cheek as she heard, and her heart beatfast. How she did wish the boys would not say such things! She didn'tseem able to make them understand how terrifying it was for her that Mr.Trelawny should be told of her shrinking from him and his house. Shynesswith Esther was like a real physical pain, and she would rather havereceived a sharp blow than be obliged to face Mr. Trelawny after thesewords had just been spoken.

  He threw the boys from him, and went and took her by the hand.

  "Well, little Miss Esther, and how do you do? You are quite a strangerhere. We must make you change your opinion of the Crag and its owner.Now you shall tell me what you would like to do and to see, since youare here."

  "Oh, thank you, but I don't mind," answered Esther nervously. "I likesitting here and watching the beautiful sea."

  "Well, we'll sit here till you have cooled down, and we have drunk ourcoffee, and then we will see if we can't find something more exciting toamuse ourselves."

  A man-servant came out almost immediately, bearing cups of coffee on atray; and this was very good, with plenty of milk and sugar for thelittle people. The boys chattered away, and Esther found herself able tosit in a quiet corner and be silent, for if ever Mr. Trelawny asked hera question, Pickle or Puck always broke in with an answer before shecould get in a word.

  Presently the boys could be quiet no longer.

  "Come along and show us things," they cried, getting upon the rails ofMr. Trelawny's chair, and tweaking his thick, grizzled hair. "We knowyou've got an awful lot of jolly things up here. Come along and show usthem. Why, even Tousle hasn't seen half, and she's lived here ever solong."

  A smart rap on the knuckles brought Pickle quickly to the ground.

  "Speak properly of your cousin whilst you are in my house," said Mr.Trelawny.

  "What did I say?" asked Pickle, aggrieved. "Oh, bother! why can't wecall people what we like? I think you're a regular old tyrant."

  "Well, you needn't come near me unless you like," was the equableresponse; "but if you do, you'll have to behave yourself. So just youmind that."

  The brothers exchanged glances; but it was evidently not diplomatic toquarrel with the master of the house at this juncture, and they feltthat in the matter of argument they would get the worst of it with him.So they only made a covert grimace at the back of his head, and said,--

  "Come along, then. Show us your house. We want to see all the queer oldplaces we've heard about. Was there once a monk walled up in the cellar?and did you dig out his skeleton? and did his ghost go prowling abouttapping on the doors and making groans?"

  "Not in my time," answered Mr. Trelawny. "There is a story about thefinding of a skeleton down below, though how it came there nobody couldsay. It was all guess-work.--Come, little Miss Esther; I know you are ahistorian, and I have some things I think will interest you," and Mr.Trelawny held out his great hand, into which Esther was obliged to slipher little cold fingers, though she felt them trembling all over as shedid so.

  Mr. Trelawny looked down at her for a moment, but said nothing. The boysdashed hither and thither through the rooms, making remarks and askingquestions, which they did not always wait to hear answered. But by andby they got interested in the interesting tales Mr. Trelawny had to tellabout the fine old house in which he lived, and even Esther lost herfears for a while in the breathless delight of hearing the story of someof the pictured ladies and armed warriors whose portraits hung upon thewalls of the corridors and rooms.

  It was later on, when they were taken into the great laboratory at thetop of the house, that her fears began to come back. There was a strangesmell in the place, and it was full of the queerest things, the verynames of which were terrible. Then Mr. Trelawny did some wonderfulthings with wires and lights; and presently Mr. Earle was sent down intothe cave, right at the very bottom of the house, underneath itsfoundations, and he and Mr. Trelawny passed messages to each otherwithout so much as a speaking-tube or a wire between them, andeverything seemed so strange and uncanny that even the boys were quitesilent, whilst Esther felt as though she should be stifled in theatmosphere of this weird place.

  But the boys were not frightened, though they were greatly astonished atsome of the things they saw and heard. Nothing would serve them but thatthey must go down into the cave again themselves, and see what was goingon there; and Esther felt as though her heart would stop beatingaltogether as she felt her hand grasped by that of this big, terriblewizard, and knew that he was leading her down, down, down into the veryheart of the earth.

  She dared not resist. His grasp was too strong for that. She was afraidif she angered him he would begin to flash more fire, and perhapsannihilate her altogether. Her teeth chattered in her mouth. Her breathcame and went in great gasps. If he had not had such firm hold of herhand, she would almost have fallen.

  At all times Esther had a fear of underground places. She had never donemore than just peep into a cave before this; and now she was going down,down, down into the very heart of the earth--into that terrible placethe boys had told her of, where all sorts of unthinkable horrors werepractised, or had been in bygone days, and where, for all she knew,skeletons were still pickling in great tanks. She dared not even thinkof anything more.

  They entered the cave through a sort of trap-door communicating with thehouse above. The boys were delighted to go by this way. Mr. Earle wasthere, moving about like a gnome in the gloom; and the voices of theboys, as they cried out their questions, and exclaimed over the strangethings they saw, sounded hollow and strange, and went echoing away downthe vaulted passages, as though taken up and repeated by half a hundredunseen demons.

  The air of the place seemed oppressive and difficult to breathe. Thesullen booming of the sea beneath added to the awfulness of the darknessand the horror. Esther threw a few scared glances round her, and felt asthough everything was swimming in a mist before her eyes. It seemed asthough a cold hand was grasping at her throat, hindering her breath andnumbing her limbs.

  She knew that she was being walked about from place to place, but shecould see nothing and hear nothing plainly. The boys were making theplace ring with their shouts and strange calls, and it seemed to her asthough the cave were full of dancing forms, and as though she could notbreathe any longer.

  Then all of a sudden it seemed to get quite dark. The sound of voicesdied away in her ears. She thought she was left alone in this awfulplace; perhaps she had been put into one of the tanks. She wassuffocating, and could hear nothing but the wild beating of her ownheart; and then even that seemed to stop, and she remembered nothingmore.

  When she opened her eyes again the sun was shining, and it was all warmand bright round her, and somebody had fast hold of her, and was makingher feel so comfortable and restful that she did not want to move.

  She could not think where she was, but it was certainly out of doors.The wind fanned her brow, and she could see the sky and the sea and abit of waving fern or tree.<
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  Then there was the sound of a step close by, and suddenly Mr. Earleloomed into view, carrying a glass in his hand, and when his eyes methers he smiled and said,--

  "Ah, that is better!"

  And then Esther felt herself lifted up, and saw that it was Mr. Trelawnywho was holding her so comfortably. He was sitting on the ground, andshe was on his knee, resting against his broad shoulder; and now hebent and looked into her face with a smile, and said,--

  "So, so, my little girl; that is better, that is better. Now drink whatMr. Earle has brought you, and you will feel yourself again."

  Esther held out her hand obediently, but it shook so much that Mr. Earlewould not give the glass into her hand, but knelt down on one knee andheld it to her lips. It was not nice medicine at all, and it made herchoke and cough when she had swallowed it, but it seemed to warm her allthrough; and when she had finished the draught she felt able to lift upher head, though it was rather appalling to find herself alone out onthe hillside, with only Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Earle beside her.

  She remembered everything now--the terrible cave, the strange sights andsounds there, and that feeling of giddiness and weakness which had comeover her. She sat up and looked round her, and then she shivered again alittle, for just behind them was a dark gap which she knew must leadinto the cave. Were they going to take her back into it again?

  Mr. Earle had hold of her hand, and his finger was on the little wrist.He looked into her face with a smile, and asked,--

  "What is the matter now?"

  "Nothing, thank you, sir."

  "You are frightened," he said quietly. "Were you afraid of the darknessin there just now?"

  "I--I don't know if it was the darkness exactly. I think it waseverything." She made another little movement, and then added wistfully,"Please, may I go home?"

  "No hurry," said Mr. Trelawny's big voice just in her ear. "We will goback to my house first, and see what all this means."

  And then Esther felt herself lifted bodily in those great, strong arms,and carried baby-fashion up the steep pathway towards the house on thetop of the crag.

  "O Mr. Trelawny, I'm too heavy to be carried!" she cried.

  "You're not half as heavy as you should be. I must know about that too.We've got you a prisoner between us, my little maid, and we shall notlet you go till we've----"

  Mr. Trelawny stopped suddenly, because Mr. Earle had begun to speak tohim in the strange language Esther had heard him use upon anotheroccasion. She shut her eyes tightly, and tried to be brave; but if onlyshe might have gone home by herself! The Crag was a very terrible placeto come to.

  Even the boys seemed to have disappeared. There was no sign of themabout the great, quiet house. Mr. Trelawny carried her into thedrawing-room, which did not look as though it were often used, though itwas bright and sunny; and he laid her down upon a wide sofa, and took achair close to her. Mr. Earle stood a little way off, looking out of thewindow.

  If Esther had had the courage to look into the face above her, she wouldhave seen that it was full of a very kindly concern and interest, butshe dared not raise her eyes. She felt like a prisoner awaitingsentence, and only wondered whether she would ever be free to run homeagain.

  "Now tell me, child," said Mr. Trelawny's big voice, "what is the matterwith my little friend?"

  "Nothing, thank you, sir."

  "Can't you call me Uncle Robert, like that pair of urchins, who are nokith or kin of mine, though you are? Esther, I was very fond of yourfather. Won't you try to be a little fond of me? I will be your friend,if you will let me."

  She looked up at him then, and her heart beat fast. It was all so verystrange and unexpected. She did not know what to say; but she put outher hand and laid it on his, and he smiled and patted it, and said,--

  "There, that is better. Now tell me about these headaches of yours. Weought to find a cure for them. Has Mr. Earle been working you too hard?"

  Esther felt a thrill run through her again. How was it he knew anythingabout her headaches? She had not even told her mother, and it neveroccurred to her that the boys could have spoken the word. Yet, to besure, once or twice lately she had not cared to join their games becauseher head ached so badly towards evening. But it was not the lessons.They must not think that. Her lessons were the great pleasure of herlife.

  "Oh no, no!" she answered earnestly; "indeed it is not that. Please,don't stop the lessons. I do like them so very much."

  Mr. Earle came forward then, smiling and saying,--

  "I don't want to lose my pupil either, but health comes beforepleasure--even before learning."

  "I'm sure it isn't the lessons," said Esther again. "Sometimes I thinkperhaps it's my hair. It makes my head so hot, and at night I can'talways sleep."

  Mr. Trelawny lifted the heavy mass of curly locks and weighed it in hishand. He looked at Mr. Earle, and they spoke a few words together in thestrange tongue.

  "Did you ever complain to your mother about your hair?" asked Mr.Trelawny, with a gleam in his deepset eyes.

  "Yes," answered Esther, "I often used to ask her if I mightn't have itshort like Milly Polperran; but she doesn't like me to tease about it,so I've given it up."

  Mr. Trelawny reached out his hand towards a table upon which lay a pairof sharp scissors in a sheath. The gleam in his eyes was deepening. Mr.Earle said something in the foreign tongue, and he answered back in hissharp, decisive way. Esther lay still, wondering; but they were bothbehind her, and she could not see.

  Then came a strange, grating sound close to her head, another, andanother; and before she realized what was happening, Mr. Trelawnysuddenly laid upon her lap a great mass of waving chestnut hair,exclaiming as he did so,--

  "There, my dear! take that home to your mother with my best compliments;and as for me, I shall have to find a new name for little Goldylocks."

  Then Esther realized that her hair had been cut off by Mr. Trelawny, andshe lay looking at it with thrills of excitement running through her.What would her mother say when she got home? and what would it feel liketo be relieved of that great floating mass of hair? How delightful tohave no tugging and pulling at the knots morning and night, often whenher head was aching and tender, and every pull seemed to hurt more thanthe last! She must get up and feel what it was like.

  So she sat up and passed her hands over her head. Mr. Trelawny and Mr.Earle were looking at her and laughing. Esther had to laugh too; but howlight and cool it felt!

  "It is nice!" she exclaimed. "I feel as if I'd got a new head! Oh. Ihope mama will not mind much!"

  "Look here, sir," said Mr. Earle; "you're not as good a barber as a ladyhad a right to expect. Give me the scissors, and let me put a moreartistic finish to your work. We must send her home looking less like ahearth broom than she does at the present moment."

  They all laughed again at that, and the color began to come back intoEsther's cheeks. This was something rather exciting, and it had drivenaway her fears for the time being. She sat quite still whilst Mr. Earlesnipped and cut, and walked round and round her, and quarreled with Mr.Trelawny about the proper way of trimming a lady's hair; and in the endthey put her upon the sofa, and told her to look at herself in thegreat mirror opposite. When she did this she began to laugh out loud.

  "Will it always stand on end like that?" she asked, for the wave in herhair made it set off from her face and stand round it rather like theaureole round the heads of saints in the church windows. "I don't thinkGenefer will think it tidy like that. Can't I brush it and make it liesmooth, like Mr. Earle's?"

  They got a brush, but the hair set them at defiance, and stood out inits own way. But it was delightful to have no heavy mane hanging downbehind. Esther declared her headache almost gone, and so she was allowedto go out and find the boys, who had been set to play by themselves foran hour.

  The shrieks of delight they set up at sight of Esther with her croppedhead made her laugh and glow like a child; and she looked altogether somuch brighter and merrier that the two gentlemen
exchanged glances andnodded their heads, as though quite satisfied with the high-handedmeasure they had taken.

  "We shall call you Roundhead now!" cried Puck, dancing round her in anecstasy of amusement; but Mr. Trelawny came up and took him by the ears,saying in his gruffest way,--

  "You will call your cousin by her proper name, or you will never come tomy house again. Now, do you understand?"

  "Do you mean really?" asked Puck, wriggling away and facing round.

  "I mean really and truly," was the emphatic answer. "You've got to learnmanners, you two, whilst you are here; and if Mr. Earle knocks someknowledge into your thick skulls, I'll knock a little respect for otherpeople into your democratic little minds. So mind, if you don't behaveyourselves properly to your cousin, and speak to her properly too,you'll never have the chance of coming to the Crag again."