CHAPTER VII

GEORGE PICKERING PLAYS THE MAN

Martin was awakened by the rays of a bright autumn sun. He sprang out of bed in a jiffy, lest he should be late for breakfast, a heinous offense at the farm; but the sight of William feeding the pigs in the yard beneath told him that it was only half-past six.

The first puzzle that presented itself was one of costume. Should he wear his commonplace corduroys, or don all that was left of his gray tweeds? During the Feast he was supposed to dress in his best each day; he decided to obey orders as far as was possible.

He missed the money from his trousers pocket and knew that his mother had taken it. Also, he found that she had selected a clean shirt and collar from the drawer and placed them ready for use. By degrees his active brain recalled the startling events of the previous evening in their proper sequence, and he found himself speculating more on the reception Mrs. Saumarez might accord than on the attitude John Bolland would certainly adopt when the overnight proceedings arranged themselves in a slow-moving mind.

He was downstairs long before seven. The farmer was out. Mrs. Bolland, immersed in the early cares of the household, showed no traces of the excitement of eight hours earlier.

"Martin," she cried as soon as she caught sight of him, "I heerd a hen cluckin' a bit sen at t' bottom o' t' garth. Just look i' t' hedge an' see if she's nestin'?"

This was a daily undertaking in a house where poultry were plentiful as sparrows in Piccadilly.

Martin hailed the mission as a sign that normal times were come again. A gate led into the meadow from the garden, but to go that way meant walking twenty yards or more, so the boy took a running jump, caught a stout limb of a pear tree, swung himself onto a ten-foot pile of wood, and dropped over into the field beyond.

Mrs. Bolland witnessed the feat with some degree of alarm. In the course of a few hours she had come to see her adopted son passing from childhood into vigorous adolescence.

"Drat that lad!" she cried irately. "Does he want to break his neck?"

"He larnt that trick t' other day, missus," commented William, standing all lopsided to balance a huge pail of pig's food. "He'll mek a rare chap, will your Martin."

"He's larnin' a lot o' tricks that I ken nowt about," cried Mistress Martha. "Nice doin's there was last night. How comes it none o' you men saw him carryin' on i' t' fair wi' that little French la-di-dah?"

"I dunno, ma'am."

William grinned, though, for some of the men had noted the children's antics, and none would "split" to the farmer.

"But I did hear as how Martin gev t' Squire's son a fair weltin'," he went on. "One o' t' grooms passed here an oor sen, exercisin' a young hoss, an' he said that beaeth young gentlemen kem yam at half-past ten. Master Frank had an eye bunged up, an' a nose like a bad apple. He was that banged about that t' Squire let him off a bastin' an' gev t' other a double allowance."

Mrs. Bolland smiled.

"Gan on wi' yer wark," she said. "Here's it's seven o'clock, half t' day gone, an' nothin' done."

Martin, searching for stray eggs, suddenly heard a familiar whistle. He looked around and saw Jim Bates's head over the top of the lane hedge.

Jim held up a bundle.

"Here's yer coat an' hat," he said. "I dursent bring 'em last neet."

"Why did you run away?" inquired Martin, approaching to take his property.

"I was skeert. Yon woman's yellin' was awful. I went straight off yam."

"Did you catch it for being out late?"

"Noa; but feyther gev me a clout this mornin' for not tellin' him about t' murder. He'd gone te bed."

"Nobody was murdered," said Martin.

"That wasn't Betsy's fault. It's all my eye about Mr. Pickerin' stickin' a fork into hisself. There was noa fork there."

"How do you know?"

"Coss I was pullin' carrots all Saturday mornin' for Mrs. Atkinson, an' if there'd bin any fork I should ha' seen it."

"Martin," cried a shrill voice from the garth, "is that lookin' fer eggs?"

Jim Bates's head and shoulders shot out of sight instantaneously.

"All right, mother, I'm only getting back my lost clothes," explained Martin. He began a painstaking survey of the hedge bottom and was rewarded by the discovery of a nest of six hidden away by a hen anxious to undertake the cares of maternity.

At breakfast John Bolland was silent and severe. He passed but one remark to Martin:

"Happen you'll be wanted some time this mornin'. Stop within hail until Mr. Benson calls."

Mr. Benson was the village constable.

"What will he want wi' t' lad?" inquired Mrs. Bolland tartly.

"Martin is t' main witness i' this case o' Pickerin's. Kitty Thwaites isn't likely te tell t' truth. Women are main leears when there's a man i' t' business."

"More fools they."

"Well, let be. I'm fair vexed that Martin's neaem should be mixed up i' this affair. Fancy the tale that'll be i' t' _Messenger_--John Bolland's son fightin' t' young squire at ten o'clock o' t' neet in t' 'Black Lion' yard--fightin' ower a lass. What ailed him I cannot tell. He must ha' gone clean daft."

The farmer pushed back his chair angrily, and Mrs. Bolland wondered what he would say did he know of Martin's wild extravagance. Mother and son were glad when John picked up a riding-whip and lumbered out to mount Sam, the pony, for an hour's ride over the moor.

Evidently, he had encountered Benson before breakfast, as that worthy officer arrived at half-past ten and asked Martin to accompany him.

The two walked solemnly through the fair, in which there was already some stir. A crowd hanging around the precincts of the inn made way as they approached, and Martin saw, near the door, two saddled horses in charge of a policeman.

He was escorted to an inner room, receiving a tremulous, but gracious, smile from Evelyn as he passed. To his very genuine astonishment and alarm, he was confronted not only by the district superintendent of police but also by Mr. Frank Reginald de Courcy Beckett-Smythe, the magnate of the Hall.

"This is the boy, your wuship," said Benson.

"Ah. What is his name?"

"Martin Court Bolland, sir."

"One of John Bolland's sons, eh?"

"No, sir. Mr. Bolland has no son. He adopted this lad some thirteen years ago."

Had a bolt from the blue struck Martin at that moment he could not have been more dumbfounded. Both John and Martha had thought fit to keep the secret of his parentage from his knowledge until he was older, as the fact might tend to weaken their authority during his boyhood. The adults in Elmsdale, of course, knew the circumstances thoroughly, and respected Mr. and Mrs. Bolland's wishes, while the children with whom he grew up regarded him as village-born like themselves.

It took a good deal to bring tears to Martin's eyes, but they were perilously near at that instant. Though the words almost choked him, he faltered:

"Is that true, Mr. Benson?"

"True? It's true eneuf, lad. Didn't ye know?"

"No, they never told me."

A mist obscured his sight. The presence of the magistrate and superintendent ceased to have any awe-inspiring effect. What disgrace was this so suddenly blurted out by this stolid policeman? Whose child was he, then, if not theirs? Could he ever hold up his head again in face of the youthful host over which he lorded it by reason of his advanced intelligence and greater strength? There was comfort in the thought that no one had ever taunted him in this relation. The veiled hint in Pickering's words to the farmer was the only reference he could recall.

Benson seemed to regard the facts as to his birth as matters of common knowledge. Perhaps there was some explanation which would lift him from the sea of ignominy into which he had been pitched so unexpectedly.

He was aroused by Mr. Beckett-Smythe saying:

"Now, my lad, was it you who fought my son last night?"

"Yes--sir," stammered Martin.

The question sharpened his wits to some purpose. A spice of dread helped the process. Was he going to be tried on some dire charge of malicious assault?

"Hum," muttered the squire, surveying him with a smile. "A proper trouncing you gave him, too. I shall certainly thrash him now for permitting it. What was the cause of the quarrel?"

"About a girl, sir."

"You young rascals! A girl! What girl?"

"Perhaps it was all my fault, sir."

"That is not answering my question."

"I would rather not tell, sir."

Then Mr. Beckett-Smythe leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily.

"'Pon my honor," he said to the superintendent, "these young sparks are progressive. They don't care what happens, so long as the honor of the lady is safeguarded. My son refused point-blank to say even why he fought. Well, well, Martin, I see you did not come out of the fray scatheless; but you are not brought here because you decorated Frank's ingenuous countenance. I want you to tell me exactly what took place in the garden when Mr. Pickering was wounded."

Somewhat reassured, Martin told all he knew, which was not a great deal. The magistrate, who, of course, was only assisting the police inquiry, was perplexed.

"There were others present?" he commented.

"Yes, sir. Master Frank and Master Ernest----"

"Master Frank could not see much at the moment, eh?"

Martin blushed.

"But Ernest--surely, he might have noted something that you missed?"

"I think not, sir. He was--er--looking after his brother."

"And the other children?"

"Several boys and girls of the village, but they were frightened by the screaming, sir, and ran away."

"Including the young lady who caused the combat?"

No answer. Martin thought it best to leave the point open. Again Mr. Beckett-Smythe laughed.

"I suppose this village belle is one of Mrs. Atkinson's daughters. Gad! I never heard tell of such a thing. All right, Martin, you can go now, but let me give you a parting word of advice. Never again fight for a woman, unless to protect her from a blackguard, which, I presume, was hardly the cause of the dispute with Frank."

"I don't think he was to blame at all, sir."

"Thank you. Good-day, Martin. Here's a half-crown to plaster that damaged lip of yours."

Left to themselves, the magistrate and superintendent discussed the advisability of taking proceedings against Betsy Thwaites.

"I'm sure Pickering made up his story in order to screen the woman," said the police officer. "A rusty fork was found in the stackyard, but it was thirty feet away from the nearest point of the track made by the drops of blood, and separated from the garden by a stout hedge. Moreover, Pickering and Kitty were undoubtedly standing in the orchard, many yards farther on. Then, again, the girl was collared by Thomas Metcalfe, of the Leas Farm, and the knife, one of Mrs. Atkinson's, fell from her hand; while a dozen people will swear they heard her sister calling out that she had murdered George Pickering."

Beckett-Smythe shook his head doubtfully.

"It is a queer affair, looked at in any light. Do you think I ought to see Pickering himself? You can arrest Betsy Thwaites without a warrant, I believe, and, in any event, I'll not sit on the bench if the case comes before the court."

The superintendent was only too glad to have the squire's counsel in dealing with a knotty problem. The social position of the wounded man required some degree of caution before proceedings were commenced, in view of his emphatic declaration that his wound was self-inflicted. If his state became dangerous, there was only one course open to the representatives of the law; but the doctor's verdict was that penetration of the lung had been averted by a hair's breadth, and Pickering would recover. Indeed, he might be taken home in a carriage at the end of the week. Meanwhile, the hayfork and the blood-stained knife were impounded.

The two men went upstairs and were shown to the room occupied by the injured gallant. Kitty Thwaites, pale as a ghost, was flitting about attending to her work, the hotel being crowded with stock-breeders and graziers. Her unfortunate sister, even more woebegone in appearance, was nursing the invalid, at his special request. It was a puzzling situation, and Mr. Beckett-Smythe, who knew Pickering intimately, was inclined to act with the utmost leniency that the law allowed.

Betsy Thwaites, who was sitting at the side of the bed, rose when they entered. Her white face became suffused with color, and she looked at the police officer with frightened eyes.

The magistrate saw this, and he said quite kindly:

"If Mr. Pickering is able to speak with us for a little while, you may leave us with him."

"No, no," interrupted the invalid in an astonishingly strong and hearty voice. "There's nothing to be said that Betsy needn't hear. Is there, lass?"

She began to tremble, and lifted a corner of her apron. Notwithstanding her faithless swain's statement to her sister, she was quite as good-looking as Kitty, and sorrow had given her face a pathetic dignity that in no wise diminished its charm.

She knew not whether to stay or go. The superintendent took the hint given by the squire.

"It would be best, under the circumstances, if we were left alone while we talk over last night's affair, Mr. Pickering."

"Not a bit of it. Don't go, Betsy. What is there to talk over? I made a fool of myself--not for the first time where a woman was concerned--and Betsy here, brought from Hereford by a meddlesome scamp, lost her temper. No wonder! Poor girl, she had traveled all day in a hot train, without eatin' a bite, and found me squeezing her sister at the bottom of the garden. There's no denying that she meant to do me a mischief, and serve me right, too. I'll admit I was scared, and in running away I got into worse trouble, as, of course, I could easily have mastered her. Kitty, too, what between fear and shame, lost her senses, and poor Betsy cut her own arm. You see, a plain tale stops all the nonsense that has been talked since ten o'clock last night."

"Not quite, George." Mr. Beckett-Smythe was serious and magisterial. "You forget, or perhaps do not know, that there were witnesses."

Pickering looked alarmed.

"Witnesses!" he cried. "What d'you mean?"

"Well, no outsider saw the blow, or accident, whichever it was; but a number of children saw and heard incidents which, putting it mildly, tend to discredit your story."

Betsy began to sob.

"I told you you had better leave the room," went on the squire in a low tone.

Pickering endeavored to raise himself in the bed, but sank back with a groan. The unfortunate girl forgot her own troubles at the sound, and rushed to arrange the pillow beneath his head.

"It comes to this, then," he said huskily; "you want to arrest, on a charge of attempting to murder me, a woman whom I intend to marry long before she can be brought to trial!"

Betsy broke down now in real earnest. Beckett-Smythe and the superintendent gazed at Pickering with blank incredulity. This development was wholly unlooked for. They both thought the man was light-headed. He smiled dryly.

"Yes, I mean it," he continued, placing his hand on the brown hair of the girl, whose face was buried in the bedclothes. "I--I didn't sleep much last night, and I commenced to see things in a different light to that which presented itself before. I treated Betsy shamefully--not in a monied sense, but in every other way. She's not one of the general run of girls. I promised to marry her once, and now I'm going to keep my promise. That's all."

He was desperately in earnest. Of that there could be no manner of doubt. The superintendent stroked his chin reflectively, and the magistrate could only murmur:

"Gad, that changes the venue, as the lawyers say."

One thought dominated the minds of both men; Pickering was behaving foolishly. He was a wealthy man, owner of a freehold farm of hundreds of acres; he might aspire to marry a woman of some position in the county and end his days in all the glory of J. P.-dom and County Aldermanship. Yet, here he was deliberately throwing himself away on a dairymaid who, not many hours since, had striven to kill him during a burst of jealous fury. The thing was absurd. Probably when he recovered he would see this for himself; but for the time it was best to humor him and give official sanction to his version of the overnight quarrel.

"Don't keep us in suspense, squire," cried the wounded man, angered by his friend's silence. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing, George; nothing, I think. I only hope your accident with the pitchfork will not have serious results--in any shape."

The policeman nodded a farewell. As they quitted the room they heard Pickering say faintly:

"Now, Betsy, my dear, no more crying. I can't stand it. Damn it all, one doesn't get engaged to be married and yelp over it!"

On the landing they saw Kitty, a white shadow, anxious, but afraid to speak.

"Cheer up," said Beckett-Smythe pleasantly. "This affair looks like ending in smoke."

Gaining courage from the magistrate's affability, the girl said brokenly:

"Mr. Pickering and--my--sister--are quite friendly. You saw that for yourself, sir."

"Gad, yes. They're going to be--well--er--I was going to say we have quite decided that an accident took place and there is no call for police interference--so long as Mr. Pickering shows progress toward recovery, you understand. There, there! You women always begin to cry, whether pleased or vexed. Bless my heart, let's get away, Mr. Superintendent."